SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — The discussion within Sullivan County on how to regulate short-term rentals remains an evolving conversation.

The abundance of short-term rentals, defined as homes or spare rooms rented out on platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo, has communities in Sullivan County questioning whether to regulate them, and if so, how. Among the towns taking up on the question are three toward the western end of the county, Bethel, Cochecton and Highland, and each of them are at different stages in the conversation.

Bethel

The Town of Bethel has recently begun work on short-term rental regulations.

Speaking with the River Reporter at the end of January, Bethel town supervisor Daniel Sturm said that lots of residents had come to him asking if the town was going to do anything about short-term rentals. He was preparing to circulate a set of regulations in rough draft form, preparing to give them to the town board for review before bringing them to public discussion.

A local connection

As the short-term rental industry has grown, so too has the disconnect between short-term rental properties and the neighborhoods they occupy. When a property gets rented out by a second-home owner, or by someone using it as an investment property, there might not be a person on site who knows the community and can smooth over issues.

The Catskill Porter, a property management business focusing on the area surrounding Liberty, is just one of the companies that has sprung up to help bridge that divide.

Matthew and Jennifer Clarke started the Catskill Porter during the pandemic, looking to pair Matthew’s experience in the hospitality industry with Jennifer’s roots in the Catskills. They provide full-time property management services for approximately 10 properties, and hospitality services for two or three dozen beyond that number.

The Catskill Porter encourages guests to connect with the local area. The Clarkes use hyper-local products to stock the properties under their management, like coffee from the Narrowsburg-based roaster Two Queens, and they provide guest books with recommendations for local restaurants and activities.

“We want people to visit the Catskills,” said Jennifer. “We also want people to be excited to be here and not lacking in things to do.”

The local touch they provide goes hand in hand with the local oversight required by local municipalities. The business is the caretaker of record for a few permits, and can be on site if called within an hour, said Jennifer.

A lot of the requirements for permits are positive things that protect homeowners, visitors and guests alike, said Matthew. “There are a lot of best practices that not everyone else adopts.”

The two are happy to have found something they can provide to the community, adding to the landscape of a place that they love, said Jennifer.

“We’re hoping that anyone who comes here does so in a safe manner,” said Sturm. With the draft regulations, the town was considering some mechanism for fair permitting, with additional enforcement mechanisms in place in case there was an issue.

Cochecton

The Town of Cochecton considered short-term rentals in the process of updating its comprehensive plan, a process that concluded this month.

“ are increasingly popular, support tourism and provide supplemental income for property owners but, unregulated, can negatively impact adjoining homeowners,” reads a portion of the update. Consultant Tom Shepstone, who drafted the update, prepared a set of short-term rental regulations for the town’s consideration. They included: that every short-term rental owner must designate a local contact person, able to respond within an hour to fix any issues that arise; that occupancy must be limited to two people per room, plus an additional two people total, with a minimum of one parking space per bedroom; and that each short-term rental be equipped with safety features including smoke detectors, a fire extinguisher and emergency-evacuation plans.

Cochecton town supervisor Gary Maas told the River Reporter the town won’t go forward with the regulations until it’s sure it’s able to carry them out.

The town is already limited in its code enforcement capacity, and adding short-term rentals as an extra category of buildings in need of inspection would add to its workload. “Just imagine checking out 80 buildings,” said Maas.

Further complicating the issue, town governments have limited collaboration with the county government, said Maas. According to Maas, while the county government knows where the short-term rentals in the county are (for the purpose of collecting their room taxes), it doesn’t share that information with the towns.

Highland

The passage of short-term rental regulations by a town doesn’t end the conversation. New circumstances or overlooked considerations may require regulations to be revised.

The Town of Highland adopted its short-term rental regulations in 2021. They included occupancy and parking requirements, safety inspections and a 24-hour turnaround on fixing any issues with the property.

The process of applying for a special use permit received another look at the January meeting of the Highland Town Board. Code enforcement official BJ Gettel told the board she was working with planning board chairman Norm Sutherland, as well as codes committee member Chris Tambini, on a simpler application for a short-term rental permit. “We are trying to promote business here,” she said.

The simplified form debuted at a meeting of the planning board later in the month. The checklist of items to be submitted for a permit still includes a multitude of health and safety requirements, as well as a $500 permit fee. The building must pass a fire safety inspection, the applicant must provide a comprehensive management plan for the property, and the short-term rental may not adversely affect the character of the neighborhood.

Short-term rentals cannot “impact your neighbors,” said Gettel.