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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 2017-06-19 Special Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Monday, June 19,2017 re.: Short Term Rentals Present: Town Board Members Bill Goodman, Rod Howe, Pat Leary, Rich DePaolo, Eric Levine and Pamela Bleiwas; Town Clerk Paulette Rosa Mr. Goodman began by giving an introduction to the topic, noting that he is using the term "short term rental" (STR) although many people have been referring to it as Air B&B (ABB)but that is just one company or website and the action is short term rentals. Basically that is defined as a rental of under 30 days. Over the last few years, the town has started to get a number of complaints from different areas of the town regarding short term rentals and the complaints usually revolve around noise during late night parties and parking if there are a lot of guests and there is limited parking or access for emergency vehicles. This past year we have gotten more complaints than usual an in looking at town law and interpretations of our Code Department and our town attorney, the Board has realized that we really need to clarify how we handle these short term rentals and we are at the point where we are trying to figure out how to regulate them and this is a big issue in NYS and around the country and various municipalities have taken different approaches to this. One of things we are doing is investigating those approaches and he has compiled a cheat sheet of some of them. Mr. Goodman stated that the town board wanted to get an idea of what our residents wanted us to do and so we called this special meeting and focus on getting your comments. This is just one step of the process and you can always write to us and tell others to let us know what they are thinking. With the input we get tonight, we will draft some legislation and then that would be commented upon through a public hearing process as it goes through the next stage toward final adoption. Speakers Laurene Gilbert, 655 Five Mile Dr. (owner-occupied) Ms. Gilbert read from a written statement of"her story" on how she came to have an ABB: "My husband passed away in 2006 and I sold our house in Danby and moved to the Town of Ithaca on Five Mile Drive. When I bought the house, it was a rental property with two apartments; apartment 1 is actually the original cottage and that part of the house is about 100 years old, apartment two was added over the attached garage and I estimate it have been built sometime in the 40's. I immediately made the apartment one my permanent, full time residence with the intention of renting the apartment to supplement my income since I was retired by then. Life often throws curves, it happened that a very close,personal friend of mine, Alan, was diagnoses with aprogressive illness and I offered him my little two bedroom apartment after he was no longer able to work and was forced to sell his own home. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 1 His illness progressed quickly and I wound up becoming his full time caregiver for four years. He has no family. This past fall it got so bad I could not take care of him and he now resides in Brookdale where he is being well taken care of. Rather than find a tenant, I thought I would try Air B&B for a variety of reasons. It afforded me the opportunity to have more control over the apartment so it can remain empty sometimes for my family and friends, but also, sometimes I just like to be alone, and I was able to keep Alan's furniture and his possessions for him so when he asks me what happened to his things, which are the only things he has left in the world, since he lost everything, I can say with a clear conscience that everything is still right there. The Air B&B experience has worked out better than I ever anticipated. Sure I can make more income from renting to a tenant, but that is not what is important to me right now, for the reasons I just stated. I average about four guest stays a month with April and May being the busiest and December through February having little to no activity. This new business has given me much pleasure. I have five star reviews from every person who has stayed there and I pride myself on keeping that status. Actually, I only need one or two more five star reviews to become a"super host." I have met wonderful and interesting people from near and far. I keep a sharing book for them to write their experiences and places to eat. This enterprise forces me to keep my house in tip top shape continually, inside and out. It all makes me very proud and I am able to sleep good at night knowing that I have done the right thing and I can continue to pay my taxes. Thank you." Mr. DePaolo stated that it would be useful to him, since we are gathering information on all types or rentals, it would be useful to know if hosts are present during rental or not. Ms. Gilbert stated that she is on premises and she only allows two cars, preferably one and demands quiet. Mr. X stated that he found out his houses are not in the town but he had a lot of information he thought he would share. He stated that they do this as a living and progressed out of the B&B industry into vacation rentals and they know a lot of people who make their living doing bed and breakfasts and their problem with Air B&B or other platforms, is that everybody pays their taxes. As far as the bed tax for the Visitors Bureau and B&B's pay a State tax where short term rentals as far as vacation homes don't pay that. Mr. X thought one of the things that needs to be brought to the front is that people are on the up and up and people are paying their taxes; he pays very heavy liability insurance on their properties in order to protect people who rent from us and people who are just renting their bedroom out don't think of this. If somebody slips and falls in their house, they can lose their house so they need to be protected as much as those renting from them. