Greater Patchogue coverage is funded in part by New Village at Patchogue, open-concept rental residences with sleek contemporary design. Click here for a tour.
Bellport Village’s residential rental/bed & breakfast committee was tasked last year with examining the village’s existing codes and researching what other towns and village are doing to regulate short-term rentals through websites like airbnb.com.
Then, the committee members were to make recommendations to the Village Board.
They did so Monday night in Village Hall. The committe’s recommendations were two-fold:
- The village Planning Board should review the current code and consider adding bed-and-breakfasts as options in both the business and professional districts. Hotels are already allowed in the village’s business district along Main Street, though not exactly feasible in a small village lacking infrastructure. The professional district is mostly on Station Road.
2. The village should require that anyone who owns a home, whether they rent it for one day or several years, register that home with the village. To do so, homeowners would pay a fee, provide all required certificate of occupancies, maintain proper insurance and show working smoke and CO detectors. The homeowner would also provide contact information for all owners, renters, and anyone who might look after the home.
Mayor Ray Fell said the board will next schedule public meetings to discuss the recommendations and decide on what changes would need to be made to village code.
“A big thing the board needs to start thinking about is what we’re going to do with the beaches, golf course and tennis courts for people that rent homes” for short-term stays, Fell said.
Those amenities are typically reserved for village residents and their guests.
Bellport Village is trying to weigh two issues in figuring out how to handle short-term rentals. One one hand, transient renters can bring with them quality of life concerns, and too many can change the character of residential neighborhoods.
On the other hand there’s little short-term lodging options in Bellport, which is a popular summer destination.
Bellport home file photo through MSLI
