Letters to the Editor: Rentals 12.10.15

Demand for Help

Montauk 

December 7, 2015

To the Editor, 

As we all know, Montauk has been plagued by a number of civic outrages such as public drunkenness, disgracefully bad behavior, late-night crime, and a generally wild-party attitude that had been foisted on our community by a small number of businesses and individuals.

Over the past several months, the citizens’ action group Montauk United has reached out to communities across the nation that have experienced similar problems, in an effort to learn and hopefully benefit from their experiences as to how they coped with the above issues, and the degree of success or failure in their efforts. Montauk United also called upon the input of a number of law-enforcement Montauk United members who have specific and practical professional experience dealing with these problems.

While the geographic and demographical statistics varied between the participating municipalities, there existed definite parallels to the problems faced and the manner in which they were confronted. The specific social problems facing the municipalities were the same, as was the surprisingly main, number-one reason of cause. Simply stated, the primary reason was a generally carnival-type anything-goes attitude created by a radically overcrowded situation. Simply put, too many people in too small of an area. 

Even more significant was the unanimous opinion of both the municipalities affected and the queried law enforcement executives in regard to the root cause of this overcrowding situation. That number-one cause, the unanimously agreed-upon major instigating problem, was the abundance of illegal short-term housing. All participating municipalities, all experienced law enforcement executives, agreed upon one point: control the illegal housing and you begin to correct the problem.

It is more than obvious illegal housing is out of control in Montauk. It is also obvious that all Montauk’s other similar problems correlate closely with this illegal activity. Trains and buses are loaded with literally thousands of people coming and going on summer weekends, and it is a pretty good bet they aren’t all staying with Mom and Dad. Where are they staying? How do they get around town? How do they come and go from late-night activities? This situation exists, it is growing, and it is not going to go away.

The town board has created legislation to effectively deal with illegal short-term housing. It is the first significant step in returning Montauk back to the town it once was. The opponents of the legislation may have a number of valid points, but far more important is the fact that if illegal housing is not corrected it will eventually plague not only Montauk but also the entire Town of East Hampton. The proposed legislation is for the greater good of all its citizens, and must take precedence over any one particular sub-interest group. 

If you believe in Montauk, if you believe in the entire East Hampton community, if you truly want to see change for the better, if you care the least bit about the future of our community, you must help support this legislation. No other reason is either necessary for its passing or for your approval and support. The passing of this legislation will be a victory for Montauk and for all the people who are sick and tired of the illegal actions of a few who knowingly, through greed, indifference, and contempt, have created this very issue that is plaguing our town and if left unabated will only grow.

The town board is responding to Montauk’s demand for help. They are attempting to do what they promised at the Montauk Firehouse meeting last July 14. Help them accomplish this through emailing or phoning in your support for the rental registry. Email or phone Supervisor Cantwell: We support the Town Rental Registry. LCantwell@ ehamptonny.gov or call 324-4140.

TOM BOGDAN

An Unwelcoming Place

Springs

November 27, 2015

To the Editor:

Adding to countless published rental registry opinions in your paper, and after attending the Nov. 19 public hearing, I want to add my point of view, since I have multiperspectives on this issue. It is because I am professionally a real estate broker and also a homeowner, I speak from more than one point of view.

Several of my real estate peers spoke at the hearing. Their comments generally expressed our viewpoint quite well. Realtors witness more interactions than anyone between a landlord and tenant. As the top rental broker within my company (doing nearly 80 percent of last year’s leases), I witness firsthand the impact rentals have on our community and how important they are.

I am in a unique position because I am a homeowner in his 20s, no easy feat in this town with minimal housing available for young adults. I had wanted to speak at the hearing but refrained from raising my opinion because I was afraid.  I’m generally an outgoing person, and as part of my profession I have no qualms speaking in public. But I was apprehensive worrying about repercussions, as I too rent out my home. Were this law passed, I truly wouldn’t want to stay in such an unwelcoming place. I do not appreciate it that the town is involved in my business.

