Short Term Rental Ban

[Miranda399]

My community (Irondequoit NY) is trying to ban short term rentals. I have sent many emails, and spoken at town meetings. The town does not know how to regulate the short term rentals. I have provided them Airbnb’s policymaking toolkit, how can I get the town in contact with the policymaking support department? Any advice at all on preventing the ban? 

[Joan2709]

@Miranda399 

You can have your town officials contact Airbnb through their City Portal Program:

City Portal

https://www.airbnb.com/cityportal

Many local jurisdictions have come up with reasonal STR regulations that provide a balanced approach without "throwing the baby out with the bath water" so to speak. Many have simply added some regulations regarding parking, noise, trash, maximum number of guests per property size and safety requirements to address neighbor concerns and some have also added licensing requirements with a small fee and fines for violators to fund enforcement. They can easily review several other similar sized communities and review their STR regulations and adapt them for their jurisdiction as needed. 

[Miranda399]

Yes! I found that link as well and sent that along to the board along with many of the same points you’ve made. Now it’s up to them to do so and I’m not sure they will even try. I was honestly hoping I could get them a direct contact with that department or see if Airbnb could send some sort of representative to the upcoming town meeting and go into more detail with the board about what they can do for them. Wish me luck, and thank you for the advice!! 

[Joan2709]

@Miranda399 

You might try finding a town of similar size nearby and see what STR regulations they have implemented and if they are working well and are balanced. You can even create a powerpoint presentation and present that and/or email it to the town council for review. 

Best wishes!

[Mark5952]

Join the ruling party so you can help fix problems before they get to a hard fix (i.e. HOA, Board of Supervisors, etc.) 

[Miranda399]

I really would love to unfortunately it’s not an option at the moment- but in the future it’s something I think I will try! This is my first time ever dealing with the town board or local government for that matter so it’s all very new to me but now I understand how important it is! Wish me luck lol