As it works to develop a city policy, Glens Falls is holding a public input session on short-term rentals Wednesday.
In August, the Glens Falls Common Council passed a resolution to begin the process to create a new smart growth comprehensive plan.
Third Ward Councilwoman Diana Palmer chairs the building and codes committee. She wants to be proactive about how the Warren County city will approach short-term rentals.
“It was extremely important to us that whatever we put forward will be really customized to the issues that affect our local community, not every community is the same. And we do want to hear from people with diverse interests—people who may own and operate short-term rentals; people who may think they are a good thing because they contribute to the economy; also, people who live in neighborhoods where short-term rentals exist and how they feel about them; you know, there are people who operate bed and breakfasts and hotels and they have feelings about short-term rentals,” said Palmer.
An online survey sought comment from city residents and local stakeholders. Palmer says the results, as well as relevant findings from a 2023 Warren County housing survey, will be shared with the public Wednesday.
“We know that they impact our housing, our available housing and rentals. They may affect quality of life in neighborhoods. We know there’s a difference between an owner-occupied short-term rental where someone may be just renting a room to try to make extra income. That could be very different than a privately owned or maybe an LLC that owns a property and runs a business of a short-term rental,” said Palmer.
Palmer, a Democrat, adds that she and other city leaders are not rushing to determine a way forward.
“You know, one consideration could be whether we limit short-term rentals to certain districts. There are residential districts versus commercial districts and maybe it makes more sense in some areas and not others. But before we jump to making those decisions, we really want to hear from the community and from various stakeholders so that our decisions are largely based on their input,” said Palmer.
A state a bill that would create a registration system for short-term rentals to begin collecting sales and occupancy taxes passed the Senate and Assembly last session.
Democratic Mayor Bill Collins says as his city continues to grow, it’s important to get ahead of an issue that larger communities in the region have spent years trying to tackle.
“I think that there’s a lot of fear about short-term rentals. We have not been a primary tourism destination in Warren County but we definitely have had our fair share of Airbnb sort-of rentals,” said Collins.
Collins says there are many approaches the city could take and needs to consider.
“We should be looking at how this is impacting Glens Falls, make some decisions on what course to chart for ours selves. I don’t think any solution is a one-size-fits-all solution. I think Saratoga is a much different venue, say even Queensbury, because Queensbury alone is 60 square miles, and Glens Falls is less than four, right? We’ve got 15,000 and are less than four square miles and so we need to look at that, I’m proud that we are looking it and we should address it,” said Collins.
The public input session at the Crandall Public Library begins at 7:15.
In a statement, Airbnb Policy Lead Nathan Rotman says the company appreciates leaders seeking public input "as they work to develop regulations that address community needs while allowing residents to share their homes. We look forward to working with the Common Council and community members so that residents can continue to earn supplemental income and contribute to Glens Falls’ local economy.”