With a show of hands where 80 percent were against the rental registry, there weren’t enough speakers representing the opposition. My hypothesis for myself as well as others’ restraint in speaking up is fear — fear of Big Brother, fear of unnecessary intervention, fear of even more fines, permits, or taxes to incur. 

East Hampton is one of the most challenging places to live annually as a young person. I am one of the many who rent out of necessity, like countless others I know who do the same to stay here. Renting helps cover my mortgage and put money back into my house through capital improvements. All these improvements employ local tradespeople. Were it not for supplemental income, I wouldn’t have the means to do so.

I suggest a better solution than the registry is for law enforcement to do their job, focused on the minority of slumlords. It is unreasonable to burden a whole town to address problems caused by so few. Restricting homeowners from renting their property guarantees financial ruin to the local economy of East Hampton. If rental properties decrease, so does tourism that fuels our economy.

If this passes, I truly wouldn’t want to stay in such an unwelcoming place.

JORDAN DANIEL

Don’t Want Registry

Montauk

December 7, 2015

To the Editor, 

One of the front-page articles of last week’s Star, written by David Rattray, stated “Registry Appears Certain.” To all of us who were at the Nov. 19 Town Hall meeting at the American Legion Hall, the one thing that was certain was that most of the good citizens of East Hampton don’t want a rental registry.

It appears certain that not only does the town board not care about the will of the people, but that David Rattray is willing to support the board.

Last week Pat Flynn wrote a letter to The Star. The point of her letter was that we have a republic as long as we are willing to defend it. My question to all the good citizens of East Hampton is, are “we the people” willing to defend it?

VINCENT BIONDO

Registry Is Necessary

Amagansett

December 6, 2015

Dear David,

While I agree with The Star that the infusion of “foreign money” was a serious blow to the Republican ticket (even the trustees), I felt the vote was an endorsement of the present board’s unanimously proposed rental registration policy.

Looking at the many anti-registration ads in The Star before the election, combined with too many similar “message” street signs, clearly indicated that the fate of the proposed law was an important Democrat vs. Republican ballot issue.

 So, when I happily read of the strong showing by Democrats, I believed and still believe that a majority of the town supports the need to establish a series of laws intended to avoid the type of hysteria and disgust we saw in Montauk last summer. Remember the full-page ad in The Star by one of the most respected members of the town, Perry Duryea III? He described the tragedy he saw and went on to plead for action on the part of the town board to “Save Montauk.”

The massively attended Montauk meeting a few weeks later further called for action. A major cause of the problem was wholesale disregard for the existing rental laws. A huge increase in online weekend rentals to mostly young, well-to-do singles out for a blast demonstrated their lack of regard for our town and its way of life.

As any thinking person knows, it is impossible for our code enforcement officials to be everywhere at once. As an important start, a rental registry reinforces the existing law by giving the code enforcement staff key data about a property suspected of violating the law. The registry data, for example, establishes whether the property is registered in the first place, and if so, states the owner and contact information about the local landlord. Without this information, it can take weeks to get corrective action, and by then the summer could be over.

In my opinion, there are only three kinds of landlords who are opposed to some form of a rental registry. First, those who have not taken the time to read the highly simplified new proposal or who have relied on the misleading ads. This is easily corrected by reading online. Second, landlords who have been renting for years, and I am one of them. They are mostly local and are careful to rent to desirable tenants; however, they do not want the town or the I.R.S. to know of it. While the town cannot condone this behavior, it is my and not anybody else’s guess that if there was not a crisis caused by the enormous influx of undesirables, there would not be a need for a rental registry in the first place.

Third, and this is the problem. Landlords in this category see a cash cow, care little about the negative impact of their weekly clients, and are only concerned with the payoff. They receive thousands of dollars per weekend for a bedroom rental.

This has to be stopped. Will this law eliminate the problem? No. But it is an important start to making code enforcement possible. While the example is a little stretch, think of what the cop knows in seconds after an accident when he inputs your license number to Albany. In a way, the rental registry will tell the code enforcement staff immediately how to begin corrective action.

The decision by the town board to proceed to pass a registry despite the large number of naysayers at the meeting last week is to be applauded. No one likes taxes but we know they are necessary, and so is this law.

IRVING HIRSCHBERG