KINGSTON – The proliferation of online short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway, among others has prompted Ulster County Executive Michael Hein to develop a comprehensive plan to address the challenges.
The county executive has the support of county legislators, local government officials and the Ulster County Lodging Coalition to provide safety for tourists.
“Our local municipalities, our towns and villages and City of Kingston have no idea on what is going on from a short term rental perspective in their community, so this action will help provide a clear list to all the municipalities of the short term rentals that are taking place within their boundaries and allow them, through their code enforcement officers to make sure there is a level of safety for everybody who visits Ulster County,” Hein said.
The plan would also enhance “fairness” with traditional lodging businesses by requiring the short-term rental properties to charge the county occupancy tax to further contribute to the local tourism promotion efforts.
County Legislator Jonathan Heppner said the plan “strikes the right balance between transparency and the need to equitably enforce the rules among all the providers of services.”
Hurley Town Supervisor John Perry said the county’s towns “are seeing the growth of the short-term vacation rental market and are exploring ways to address the many associated challenges.” Perry said the Hein plan makes “the new resources available to us at the local level.”
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