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 2 Mr. X stated that it is a great industry and it helps the surrounding areas with tourism and everything, a lot of money comes into the area from people that vacation here and Ithaca and the Tompkins County area, which is heavy into promoting tourism, is becoming a very popular place to come. Mr. X thought some of the issues here were because people were having more vacancies as normal, but they are building a lot of hotels here, so they must know something we do not although he said he wasn't sure they weren't over building for the area and that could be some of the complaints that are going to come from these big hotel companies who are building heavily in the area. Shawna Black, read from aprepared statement: Good Evening My name is Shawna Black and I live in the Town of Ithaca. I would like to speak on the topic of regulating AirBNB in the town. I have rented my home in the summer time going on 8 years. Typically, we rent our home for Cornell and IC graduations and reunions. Before AirBNB we used Craigslist and advertised our family home. Craigslist has no oversight and it is hosts dealing directly with potential guests. When AirBNB came around we joined and it has made the process so much easier and in my mind safer. Through the use of AirBNB we can screen potential guests by using past reviews. As someone who travels with my family of 5 (including 3 kids) -we prefer AirBNB to hotels because it allows us to cook meals at home and have much needed space. As a responsible AIRBNB host I advertise our home as "in a quiet neighborhood", "no parties or loud noises allowed", and I also put a maximum of people that can stay in our home. In the 8 years that we have been hosting our home - never once have we had a complaint from neighbors. We check in with the guests when they arrive and our expectations are very clear. Our neighbors on each side and across the street are aware when we have a rental and they know that if there ever is a problem -to please notify us immediately and we will take appropriate action. Again, this has never happened - and never once have we had an issue with our guests. They are courteous, friendly, and respect our space and neighbors. The one thing I ask you to look at when thinking of restrictions for Airbnb or short term rentals is that hosts choose what services they go through to seek out guests. I have chosen to go through AIRBNB because I feel that as a homeowner - it's safe. AirBNB would handle any dispute that arises, they are the middle man for the money, and they also collect all taxes on a county and federal level. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 3 My fear is that if AirBNB were prohibited or given restrictions that people would go back to using Craigslist, which isn't as safe, does not have screen guests or hosts, and also does not collect necessary taxes. In fact, afew years ago when we were looking for a lweek rental in Rehoboth Beach we found an amazing house on Craigslist. I was sent the contract and was inthe process of sending the deposit to secure the location. Upon doing more research I realized that this specific house was also listed on a rental agent website. When I called, I was told that the Craigslist listing was a scam and that many people had sent money —only to arrive at the house and realize that they had been scammed out of thousands of dollars. There was no recourse. Itappears that there are a few isolated incidents of Town of Ithaca neighbors complaining about noise and parking issues with AIRBNB rentals. Why wouldn't these be handled like any longterm rental situation? If there is a problem the homeowner should be notified and if the problem is not handled appropriately-then the proper authorities should be notified. If parking is unsafe on a particular roadthenperhaps the signage should be added that prohibits parking or has specific timeframes for parking. Putting unnecessary restrictions on competent and responsible AirBNB hosts is not needed and could push many people back to using Craigslist as an option —which as I mentioned is unsafe and lacks the oversight of AirBNB and VRBO. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Mr. DePaolo asked if she is present and she responded that she is not, but they typically stay in town except for one weekend a year they go away. She also said she tells her neighbors herself and they only rent under 10 days a year, typically during the summertime and one of her neighbors is the manager per se to take care of any issues. Travis Cleveland Mr. Cleveland stated that he does not own an Air B&B but he does not believe they should be regulated as a single family home and nor does he believe any single family home should be regulated with the current legislature on the table. He stated that on the 25`h he is renting a house on the lake for nine children and three adults which is helpful for him and he does not believe the town should be responsible for policing single family dwellings in any capacity. He stated that we have police that enforce parking and if there is a party we have police enforcing parties. He stated that the legislation is getting out of hand in these Code books and he just wanted to voice that. Ms. X stated that she has been and ABB host for as long as it has been around, and she is always in her home, and in fact, one of her guests stated that it felt like staying in a spare room and that is exactly what it is, it is the rooms that her kids were raised in. