WHITE LAKE, NY — The Bethel Town Board held a public hearing on April 26, soliciting input on a local law regulating short-term rentals. 

Everyone who spoke had suggestions about how the draft law could be improved. The town board will in the weeks to come parse through them and decide what needs to be changed. Written comments will be accepted until Wednesday, May 10.

The following are a selection of points made at the public hearing. 

Smallwood and White Lake, two of the town’s densest residential areas, may need special regulations, residents suggested. “Smallwood needs to be put in a separate category,” said Peter Conroy. With 1,100 homes over eight square miles, “We’re really wedged in there.”

“Who’s enforcing these rules that you say you’re proposing?” asked Candice Gillerman. The building department works Monday through Friday, and is already overworked, she said. Will there be a separate department? Will enforcement be a police issue?

Short-term rentals bring tourists—and their dollars—into Bethel, residents said. “These people will come and stay, and then they’re gonna walk into Kauneonga Lake and pour money into the bars and restaurants,” said Brian Cohen. 

Lots of the impressions people had of short-term rentals weren’t entirely true, said their hosts. Their owners cared about the community; the people who stayed at them weren’t always wild. 

Transient people coming and going harm the fabric of the community, residents suggested. “Safety and knowing my neighbor is very important to me. Having short-term rental houses on my block and in the community makes me very uncomfortable,” said Dee Bee Kalua. 

Allowing short-term rentals turned former residential areas into commercial hotel-motel districts, residents suggested. Under the proposed rules, any or all houses in town could be used as short-term rental businesses. 

Homes being used for short-term rentals could strain septic resources for houses not connected to a sewer network, residents suggested. Resident Susan Conroy asked how 12 people can live on a substandard lot and not affect neighboring water and sewer.