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A closer look at Lake Placid’s proposed STR law

Prior to 2014, the town of North Elba and the village of Lake Placid started work to create a plan to regulate and limit the negative effect of short-term rentals (STRs).

On page 5 of the newly proposed “Local Law No. 6 of 2022” it states, “… extensive STRs endanger the residential character of the community.” We appreciate all the work that has been done by the town and village, but ask, “is the original purpose of this work being met?”

Based on Section 11.5.1, it seems to be moving in the right direction in select areas identified as “Town Residential” and “Village Residential.” This section maintains the 90-day maximum number of days/year an existing un-hosted STR can be rented and prohibits any new STRs in these specifically delineated areas (as per the 2011 map being used).

However, the law allows all existing STRs to remain “grandfathered in” until there’s a change of ownership, and there are many residential neighborhoods within the town and village that are not included in the law’s definition of “Town Residential” or “Village Residential.”

We encourage the boards to include more of the small neighborhoods within the town and village in this select designation, particularly neighborhoods that are in both the town of North Elba and the village of Lake Placid.

Additionally, we encourage community members to look carefully at the 2011 maps and terminology being used by the town and village boards. These are not the maps that informed the previous public survey.

The town and village boards have a unique opportunity to do more to regulate and limit the negative effects of out-of-town investors buying up homes in our area to use as STR businesses, thus taking homes off the market for families and young professionals who might want to move here. Other town and village boards have done this successfully. Investors who plan to turn a house into a STR businesses can pay far more for a house than a family who plans to live in a house, as investors will be making a return on their investment. (Yes, these are businesses. They create a steady stream of strangers coming in and out of someone else’s neighborhood.) As out-of-town (and out-of country) investors continue to buy up community houses at inflated prices, the assessments of homes that are authentic family residences in family neighborhoods become artificially inflated and out of reach for families and young professionals.

A particularly problematic issue with STRs is that they have created a dwindling population of school-aged children and year-round residents in Lake Placid. These are the very people needed to volunteer for fire departments, EMS, trail crews, Songs at Mirror Lake, events at John Brown Farm, Mirror Lake Watershed, Ausable River Watershed, Rotary Club, Lions Club, food pantry, hospice, Mercy Care, etc. as well as professionals like police officers, teachers, nurses, lab techs, doctors, etc.

Words like “limited” and “capped” are misnomers and disingenuous when the boards are proposing a law that would expand the total number of STRs in many areas and increase the number of days per year an STR can be rented. In section, 11.4.2, the maximum number of unhosted STR permits in these seven districts (i-vii) will be increased. “Lodging STRs” as defined by their geographical location in sections 11.4.1 and 11.5.2, within the village and within the town of North Elba outside the village, will have no limit on the maximum number of STR Permits and no limit on the number of days/year the STRs may be rented. The proposed law will impose no limits on STRs in condos and townhouses that have active HOAs. On the other hand, it seems reasonable in section 11.5.3 that there are no limits proposed on permit numbers or duration for second floor Main Street STRs.

Hosted STRs within the village will have no limit on either the number of permits or number of days rented (11.5.4). It seems reasonable to allow hosted STRs within the town of North Elba the same concessions instead of limiting the number of permits (11.4.3). Owners of hosted STRs are community members who live, work, volunteer, play and send their children to school here in our community. The boards should be doing all they can to support these residents in their effort to remain here.

Numerous hotels and motels already exist in Lake Placid, owned by folks who also live, work, play and send their children to school here. Many of these business owners donate sponsorship money to local events and causes, improving the quality of life for all community members. The town and village boards should be supporting these local business owners with more vigor than they are supporting out-of-town STR investors.

We would like to know what objective and equitable criteria were used to determine which neighborhoods would be considered “Village Residential” and “Town Residential,” shielding them from an increase in future STRs. Some residential neighborhoods with homes on small parcels and a single access in/out were not given this protected designation. The Beech Hill/Wilderness Way neighborhood, shared between the town and village, is one such residential area.

We urge the town and village boards to be completely candid and stay true to the original purpose of protecting as many residential neighborhoods as possible from the negative effects of STRs. It will be much harder to become more restrictive with the STR law at a later date. Additionally, we urge community members to carefully review the district maps from 2011 that are being used and read all 28 pages of proposed Local Law No. 6 of 2022.

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Tim and Shelley Reynolds live in Lake Placid.

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