As a newly-returned Lake Placid local I’ve been hesitant to comment on the important, complicated short-term rental controversy before learning more. After almost two years back home, the affordable housing and labor shortages are obvious.

Mini-hotels and full-time businesses operating in residential areas threaten the residential character of our neighborhoods and take long-term housing units off the market. I applaud the town and village boards for crafting a solution, but I write with concern that the proposed law does not sufficiently prioritize year-round residents.

As we approach the long-awaited FISU games, many locals reasonably question how these large events benefit regular folks who don’t own a hotel, restaurant, or retail business. I believe these events help our entire region, but I see their point. The proposed law prohibits the only way locals can financially benefit in a direct and tangible way: By renting their primary residence or accessory dwelling unit like an in-law suite they might otherwise use for guests, something locals have done during events since my great-grandparents lived here.

I support prohibiting the operation of full-time STRs in residential areas, but the proposed law has many exceptions for large businesses and wealthy second homeowners while doing little to promote the interests of regular locals. The law explicitly names several large businesses and HOAs (with mostly second homes) in exemptions to the limits and regulations it imposes on regular local homeowners.

“Locals First” should be the priority of this law, and local homeowners should preferentially benefit from the operation of Lake Placid’s STRs. There is a difference between a local who wants to rent their own home while escaping Ironman crowds and an absentee corporation operating a full-time STR. The proposed law makes no such distinction. Locals who might want a few weeks of sunshine and a little income to pay for the trip would be subject to the same limited number and cost of permits and the same onerous registration requirements as a large company running a network of STRs.

I urge the town and village boards to revise the proposed law to:

¯ Either exempt the rental of a year-round resident’s primary home or ADU for less than 90 days a year from the definition of an STR; or

¯ Provide for an unlimited number of temporary “vacation rental” permits available only to year-round residents for their primary residence or ADU for a limited number of days per year with minimal registration fees and requirements;

¯ Additionally, give year-round local residents priority over absentee companies and second homeowners in the issuing of initial STR permits and on permit wait lists or exempt locals from the permit limitations.

Other municipalities facing similar challenges have successfully implemented similar distinctions between STRs and vacation rentals. Lake Placid should do the same and give local homeowners a chance to share in the town’s tourist industry.

I want to thank the boards for their dedication to addressing this issue and for their service in what must often be a thankless position. While a good compromise might leave everyone equally dissatisfied, I hope the boards will consider amending the proposed law to put locals first while protecting the neighborhoods we all love.

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Danny Baker is a nurse practitioner. He was born and raised in Lake Placid and recently moved home after several years in Washington, D.C.