I. INTRODUCTION:

The Town Board of Gardiner has proposed a law that will substantially limit many property owners' ability to rent their homes on a short-term basis.  If you own property or a business in Gardiner, or if you work in Gardiner, you may be affected by this law. We believe that short-term rentals make an important contribution to the regional economy by supporting the tourism industry, local families, and local businesses.  We are in favor of a permissive law which allows Gardiner homeowners to rent their homes, regulated by permits and inspections, taxed by the relevant municipalities, controlled by existing public health, safety, and noise ordinances, and limited by natural market competition. We oppose the proposed law, which unjustly restricts the rights of Gardiner homeowners to engage in short-term rentals.  If enacted, the proposed law will have an adverse economic and creative impact on the entire area. We do not believe the Town Board is acting in a manner consistent with the best interests of its residents, and we have prepared this petition to raise awareness and give a voice to all residents who wish to be heard by the Town Board. 

If you are a resident of Gardiner who either (a) voted in Gardiner’s 2020 general election, or (b) will be registered to vote in Gardiner’s 2021 general election, please consider the merits of this petition and sign it to show your support.

II. BASIS FOR PETITION:

Any time a municipality seeks to pass a law interfering with the rights of property owners, the citizens must take a close look at the proposed law and consider who the law will help, who it will harm, and whether there is a less restrictive way to achieve the common-sense goals of such law. Public scrutiny prevents unchecked municipal overreach.

The Gardiner Town Board has proposed a law which it claims will encourage creative and economic development, support tourism, and support Gardiner’s local retail services.  However, the proposed law does the opposite.  It stifles creative and economic development, tourism, and local retail services.  The proposed law unduly restricts homeowners’ ability to rent their homes on a short term basis with the following key provisions: (1) only primary residents of Gardiner can rent their homes on a short-term basis, which deprives anyone who primarily lives and/or works outside of the area, but is struggling to maintain a home in Gardiner, from using that home to generate income they need to do so; and (2) those primary residents can only rent their homes for 100 days per year, which is an arbitrary number and could just as easily be 365 days per year.

Under this proposed law, who can do short-term rentals?  Very few of us.  The rest may need to close our businesses, perhaps be unable to pay our mortgages, even lose our homes.  We will need to lay off our beloved support staff who maintain and care for our rental homes.  Our friends and neighbors who are struggling to keep their local retail businesses open will lose significant revenue from tourism.  Haven’t we as a community suffered enough this past year?  The need for tourist lodging will not go away.  Clearly, the law is being enacted to shut down the local Airbnb economy. What will take the place of these home businesses run by our friends and neighbors?  Large hotels?  Corporate interests?

We want to see Gardiner’s economy thrive, with eclectic shops and eateries lining Main Street, abundant and attractively maintained public green spaces, and small-scale tourism based upon quaint Airbnb rentals instead of hotels.  We believe that inviting short-term renters to explore our town and contribute to our beloved community will result in positive growth consistent with the character of the Town. 

By signing this petition, you will be letting the Town Board know that you care about this town and the ability of its residents to sustain their homes in this rapidly shifting modern economy where personal and financial success increasingly depends upon creative individual and community-based solutions.  Do not let the Town Board be the enemy of conscious evolution.

Please read on for a more detailed discussion of the proposed law, or to review the text of such law, or feel free to skip to the signature page below.  Thank you for your time and consideration.

III. Petition Recipients: Town Board of Gardiner, NY, to include: Marybeth Majestic, Town Supervisor; Franco Carucci, Board Council Member; Warren Wiegand, Board Council Member; David Dukler, Board Council Member; Laura Faye Walls, Deputy Supervisor.

IV. Summary of Town of Gardiner Short-term Rental Draft Law:

A. Scope of Application: All One and Two-Unit residential properties within the jurisdiction of Gardiner, NY.

B. Implementation Date: Expected as soon as March, 2021, unless the board decides to amend. The law will be officially ‘in-force’ upon ratification by the board members per New York State's 'Home Rule' provision. As of now, the law doesn't include any “grandfathering-in" for existing Short-term Rental owners. Additionally, the draft law does not provide current Gardiner Short-term Rental owners any grace period for compliance. The Town Board has failed to account for the time it will take to implement the law and to create the requisite permitting process also introduced in this legislation. It has also failed to understand how long it will take for the building inspector and code enforcers to actively inspect each Short-term Rental applicant’s home. This process could take up to a year or longer. This is an obvious oversight that illustrates the Board's disregard for those constituents who rely on Short-term Rental income. Guests who have already booked accommodations in Gardiner could end up having their vacation plans cancelled, and the owners who may be forced to cancel these reservations would lose their income stream without being provided sufficient lead time to find another solution. This would reflect poorly on the Town and harm the owners’ reputations. Consider; who is the Town Board helping with its actions, and who is it hurting?

C. Occupancy Restriction: The current draft law would limit Short-term Rentals to primary residents ONLY.  Any current non-permanent residents would be forced to halt all Short-term Rental operations immediately - with no grace period and with no provisions for being "grandfathered-in". Keep in mind that, even if you are a primary resident today, this proposed law may restrict what you and your family can do with your home in the future.