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 4 She stated that she is a social security and medicare recipient and she was forced to retire early due to a disability and so it has been a tremendous boon to her to be able to stay in her home and afford to keep it up and have it for her grandchildren to come to. Ms. X said it helps her to pay her taxes with the help or her guests and many months she has no guests at all, but the months of August when people bring their kids to look at schools or drop them off, and lots of tourists in July and September and she has piles of literature that she gets from the Tourism Center. She said that she always talks to her guests about the restaurants, breweries and festivals that happen in the area. Ms. X stated that she believes in keeping the money local and she believes that is one of the major assets of ABB; the money that her guests pay her she spends locally and ABB pays the room taxes and the sales tax and issue a 1099 for our income taxes. She estimated that ABB hosts contribute millions to the County and she meets the most wonderful people from all around the world. Cindy stated that she lives in the town of Ithaca and has been an ABB host for a little more than a year. She said that she finds it very enjoyable and an important source of income and added that they take out the occupancy tax and the sales tax for us. Cindy stated that ABB hosts are a great boon for our area and they are all ambassadors for our town and our attractions and she has enjoyed staying in other ABBs in other parts of this country and Europe. Cindy stated that she is a"super host' and very responsible. Her neighbors know she does it and almost all the time she is present although she has renting the entire house during graduation weekend on occasion. Cindy stated that she appreciated the town looking at it thoughtfully and hopes that we can come up with some good ideas that can keep it sensible for those of us trying to do this. Cassie stated that she lives in the town and has been renting for graduation for 15 years and before ABB it was very hard to tell who was coming into our home and whether they were going to care for it, but with ABB, they do so much verification of people who are coming, we feel so much better. Cassie stated that since her ABB, it also makes sense to rent when we are there. They only leave during Cornell graduation, but otherwise, they are there. She stated that she is retired from Cornell and would not be able to stay in her house without ABB so she rents out one of her kids bedrooms. She finds that the guests who come are all loevely. Many have a connection to Cornell and people come from all over the world and they love staying in a home and as other people have said, finding out what there is to do in Ithaca. We are constantly sending people to spend money locally. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 5 Cassie stated that her neighbors love that they are doing ABB because if we weren't we would have to move and we babysit for their kids and do other things as retired people for our neighbors. Our guests are quiet, no parties, and we have a driveway for their one car and it is a great cultural experience. She said they also find they have repeat guests and she really hopes that they can continue this way of making money and having these experiences. She added that it is a great overflow for the peak times even in other counties like when Watkins Glen has their races. Richard Boyd, Renwick Heights - Mr. Boyd stated that he is one of the people who has been concerned about ABB and he wanted to say that many of the things he has heard have been very interesting and he is pleased to see that people are able to use ABB's machinery to vet people who come into their houses and he is sure their tenants have had a great time, but he wanted to emphasize that people who have been concerned about ABB have not had in mind that you should shut down the entire business model. He wanted to mention two issues that should be thought about. One has to do with parking. In the neighborhood he lives in where there are multiple ABBs, there is a real congestion of cars parked in a way that is really challenging for the neighborhood, and secondly, the board ought to consider this in a broader context of housing in the neighborhood. He said that there are all sorts of people who live and work in Ithaca area that cannot afford to live in the town and have to live further away, and if ABB becomes sufficiently lucrative, there is the risk that many houses will be devoted to short term rentals rather than rentals to either family or students who need to be in the area for an extended period of time and he urged the board to craft legislation so that you balance the desirable tax revenue and entertainment and publicizing Ithaca against whatever you calculate the impact would be on the availability of affordable housing for people who actually live and work here. Mr. Y Stated that 22 years ago working on tourism and economic development in Tompkins County we surfaced the idea that there were thousands of rooms that were going unoccupied, in part because kids were gone and they weren't filling their houses and they weren't selling them and moving out. So that was happening at the same time that there was a major growth of in- commuters because there were no jobs in surrounding counties so we have a quarter to a third of our workforce commuting in from outside the county. We also have a lot of under utilized homes. That is a tinder box and there was no such thing as ABB, we kind of imagined it but didn't realize it would happen and take off. In a way, people using their houses and maintaining them in such a way so they can remain in them and stay in them is a wonderful service to the built environment, it doesn't mean we have to build more hotels or other stuff, if we had higher occupancies in everybody's homes, that is a rational use of our resources. However, if we take houses out of the housing market and use them exclusively for these, then we might as well build hotels. So there ought to be some way of thinking about limiting the use TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 6 of a structure so that it doesn't become exclusively devoted to these short term rentals and unavailable to people to live in. Mr. Y said when we started doing VRBO or vacation rentals, we took a derelict property that had not been lived in for nearly ten years and we built a new property and we do rentals in a house in Ithaca for 60-80 nights a year. He stated that his neighbors know and are aware and it allows us to pay taxes on both properties and allows us not to have a negative impact on the general housing here in town. There are ways to think about how to make this rationally happen so you can encourage the kinds of access to housing that we want, both short term and long term. Mr. DePaolo asked about the timeframe; the 60-80 days is the lake house? Mr. Y stated that the lake house is where they live so they are in the county