Trustees pass local law prohibiting rentals of less than 30 days

by ruSS TArby ConTribuTing WriTer

At its June 26 meeting the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees approved a new local law prohibiting the operation of short-term rentals at homes within the village.

Village Codes Officer Bill Reagan said there are currently six dwellings within the village operating as AirBnBs, which offer short-term rentals.

Of those six, four of the AirBnB operators spoke at the public hearing which prefaced the trustees’ action. They said that they prefer renting to short-term tenants.

Reagan and the trustees expressed a desire to maintain stable local neighborhoods.

“Short-term rentals are not healthy for our community,” said Trustee Matt Devendorf. “People need to know who their neighbors are.” If AirBnBs were allowed to proliferate, Liverpool could suffer the same fate as the village of Lake Placid, which now has several blocks full of short-term rental homes. Regan pointed out that Liverpool now has 803 single-family homes and 30 twofamily homes, 94 percent of which are owner-occupied. Six percent of single-family homes here are rentals.

A few of the AirBnB owners live in the homes which they’re renting, but others reside outside of the village.

Reagan worries that – without the new law – entire village neighborhoods could become dominated by short-term rentals. The AirBnB currently operate with little or no regulation and they do not pay tourism taxes.

The trustees’ approval of the new law was not unanimous. Trustees Devendorf, Michael LaMontagne, Christina Fadden and Mayor Gary White all voted in favor of it, while Trustee Dennis Hebert voted no.

Both Hebert and Fadden attended their final board meeting June 26. Fadden’s mayoral bid fell short at the June 20 village election as did Hebert’s bid for re-election.

Mayor w hite honored

White was honored by two proclamations announced as he presided over his final village board meeting on June 26. LaMontagne read the trustees’ resolution recognizing White’s 26-plus years of service at village hall, including seven twoyear terms as mayor. The trustees praised White’s detailed knowledge of the village infrastructure, and offered he and his family best wishes in the future.

State Sen. John Mannion had an aide deliver a notice of a Senate proclamation which praised White for his “exceptional leadership and inspiring career.”

Ten accidents in May

Police Chief Jerry Unger reported via memo that his officers made 180 traffic stops and issued 164 citations for violations of the state’s vehicle and traffic laws in May.

Ten accidents were investigated here last month, and two motorists were arrested for driving while intoxicated. Officers made 56 residential checks and 156 business checks in April while responding to a total of 493 incidents and calls for service. The LPD arrested 24 individuals last month on 32 criminal charges.