What if you are forced or choose to relocate for work, for example? What if there is a death in your family that changes your status? What if you want to pass your property on to children or relatives who don’t live in Gardiner? Should you or your family members’ life choices be dictated by the Town Board? Why shouldn’t you or your children have the ability to rent your home on a short-term basis so that you can visit Gardiner periodically during the year? If these limitations make it more difficult to afford your home, should you be forced to sell it? 

Marybeth Majestic is on record as stating “if I couldn’t afford my home, I would just sell it.” Do you agree with her? If not, let this petition be a rebuke. Let this petition serve as an affirmation of the deep emotional value individuals and families have for their homes regardless of their current residency status. You don’t have to be a “primary resident” to treasure your community and your home and to want to hold on to it in any way you see fit. 

D. Short-Term Rental Annual Limits  - Limit of 100 Days per Year on "Whole Home” Rentals: The proposed law offers only the primary residents of Gardiner two options. The first option involves actively sharing your home with guests while being on the premise with them. If you are comfortable sleeping under the same roof with people you don’t know, you are allowed to participate in Short-term Rentals year-round. However, we know that most renters don’t want that and neither do most hosts. Some Short-term Rental platforms don’t even allow this practice. 

The other option available in this law is a provision that would permit homeowners to rent their "whole home" without being on the premises. The catch here is that these “whole home” rentals would be limited to only 100 days per year. This is an arbitrary number and unsubstantiated by research or studies. Also who are the primary residents in Gardiner that can simply leave their home for 100 days to make way for Short-term Renters? These two options are poorly designed and make the board’s true objective quite clear. Rather than an economically viable solution that creates safety and accountability, the Town Board is trying to drastically curtail and/or shut down Short-term Rentals in Gardiner.

E. Permit Requirements with no Grace Period or “Grandfathering-In”:  As discussed above, the Board has not given proper thought to (a) the impact this legislation will have on the Town and its taxpayers, (b) the blatant overreach and unnecessarily strict nature of the ordinance, and (c) the practical steps and timeline needed to properly implement such a law. 

If a permit and inspection are to be required, individuals need to be given proper time to meet the new requirements, prepare for inspections and register for permits. Likewise, the town will need adequate time to establish the administration of this law. Reasonable timelines must be allowed to account for inspections. Why are none of these obvious realities addressed in the current draft law? This law is not ready to be ratified in its present form for many reasons.

F. Unnecessary Over-Regulation:  The proposed law includes overly strict regulations purportedly intended to address potential problems associated with Short-term Rentals. The truth is that these “potential problems” can be adequately handled under existing laws, such as noise and garbage ordinances. Short-term Rentals should not be treated any differently from long-term rentals. Instead of micro-managing STRs with oppressive regulations, the town should simply enforce the existing regulations.

V. A Short Term Rental Law That Makes Sense for Gardiner and Its Residents:

The reasonable regulation of Short-term Rentals may be necessary. This petition doesn’t seek to discredit any and all Short-term Rental ordinances. Quite the opposite. Asking Short-term Rental operators to obtain a permit under fair and reasonable guidelines, including inspection requirements, creates accountability and a system for ensuring compliance and safety. Setting up reasonable safeguards to protect neighbors and communities is essential but it is imperative that those safeguards are in fact reasonable and fairly applied. Setting up a way for the town of Gardiner to benefit financially from the imposition of reasonable fees of some kind is also welcomed.

Currently, Short-term Rental legislation is being passed in cities and towns throughout New York State and the rest of the country. Of course, that doesn’t mean that all regulation is good regulation. Despite the growing number of Short-term Rental laws nationwide, it is important that municipalities create rules that are not only fair, but make sense for the communities where they are enacted. Ratifying laws that address the problems of places like New York City, San Francisco or Los Angeles in small, rural towns like Gardiner, for example, doesn’t make sense. Over-regulation is stifling, and creating laws that are too costly and complicated to enforce is senseless. What might be effective and needed in a densely populated urban area isn’t necessarily going to make as much sense in a town like Gardiner, NY. 

Yet, this is exactly what is happening here. The Town Board has ignored easy to obtain facts about property values and tourism, actively voted down the formation of a nonpartisan committee designed to fact-find and create consensus, ignored the pleas of local business owners, and have thrown common sense out the window. Members of the Board have stuck to a narrow agenda based on poor research and personal bias, while maintaining an unwillingness to make sensible decisions that could make the current draft law more reasonable, fair, enforceable, and actually beneficial rather than detrimental to Gardiner. 

A sensible Short-term Rental law for Gardiner would maintain many of the current provisions around permitting and inspection, but would also offer a significant grace period so that current residents have the time necessary to ensure that they are code compliant and won’t be forced to cancel existing bookings.  It would also include provisions for fair and reasonable enforcement, not arbitrary decisions.  And, importantly, it would be designed to actually promote the positive goals as stated by the Town Board:

1. “allow permitted residents of the Town of Gardiner to take advantage of the economic benefits of short-term rentals (STR)….”

2. “Encourage revenue producing land uses and provide sufficient incentives for creative development while also supporting tourism as an important part of the local economy and encouraging the growth of Gardiner’s local retail-services.”

The draft law as currently proposed would actually discourage or prevent homeowners from taking advantage of short-term rentals, and would be harmful to the local economy. The rights of homeowners and the economic well-being of many residents are at stake!

SAY ‘NO’ TO GARDINER'S PROPOSED SHORT-TERM RENTAL LAW! Read the law by clicking HERE