when the house in town is rented. Mr. Z spoke saying that he is in the area where there are six houses that rent frequently on a dead end street and using ABB and it has limited off street parking and every house has a limited setback so the congestion on multiple weekends a year is a problem. He thought there was a difference with some of these owners who have spoken who have a single room in their house and are present versus whole houses being let unoccupied. He said that in the socio-economic strata, some of the people on his street are very well off but choose to move out to make money doing this so there is a difference there that needs to be regulated. Mr. Z stated that he empathizes with some of the people speaking here about single rooms and off street parking, but his area has limited parking and much of it is not off street and there are up to six houses at once that will be rented and so he urged the board to take the demographics of the neighborhood into consideration when crafting legislation. Ms. Y stated that she lives in a house that has rental houses on either side and while she felt they have been fortunate that they haven't turned into ABBs yet, she is concerned about that. She stated that while she empathizes with people who think ABB is a great thing, and she is sure there are many great things about it, the rental properties on either side of her are generally not kept up and the yards are let go, and in fact, she spent about five hours last week helping a new neighbor to clean up the yard. She stated that the houses are generally not taken care of with weeds, tree limbs, garbage etc and it looks like no one cares and it could have a corrosive effect on the neighborhood if things were permanently rental or devolved into total ABB. She thought it has to be regulated and controlled to a degree so that the people who are really invested in the neighborhood and plan to spend their lives there are somewhat protected. Mr. B stated that he wanted to second the comment that came from someone else about he importance of the demographics of each neighborhood. A one-size-fits-all approach could be TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 7 quite problematic because there is significant variations in the density, for example, of different parts of the town so rather than being driven by complaints or trying to have a one size fits all policy, it may be better to implement a more flexible program that recognizes some number of cars associated with x number of people but is responsive to the parking and the over all density so that people who are in an area which is significantly less dense aren't subject to those same restrictions. He hoped the board could consider adaptability and flexibility and how we would respond to complaints without effecting what is available to people in different areas with different demographic properties. Pat stated that she lives in the town of Ithaca and has been and ABB host for a year and a half and like some of the other people who spoke, she feels that she is an ambassador of Ithaca and she encourages people to spend time and money here. She said that she greets everyone that comes and the people are always vetted and she has not had one complaint from any of her neighbors. She said that it is a great way to make a little extra income and for someone like her whose children are gone and she has extra rooms that she can't rent on a long term basis because it is just rooms, it helps her pay her taxes. With ABB the money is kept local whereas with a hotel the money is sent out of the community. rooms available and helps her pay the taxes. She said that she spends some of that money on fixing up her property and her landscape and it's a been a positive impact on her house and the neighborhood. She added that she also uses ABBs when she travels. Casey (spouse of other speaker) stated that they have three vacation rental single family homes and rented as an entire unit. She said that in listening to the different people, it seems there are two different animals; a home where people live in it and rent out rooms, and they are there on site and then we have these single homes like ours. She said that because they are so different, maybe the town needs to look at two different ways to determine what to do. She said it doesn't sound like the people who are living in their homes and renting out rooms are having many issues with either parties or parking on the street or big groups so she didn't know what the board would want to do about the regulation of them unless you looked at them as B&B's and treated them the same way the town treats them. The vacation rentals are an entire house and speaking for herself, she stated that they live 10 minutes away from their three houses and they greet the people and check them in and have a rental agreement they have to sign which states that there are no parties allowed or extra people allowed and we limit the number of people and cars and we tell them there is no parking on the street. She stated that any violation of the terms of the rental agreement and they can be evicted prior to the end of the agreed upon stay. She stated that they do not have any issues and they have insurance and they are classified as hotels for that insurance so it is carried at that level and they have umbrella insurance. They pay the bed tax and they claim every penny that comes in whether it is cash, check or credit card and they have been legitimate from day one. