Dec. 9—PLATTSBURGH — The City of Plattsburgh is introducing two local laws that will create a short-term rental registry and a vacant building registry.
Short-term rentals, in particular, have been a hot topic in the city over the last several months, with some residents even calling for their ban in residential neighborhoods.
A ban could not “legally” be enforced, Mayor Chris Rosenquest said Friday, but the new short-term rental registry law, if passed, would require property owners to obtain an annual permit, starting March 1, 2024, to operate a short-term rental in the city.
In doing so, the mayor said this law would look to address some of the residents’ concerns about short-term rentals like Airbnbs, which have grown in popularity throughout the city.
“There’s safety aspects involved, there’s an inspection involved (in obtaining a permit). There’s a clear definition on how many people can stay at the property based on sleeping rooms and the size of those rooms. There’s a number of factors in here that do go to address the number of concerns raised by folks who expressed opposition to short-term rentals in the City of Plattsburgh,” Rosenquest said.
“And there will be inspections of the property to ensure that there are safe exits, even safe exits within each room, making sure that appropriate safety protocols are in place like fire alarms, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and maybe even some fire suppression, depending on the property.”
“This is a good, balanced approach and an approach that we’ve seen work in other municipalities,” the mayor continued.
If the law is passed, there will be a small fee for obtaining a permit as well.
“The fee schedule for that has yet to be determined, but once it is determined, we do expect people to come forward and file for the appropriate permit,” Rosenquest said.
He said the feedback they have heard from short-term rental hosts is that they would not mind the new regulations.
“This proposed law is modeled from many other sample legislations that we’ve seen throughout New York state, we’re not inventing this. This is something we have seen employed throughout the state and municipalities like ours. So it made sense to us to take that approach.”
Also beginning March 1, 2024, owners of vacant buildings will have to register each one with the city; fees for this are yet to be determined.
Vacant buildings owners will also have to submit a vacant building plan within 30 days of registration.
Similar to the short-term rental law, this vacant building registry law was crafted with inspiration from other municipalities around the state, Rosenquest said.
“We have a number of vacant, underutilized, derelict properties that owners are just sitting on; these are not properties that are part of the foreclosure process or can be foreclosed upon. Folks who own these vacant properties in question, pay their taxes,” Rosenquest said.
“What we’re looking at is leveraging this vacant property permit system to encourage the use and development or redevelopment of these buildings to bring them back online.”
Rosenquest said these changes, along with expanding the city’s rental registry, will hopefully create additional housing and additional housing opportunities in the city.
“This short-term rental local law, plus the vacant property local law, plus the proposed expansion of the rental registry to include one unit and two unit rentals, which it doesn’t include now, along with the changes to the zoning code and the land use planning laws, all contribute to the global concern of addressing housing within the City of Plattsburgh,” he said.
“It’s not just this one-off piece. This piece is part of a more comprehensive approach to address housing and those housing concerns.”
The two laws were first introduced at Thursday’s Common Council meeting.
A public hearing for both laws will now be held Dec. 21 at 5 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers of City Hall.
Email: cnewton@pressrepublican.com
Twitter: CarlySNewton