(Credit: Gordon Woodworth, 2022)
The renovated interior of the North Church on Route 9L in Queensbury is ready for short-term renters and the owner's family.
Queensbury’s latest limits on short-term rentals have some landlords questioning the “broad brush” approach, and town officials are promising to consider further changes.
Starting Jan. 1, 2023, short-term rental owners will be limited to renting their properties for a maximum of 120 days per year, and from May 15 to Sept. 15 must rent properties for a minimum of five-days at a time.
Landlords must offer contact information to all homes within 100 feet of the short-term rental property, and someone must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to issues within an hour.
The new restrictions have not been universally supported.
Nicholas LaSorsa, who said he lives in Florida full-time, bought the historic, 155-year-old North Church on Ridge Road, Route 9L, in Queensbury, just north of the Ridge Terrace.
“I wanted a place to come to in New York as a vacation home for my family, and to rent,” LaSorsa said. “I spent a lot of money on this place in hopes of recouping some of my investment…I don’t have someone right next to me, and it seems to me this blanket law penalizes everyone.
“I understand proximity to others is an issue, but more for a house in an established neighborhood versus a house like mine.”
LaSorsa wrote a letter to Strough and Town Board member Harrison Freer, who along with fellow board member Tim McNulty held dozens of meetings with a Citizens Advisory Committee.
“They came out to meet me the next day, and they were very pleasant and receptive,” LaSorsa said. “I told them they are hurting local business. I’ve restored a historic property, and to have it sit vacant doesn’t benefit anyone.
“And I don’t understand what the five-day minimum does. Are we not a tourist area? Both the 5-day minimum and the 120-day maximum seem to discourage tourism.”
Strough said the 5-day minimum is to prevent “bachelor parties and other short-term parties,” and the 120-day maximum “makes properties in traditional neighborhoods less attractive to investors.”
Freer said the latest changes are “the next step in the process. Now we’re going to look at our zoning plan and our comprehensive land use plan to address as many unintentional consequences as we can.”
Another Queensbury resident, who has several short-term rental units and who asked not to be identified, said: “They are trying to solve a relatively small problem with an overreach of regulation. People aren’t taking seven-day vacations anymore. And I understand the problem with parties and parking, but there seems to be a better way to address the issue. Enforcement will be key.”
Strough said: “The rules we adopted are for people who live in neighborhoods. It’s hard to develop rules for everyone.”
Freer said enforcement will be driven by complaints, adding, “if no one is complaining, it’s less likely there will be enforcement.”
The Town is considering hiring Granicus, the firm that Warren County and the Town of Lake George use to help regulate short-term rentals, Strough and Freer said.
[Read more about Granicus, here.]
“I told Mr. LaSorsa that we’re going to try to figure this out,” Freer said. “We’re open to doing what is right.”
Strough said: “We hear the concerns. We are open to continue to modify the law,” including adding a provision that would exempt more isolated properties that are more than 500 feet from other residences.