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 8 She said that it seems it is the owners the town is having a problem with and not the guests so that might be the place to start. She asked the board if they had any questions because she thought the board might have questions about the problems; the tourists have already decided they are coming here before they look online, the area brings in tourists, it is a destination. Mr. DePaolo asked if she is trying to delineate between ABB which seem to be overnight or a couple of nights and vacation rentals which are typically a week? She responded that she isn't sure the stay varies but the personality of the rental varies when you have a person living in the home and that is very like a B&B, which they ran for ten years, and those are regulated and inspected, so she was sure the town has regulations on those and the people who are speaking here who are supplementing their income in that way, why not use the rules on the books for that? Mr. DePaolo responded that there is a legal reason for that which the board can get into after the comment period. Elliott Ryan stated that he has rented for ABB a handful of times a year. He thought that Ithaca needs this type of STR which is driven by the two colleges which require space for people to stay for graduations, reunions and what not and that is one of the reasons. The other reason is that as a region, the Fingerlakes is competitive and people staying here and if it was more difficult to rent in Ithaca we will lose that income to other towns such as Geneva and Watkins Glen. He stated that he thought that Ithaca has a limited demand and you couldn't take every house in Ithaca and make them ABBs and have everyone make money. There will be a balance that is reached, there are a few high demand weekends a year, and beyond that, you are not going to have unlimited demand like San Francisco where they had to take measures to limit or ban them because tenant rentals were not available. Mr. Ryan stated that he thought what made it hard to live in Ithaca is that we pay a lot of taxes so it is not necessarily because there are a lot of renters here. He thought that whatever rules are decided on, they should be simple and fair. Making them to complex will result in an enforcement headache and it can be revisited in three years for evaluation and changes. He wasn't sure what complaints the town has had already, but he thought keeping the rules simple and easy to enforce would be good for everybody. He thought that long term rentals are less cared for than short term rentals simply because you can't get away with having a STR that is run down. You have to maintain the yard and the rooms as opposed to a LTR that may fall into disarray with owners that do not keep up on the work. Mr. Ryan stated that he does whole house rental and move in next door with a relative or up the lake with another relative the few times they do rent it. He added that he was visited by Mr. Bates last year because of complaints, but they were not particular complaints of anything offensive other than the simple fact that I was renting my house. Mr. Ryan described the interchange and that he was saying he had to enforce a State rule based not on a noise complaint but simply that I was renting it and that made him think of how the TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 9 town applies rules and if the town could come up with simple legislation that is easy to understand and is on the books so people know what they can and can't do would be good for both us and Mr. Bates. Larry Fabbroni said he wanted to add to what has been said by saying he would like to see a positive stance taken in whatever regulations the town comes up with. He said he probably would have still lived in the house across from the golf course if there had been this opportunity to do this after his five children moved away. He stated that his children use ABB and Uber and they feel safer in the ABB than a hotel. He said one of his daughters lives in an ABB and it helps those struggling with affordability and this allows some to crawl into home ownership. Cindy Bowman, Forest Home—Cindy stated that she is concerned about ABB particularly because of her community and its proximity to Cornell so she feels it is particularly vulnerable. She said when homes go up for sale, there are people looking at them as investments, not to live in and long term rentals may be the next opportunity that brings in even more than standard rental. She said that there are homes that may not sell in the spring, and in one instance, the owners rented it as ABB and there was a huge party and there was a lot of feedback to the owners. She thought that because of the neighborhood and the community being within walking distance of Cornell, it is vulnerable to people buying up homes for STR and it will change the community atmosphere. Ms. Bowman said that she hears people living in their homes and renting rooms and that is quite a bit different than the situations that she often sees in her community where people are buying them to rent out. She stated that she felt part of the reason Forest Home is so lovely is that there are still a lot of families there and there is a tipping point that will change that so it is really important that as the town goes forward with legislation, Ithaca is a diverse community, and the board should think about different ways to legislate different areas. Brent Katzman, West Hill Mr. Katzman stated that there has been a lot said and he may repeat some of it because he feels there is a really clear benefit to the people who have experience as both a host and a guest. Mr. Katzman said he started hosting about 3.5 years ago and have a small studio apartment that was his parents inlaw suite when they lived with us and we did it really on a lark. We had had a long term tenant for a year and that experience was okay, but we felt disconnected from our own property and we kept finding a need to have extra space when our family was in town. So we stopped that and went to ABB. Mr. Katzman said what they have found is that it has given us some financial freedom to help with our own rising expenses as far as taxes but it also has made us pay closer attention to our own property and its upkeep which you've hear said before. We really are reinvesting some of those dollars. It gives us a deeper sense of connection both to our guests and to other hosts and the community because we really are ambassadors and they ask us. