Southold Town considers proposal to significantly cut back short-term rentals

From The Long Island Daily · 09:55

Show by WLIW-FM

Short-term vacation rentals in the Town of Southold could be drastically scaled back under a new proposal that would cap permits at 1% of homes in each hamlet as officials try to balance resident concerns with demand for tourist accommodations.Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that as the short-term rental industry has grown in popularity, complaints from neighbors about loud parties, trash, parking and other issues have also spiked. Seasonal vacation homes have also strained the year-round housing supply, driving up costs amid a regional crisis, officials said.“We are struggling to regulate it,” Southold Town Attorney Ben Johnson told NEWSDAY. Since 2015, Southold has banned rentals of less than 14 days, but enforcement has proved virtually impossible, officials have said. “We understand this is a seasonal economy. … Most of the complaints we get are from people that it’s just a revolving door next to their house,” Johnson said.Under the proposal, short-term rental permits would be capped at 1% to distribute offerings across the town’s nine hamlets and awarded via lottery. Based on the 1% cap, 119 homes could be eligible for short term rental permits, according to a town planning analysis — an 80% decrease from the current rental market.Last year, Southold began using the software Rentalscape to track illegal short-term rentals. Figures from the latest report show there are about 640 short term rental properties in town that earn $27.5 million in host revenue, Johnson said. The average nightly rate is $902, according to the town report.Southold budgeted $120,000 for a new full-time code enforcement director in its 2027 budget in anticipation of the new short-term rental rules. The town board still has to hold a public hearing and approve the legislation. Town officials are aiming to roll out the lottery next year, with the permit system taking effect in 2028.***A new oyster restoration project in the Great South Bay is testing new techniques to improve survival rates of young oysters. Tracy Tullis reports in NEWSDAY that ecologists at Seatuck Environmental Association in West Sayville, which launched the program, are focused especially on helping the young shellfish to better defend themselves against predators, a significant cause of mortality in past restoration efforts. The long-term goal is to establish a functioning reef, which can help clean water, increase biodiversity and soften the impact of waves on eroding shorelines.For the past 40 years, ecologists have been working to re-create some version of the vast oyster reefs that once flourished along the U.S. coastlines, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Maine. In Long Island's bays and estuaries, those efforts stretch back at least 25 years.But those projects often have not succeeded. "A lot of the restoration…isn't working," said Kris Mielenhausen, conservation director at the Seatuck Environmental Association. They aren't reaching "that critical mass" that's required for the shellfish to begin multiplying naturally.So Seatuck set out to try something different for its new restoration project in the Great South Bay. In particular, the organization will be testing several strategies to help the newly released spat to resist predators — often a significant source of mortality."It’s a scientific experiment," Mielenhausen said last month as he leaned against the gunwale of a boat in the bay. "It's about looking at the data, and being honest about the successes and the failures," he said. And when there are failures, the ecologists will be asking, "what we can we do to make it work?"The hatchery is funded by the Knapp-Swezey Foundation, based in Patchogue, and other private donors, and Seatuck has applied for a state grant through the South Shore Estuary Reserve Program to support the predator cue research.One day, Seatuck hopes there will again be thriving, self-sustaining oyster reefs in the Great South Bay — dense colonies of living shellfish and older shells, a nursery for marine life. "We're pretty far away from that at this point," Mielenhausen acknowledged. Eventually, he said, "maybe we can get to a place where we can actually restore populations." In the meantime, there will likely be years of trials, errors and more trials.***The Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation will hold its annual flag ceremony in honor of veterans this coming Wednesday, November 11, at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center, 240 Edgemere Street. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at the Suzanne Koch Gosman Flagpole Garden and feature a flag raising and wreath-laying ceremony conducted by Girl Scout Troop 825. Local student and singer Faith Mulally will perform the national anthem; Collin Snovell, station chief of U.S. Coast Guard Station Montauk, will offer remarks. Light refreshments will be served in the cultural center following the ceremony. All are invited.That’s Veterans Day 2026 at 11 a.m. at Montauk Playhouse Community Center.***Two years after a $323…

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