Borgias:
“Short-term guests keep shops and businesses alive”
BEACON – Dozens gathered on Monday night to present their concerns to the Beacon City Council regarding possible regulations on Airbnb rentals in the city.
This issue was addressed in the wake of the city council’s decision to look into regulating the room-rental industry in Beacon, where bookings for short-term rentals via Airbnb jumped by 62 percent in 2017.
Sean Twohig, an Airbnb landlord, attended the hearing with his girlfriend
to discuss his positive experiences with Airbnb.
“We’re here to dispel some of the myths that people have about [Airbnb],” he said. “I think it should be regulated but not so strictly that average people can’t share their homes and make some extra income.”
Touhig took the mic to defend being an Airbnb landlord along with Seth
Porges, who said that being an Airbnb owner has economic benefits for
him and for those who stay in his home while he is traveling for work.
“Short-term guests keep shops and businesses alive, and families
want to stay together in a way hotels can’t accommodate at any price,”
Porges said. “I’m self-employed and having this as a safety
net is vital for my financial security. It keeps me from foreclosure.”
Arguing for stricter regulations on Airbnb rentals in Beacon was Elaine Ciaccio, who started a petition in her neighborhood that she presented to the city council.
“It wants to ban non-owner occupied short-term rentals so that people don’t live next to a hotel in their neighborhood,” Ciaccio said. “I suppose it’s within people’s rights to rent out their home, but it does affect our apartment rental market.”
The issue of regulating Airbnb rentals in Beacon was first considered three years ago, but the council ultimately deferred to state legislature, which passed a law that at the time only applied to New York City.
Some of the questions the council will consider as they work on legislation include whether to define Airbnb rentals as homes or businesses, how to control disruptions in the neighborhood and how far apart Airbnb homes should be from one another.