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 10 In terms of benefits to the community, you have heard the data on room tax and sales tax, but the other benefit is that the people who stay with us walk away with a much better sense of what the community is all about. He added that they also hire a local woman to do the cleaning and upkeep because we both work full time so we are contributing to the economy in that way. He stated that in terms of benefits to the guests, he asked them why they chose ABB and not a hotel and they said it is about privacy and intimacy, but it is also about security. Knowing that where they are going has gotten great reviews and making sure the money paid is going to people living in the community and the businesses in the community. They prefer that kind of support. He added that they never exchange money or see guest's financial accounts so it is secure in that sense as well. It has been very positive. He summed it up with a story; we were traveling in Paris in 2015 and there was a terrorist incident and we were out at dinner and our hosts called us to check on us, asked us where we were, found out how we were, gave us instructions on how to take care of ourselves and get back to our space. It was very intimate and very real; I am not just staying in a space, I am staying with people who care. That to him is really what the ABB community is about. That kind of intimate connection and creating an experience for the guests that makes them want to come back and obviously, making it possible for us all to face the rising costs of home ownership. Mia—stated that in response to what she has heard; the issue about the town collecting taxes, according to Tom Knipe, who oversees the Tourism program for Tompkins County, he told her there is a voluntary collection agreement which collects the hotel room occupancy tax from people who are registered with ABB but that money goes to the County to help with tourism grants and other ways of promoting tourism. So there is no occupancy tax benefit that the town receives from these STR. Secondly, several people have said that the space isneeded for visitors because there is a shortage of rooms for guests, but according to Peggy Komen, who is the Vice President of Tourism and Community Relations for Tompkins County, she says that there are not enough visitors to fill the existing hotel and B&B rooms that real businesses have and that is a real problem for them and these ABBs are a big concern for those in the lodging business. The third thing is, as people have said, the negative effect that STRs have on a neighborhood and she totally agrees with that. Sadly this has happened in our neighborhood with an extreme negative effect on our neighborhood. People do not talk to each other anymore, we do not have our neighborhood get togethers anymore. It is really sad and the other speaker is right to be worried. Mia said that just because ABBs are not an actually sharing business, it is an actual money making business, so maybe it should be handled as a home business and permitted that way which would allow the town to have some flexibility in their regulations about where, because it does sound like there are some areas where it was more acceptable than others. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 11 Second comments Two people made rebuttal type comments, saying that there is a review process in place where if there was a newspaper or trash in my yard, I would get a negative review and I wouldn't get any more business, so that ensures that we all keep our properties up to snuff. She also said that it is not a voluntary tax; ABB made an arrangement to take that 3% tax off the top. Another—stated that the board has their your job cut out for you, saying they started over 7 years ago and it has just grown and grown and it really is a world-wide industry. He thought ABB is kind of getting a bad rap; they are becoming the Kleenex of tissues.... There are many ways to get a STR so it isn't an ABB thing, it is a bed thing. Mr. Goodman thanked everyone and stated that everyone could list their email addresses on the sheet provided and the Town Clerk will add them to the newsletter mailing to try and keep everyone informed on this topic. He said that the State is also drafting legislation so this is a changing and challenging topic. Mr. Goodman added that the town is also looking at legislation regarding rentals and two-family units during a moratorium, and one of the things being thought about is a rental registry for long term rentals. Mr. Levine thanked everyone for coming out and getting involved, saying that he really enjoyed it and he will consider everything that everyone said. Hearing from community members is his favorite part of being on the board and he really appreciated it. Mr. DePaolo said that it is clear that there are some isolated problems and it is also clear that there are a lot of people who seem to be involved in the practice of short term rentals responsibly. We need to try and strike a balance between those two realities. He said there were a couple of things he wanted to weigh in on on what was said. Somebody said that we pay a lot of taxes and its not the renters fault and the reason we pay a lot of taxes is the same reason we have a lot of renters; we have so much tax exempt property due to the two colleges. He also said that he has heard the word "demographics"used a couple of times and he isn't sure that is the right word because to him that implies that we need to say these people don't need the money so they should be foreclosed upon and not be allowed to participate in the practice. What he is really hearing people say is that we have to be more cognizant of the characteristics of an area related to density and on street parking and things of that nature. So he thought demographics is the wrong word and he would urge people not to lean on that one too hard. He said the one question he has to answer, and he doesn't think he has an answer right now, is the question of how much economic activity this practice brings to this area. He has heard many people say that the people are coming in and renting and spending money locally etc etc but the money would be spent whether they were staying in a traditional hospitality businesses or not. TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 12 The added 'benefit is that you as hosts are getting money and that money is contributing to the local economy. Mr. DePaolo stated that some of the nightly