SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — An hour before this past week’s City Council meeting, Commissioner of Accounts Dillion Moran held a special public hearing to go over and get public feedback on proposed short-term rental legislation.
This legislation was present at the previous City Council meeting and Saratogians jumped at the opportunity to make their voices heard, filling the City Music Hall in which the meeting was held.
The goal of this legislation is to set up a city-wide registry and set some regulations for Short-Term Rentals in Saratoga Springs. Along with rentals under 28 days not being allowed in the city currently, Moran also touched on in his presentation that doing a commercial activity in a residence in a residential area is also a violation of the city’s zoning codes, the goal of implementing this is to “legalize and legitimize” something so prominent in the city’s history, especially with New York State looking to implement their Short-Term rental legislation in the future.
“I’m in charge of this (Short-Term Rentals) and it is my responsibility to study the issue, speak to the community, and bring forward something that starts to balance the debt because right now, it’s an unregulated situation and it’s, it’s just not working,” Moran said during his presentation. “And it needs to because of how special and precious our communities is, and because it is a part of our legacy.”
“As long as I’ve been alive, and frankly it goes back to when horses started turning left on Union Avenue, our community has opened their doors to visitors. Our residents have opened their doors and allowed folks to visit and stay in their homes. That is something we are legitimizing in making legal.”
This legislation establishes that only “Owner Occupied” property may be used for short-term rentals, meaning that the dwelling being rented is used as the primary residence of the homeowner, in the location where the taxes are filed, or with an occupancy of greater than 183 days. The legislation also states that all Short-Term Rentals must have a valid fire inspection and permit record from the city fire department and City Accounts Office as well as a certificate of occupancy for short-term rental use.
To obtain a short-term rental permit an ownership list, proof of ownership, and an affidavit certification are required as well as Site Plans, proof of insurance, Septic Inspection Report, Fire Inspection Report, Property Contact, certain Acknowledgements, and payment of the $1,000 application fee among other things. The permits are renewable on a two-year cycle, subject to inspection, and are revocable at any time.
Hundreds of community members came out to voice their feedback, concerns, and opinions on this legislation. Points of view varied, including some being very frustrated with Moran, stating that it felt like he did not include things that had been discussed in prior meetings regarding short-term rentals, to some emphasizing how hard they worked to get to a place where they could own and operate Short-Term rentals and felt some of the regulations being placed were extreme/unfair. Many agreed that regulations were a good idea and agreed with what Moran was trying to implement, but had critiques and concerns about parts of what was being introduced.
One resident, Anna Smith, pointed out that the city of Saratoga Springs has run for years in its current fashion and it’s a great city, so why is there a want to change that? Along these same lines, she brings up that if it gets hard for people to come and stay in Saratoga, then it will affect the city overall.
“I think if we all look around, every person in this room loves Saratoga,” Smith said. “If we think about why we love Saratoga, it’s because you can go out and have a nice dinner and a drink, can go walk in Congress Park, and can go to a concert. Why did we have all those things? Tourists. Tourists are why we have all of the abilities we do by being here in Saratoga, and if we make it more difficult for tourism to tap in and enjoy Saratoga, for people to be here, then we’re going to lose out on all of that money. All of the businesses are going to lose out on all of that money.”
Some of the reasons that the city is looking to implement this legislation are the desire to maintain local control of the process within the state system, with NYS bringing forth new regulations on short-term rentals, as well as to address public safety issues and foster neighborhood cohesion.
“There are plenty of places now that are just stand-alone short-term rentals,” Moran said. “I just have a real hard time looking at that as anything other than a blight on the neighborhood because homes are for families.”
This is something that another resident who spoke at the public hearing agreed with. Jon Sterngass shared that he has lived in Saratoga Springs for 30 years
“On Lincoln Avenue, there are now houses that are completely empty, that are rented a week and then empty,” Sterngass said. “There are alcohol issues, there are noise issues, there are parking issues…it’s disruptive to a sense of neighborhood. You don’t have kids, you don’t have a family, and now you don’t have people you can hang out with next to you. There’s just nothing there. It’s just someone who passes through.”
One largely discussed topic was the application fee of $1,000, with many believing it to be too expensive.
“There needs to be more data and the registration fee of $1,000 as everyone else is too expensive,” said Carolena Cummings, who spoke at the meeting. “Lake George’s is $100 for two years, and I’m not saying I’m against regulations or some sort of monitoring for Short-Term rentals, but $1000 is just way too much. And it’s unfair.”
Moran explained the reasoning for why this amount was picked in his presentation.
“We cannot collect sales tax or bed tax and as a result of that, the only way they have to support the creation of this system is through licensing fee,” said Moran. “The data that we have tells us that the average rate per night is 500 plus dollars. So that’s where we started from. It’s a two-year license and the only fee you have to pay to do this is for us to have the people in the process to make it work.”
Another topic that was widely discussed was that this legislation felt rushed. Moran explained that this legislation would not affect the Travers Day meet, and would have a tentative start date of July 1, 2024, with a 60-day implementation period. This, along with other reasons, led people to wonder why it was being brought about so soon.
Moran has kept the meeting open, allowing it to be revisited at a future meeting. After the meeting, Moran shared with The Saratogian that several things were brought up at the meeting that were very legitimate and needed to be further considered.
A video of the meeting, including the special public hearing beforehand, can be viewed via the city website. City Council meetings take place on the first and third Tuesday of each month in the City Council room in City Hall at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted on the agenda.
