The Town of Wallkill is considering a new short-term rental law as tourism increases and more residents rent out their houses for short stays.
The law will regulate the use of short-term rentals for the health, safety, and quality of life of town residents, with penalties attached to violations.
A draft law is ready for review, and residents can comment at a March 23 public hearing at town hall.
Under the draft law, short-term rentals are those shorter than 31 consecutive days.
Any town residents who wish to do short-term rentals must first secure a permit by submitting applications to the town building department.
The application package includes a nonrefundable permit fee, a list of owners or agents with signatures, a statement authorizing inspections, and floor plans for each rentable level.
According to the draft law, only single-family residences are allowed for short-term rentals.
All short-term rental properties must comply with both the town and New York state building codes.
In terms of fire risks, each sleeping room must have one working smoking detector, with an additional one on each floor; fire extinguishers must be available on each floor and in the kitchen.
There must be at least one off-road parking space for each bedroom shown on the floor plan.
The maximum occupancy for any short-term rental house is 12 people.
If a short-term rental property has a septic system, it must be pumped every four years.
After receiving a permit application, the building department has 30 days to conduct an inspection and consider comments from homeowners living near the proposed property.
Those whose applications get denied can appeal within 60 days of the decision.
If a violation of the law is found and the offender is convicted in court, he or she is punishable—on the first offense—by a fine of no more than $350 or jail time of no more than 15 days.
Monetary punishments go up to between $350 and $700 on the second offense and between $700 and $1,000 on the third.
At the March 2 town board working session, members discussed contracting with a company that tracks short-term rentals online using a specialized program.