rents are astronomically high and he wondered how owners would feel if their houses were assessed accordingly and although we are happy you are paying your income taxes, we do not get a piece of that. He thanked everyone for being very civil and everyone recognizing that we all live in the same town and we have to coexist. This isn't the end, it's just the beginning. Ms. Bleiwas stated that she learned a lot tonight and got a lot of different perspectives and she appreciated that. She said we often hear from people who are unhappy but it was nice to hear from people who have successful Air B&Bs and it is nice to hear about younger people that do things different and she wanted to stress that the town is looking at short term rentals, not just ABB but all the ways short term rentals are procured. Mr. Goodman reported to the rest of the board saying that he and Ms. Leary met with Renwick Heights residents last week regarding their concerns and we also received comments from Air B&B and a letter from 15 or so residents of Forest Home. (Attachments) The committee will be drafting legislation and holding a public hearing on this issue in the future. Submitted Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk TB Special Meeting 2019-06-19 pg. 13 rr mmimN���lllll� 7�' '��i IPQ Testimony of Andrew L. Kalloch, Public Policy, Airbnb Hearing on Short-Term Rentals Town of Ithaca, New York Monday, June 19, 2012 Good evening. My name is Andrew Kalloch and I work in Public Policy for Airbnb. Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony regarding short term rental (STR) policies that support responsible home sharing in the Town of Ithaca. Airbnb was launched in 2008 with a single listing in a single apartment in San Francisco. Our founders-- recent (and unemployed) graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design--were struggling to afford an increasingly expensive housing market and decided to open up their own home to host other artists who were in town for a design conference. Eight years later, that single home share has turned into a platform that has brought over 16o million guests to over 3 million listings in 65,000 cities in nearly every country across the globe. Of course, while Airbnb has used the power of the internet to bring together millions of hosts and guests, New Yorkers are well aware that home sharing didn't start with Airbnb. Rather, it is a historic tradition-- in this state and others. Airbnb is proud to be part of this tradition. In the last year alone, over 50,00o hosts welcomed over 2.15 million guests to the Empire State, with over 2.6 million New York residents using Airbnb to travel elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad. The vast majority of these New York hosts-- 56 percent of whom are women-- are individuals and families who share their homes occasionally to pay for their mortgage, medicine, and student loans, or save money for retirement or a rainy day. In fact, the typical host in New York earns $5,400 in supplemental income by sharing their home for about three nights a month. Furthermore, unlike other types of lodging, such as multinational hotel chains, 97 percent of revenue generated through Airbnb goes directly to our hosts, who plow it back into the Empire State economy. 1 Nestled in the Finger Lakes and home to some of the nation's finest institutions of higher learning, it is no surprise that the City and Town of Ithaca is home to a robust community of Airbnb hosts and users.' In the last year, approximately: • 70o Active Hosts • 70 percent of Ithaca hosts are women and the average host age is 45. 35 percent of local hosts are over the age of 50, highlighting how many hosts use supplemental income from extra bedrooms to "age in place" in the neighborhoods they call home. • The typical host generated $4,300 in supplemental income by renting their home for just 26 nights in the last year. Indeed, for most hosts, home sharing represents a part-time, supplemental source of income, not a full-time, commercial operation. • 33,000 Inbound Guests • The average guest is 39 years old and the average guest group size is 2.5 people, signaling that Ithaca is a prime destination for couples and families. Moreover, the average length of stay is 3 nights, highlighting how Airbnb is expanding travel options and spurring economic growth in Ithaca. • Over 29,000 Ithaca residents used Airbnb to travel elsewhere in New York State and around the world. With Airbnb, visiting families can access an alternative way to travel — one that delivers economic benefits to the college towns and cities, not only through the income earned by hosts, but also and the money they spend at local businesses around their listings. Home sharing is particularly valuable in college towns like Ithaca, which welcome large amounts of visitors during graduation weekends, making it difficult for students' guests to book traditional accommodations like hotels. Furthermore,Airbnb is a flexible way for college towns to dynamically add much-needed accommodations supply during major events like commencement. Just 'Statistics are for the year ending June 1,2017 and includes listings in the City and Town of Ithaca. 2 last year,Airbnb hosts in Ithaca welcomed 13 times more visitors during Cornell commencement weekend than the typical weekend. Airbnb has grown dramatically in recent years and one of the reasons for our success has been our investments in innovative tools to protect hosts, guests, and neighbors: • Airbnb uses sophisticated technologies and behavioral analysis techniques to help prevent potentially troublesome hosts or guests from utilizing the platform in the first place. For U.S. residents,Airbnb also runs host and guest information through several public databases to check if there are matches with certain felony convictions, sex offender registrations, or significant misdemeanors. • Airbnb maximizes transparency by allowing hosts to require that guests provide a government ID, and we created a program called Verified ID, which connects a person's offline identification (a driver's license or passport) with another online profile to their Airbnb account, such as Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn accounts. • Airbnb encourages hosts and guests to communicate and get to know one another before a trip occurs. Like other online platforms like Ebay, our community builds trust and a track record for users to be able to learn more about each other through publicly available reviews and feedback. • There have been over 16o million guest arrivals in Airbnb listings to date. Incidents do happen, but they are rare. That's why we offer $1 million Host Protection Insurance and a $1 million Host Guarantee to help protect hosts and guests. In 2016, there were more than 30 million trips at Airbnb listings worldwide. Significant property damage (claims that were reimbursed under our Host Guarantee program for over $1,000) was reported to us o.00g% of the time. For what it's worth, at that rate, you could host a new reservation every single day for over 27 years without expecting to file a significant property damage claim under our Host Guarantee. • If a guest or a host ever have an issue, our global Trust and Safety team is on call 24/7 to help. • Last year, we launched the Neighbors platform-- a tool that allows people who may not even use Airbnb to report potential concerns directly to our staff for review. Between the time the system launched and the end of 2016, there were 2,229 neighbor concerns that came into the system. Based on bookings in that 3 same time frame, that represents a rate of less than 1 in every 26,000 guest arrivals during that time, or.004%. These tools have contributed to the rapid rise of short term rentals through Airbnb, a phenomenon that has created economic opportunity for Ithaca residents and businesses. In addition to these tools,Airbnb believes that reasonable regulation can foster responsible home sharing. To that end, we've worked with hundreds of municipalities across the country and around the world to craft rules that work for their communities. Part of our efforts have focused on taxation. Airbnb believes that short term rentals should be taxed like any other transient lodging. Since 2014, the company has signed voluntary collection agreements with over 275 jurisdictions around the world, including Tompkins County and another a counties in New York State. These VCAs have enabled us to collect over $240 million to fund critical public services. We recently introduced legislation in the New York State Legislature (A-7520) that would extend hotel and sales taxes to short-term rentals throughout the Empire State and allow platforms like Airbnb to collect and remit those taxes on behalf of our hosts. We look forward to working with the Board to ensure that Ithaca's STR regulations support responsible home sharing and can be a model for other towns across the Empire State. Thank you. 4 To: Supervisor Goodman and the Town Board T4 From: Undersigned Residents of Forest Home Re: Short Term Rental Legislation Date: June 19, 2017 Please accept this letter expressing the views of many in Forest Home regarding the short term rentals legislation that the Town is considering. Thank you for your work representing us on this important topic. We understand the issue to have a few relevant dimensions, on which we express the following views: 1. Whole-house rentals (i.e., without the owner present) should not be permitted, or at most should be permitted for three or fewer days per year per house to accommodate the likes of Cornell graduation rentals. 2. Limited short-term room rentals (i.e.,with the owner present during the rental) may be appropriate for not more than 30 days per year per house. 3. The foregoing short-term rentals--which should be defined to include all rentals lasting less than 4 months--must be permitted only in properties that are the owner's primary residence. Primary residence should be defined at a threshold of at least 6 months per year of residence at the property. 4. The foregoing short-term rentals must be held to the same zoning requirements as other properties, i.e., requiring that owner(s)-plus-guest(s) satisfy the applicable requirement of single family plus one unrelated. While we recognize and applaud the ability of limited room rentals to make Ithaca's costly housing market affordable for a broader segment of the community, we feel strongly that the above limitations are essential to the preservation of a family-friendly community, where neighbors know and care for each other and properties are properly maintained. The alternative is a corrosive hollowing-out of close-knit communities (especially those bordering Cornell), ultimately converting family-friendly homes into cash-flow-generating unattended hotels (and, ironically, likely rendering those same properties unaffordable for owner- occupancy or even long-term rentals). Again, thank you for your service to the Town and the communities that make it a great place to live. Sincerely, 1. �% " *�/ � uF1n Mt¢f�f 1 O �4dd 1-4 (( s P- A 2. �� �lgV�0."VIUItOOG�1� l I �J /�eltirc ��. 3. re16"116J /l�°/Q� _ 4. Q ( . C 1=Wo MQ 8) 1 O 3 ,Tdj t�qIIs hd, 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 1. � � ��so (DE k��7(A�e- � - 2. l� s Uoj-,� w i-vk JON PC-l� ` / pc ?L , 3. K1�2 add fad 4. i 5. 6. s' 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 2. 3. 5. 6. 11 7. 8. 9. 10. ii. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 1. David Kuckuk 2. 3 Please put me down as being in general agreement with the direction and intent of the letter. The details are less critical than a framework for dealing with this new and slippery issue. Item 4 is of particular interest and might be expanded a bit to include not just zoning requirements (esp. family/unrelated persons) but also building code requirements. The "AirBnB issue" is causing raising definitional questions in some jurisdictions: when does a single family residence become a multi-family or a rooming house or a hotel? This is proving troublesome not only when an off-site owner or manager rents multiple rooms/suites/apartments in a single family building but even more so when when an on-site owner does so. Thanks again. Happy to engage more on our return. David 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.