COOPERSTOWN VILLAGE BOARD

Moratorium Likely

On Tourist Rentals

Editor’s Note:  This article was incomplete in this week’s edition of The Freeman’s Journal.   Here is the full report.

COOPERSTOWN  – After a “rash of applications” raise some public concern, the trustees are moving ahead on a nine-month moratorium on allowing homeowners to rent rooms to Dreams Park families and other tourists.

The Village Board scheduled a public hearing on the measure for 7 p.m. Monday, May 22, and it can then be voted on that evening, blocking additional tourist accommodations, including new B&Bs, until next March.

“It will freeze everything in place,” Village Attorney Martin Tillapaugh advised the trustees at their monthly meeting April 24.  Although two applications that are already being reviewed would get in under the wire.

The vote was unanimous, but there was some discussion about six months instead.  Mayor Jeff Katz, recalling it took two years to revise the zoning law, said “it could take months to hash this out.

For now, the moratorium would end a controversy that drew a crowd April 4 Zoning Board of Appeals, where three applications were approved:

• 20 Glen Ave. (Janice Eichler), from two bedrooms to five bedrooms after owner moved into carriage house.
• 130 Chestnut St. (Bill Dystra), converting a four-unit apartment house into shortterm tourist accommodations.
• 3 Westridge Drive (Richard and Rosemarie Abbate), making two bedrooms available for tourist rentals.

The matter was raised again on the 12^th at the Village Board’s Economic Development & Sustainability Committee and on the 18^th at the Planning Board, which recommended the Village Board adopt a moratorium, a message chairman Gene Berman brought to the trustees.

While the turnout at the three meetings underscored this is a public concern, Berman also said it’s “a legal issue.”

The trustees recently adopted an updated comprehensive master plan where “one major goal is to have year ’round residents,” Berman said.  Dedicating some housing to the tourist season – 10 weeks – takes it out of the mix for permanent residents.

“People are concerned about community character,” said Village Trustee Cindy Falk, who chairs the Economic Development committee, about multiple rooms being rented out in single-family homes and also about related parking.

In a related matter, Liz Callahan, Historic Preservation & Architectural Review Board chair, alerted the trustees that four demolition permits will be considered when the HARB meets next, at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 9.

She also said that the HARB and Simple Integrity, Josh Edmonds’ construction firm, are at a standoff on the proposed demolition of 45 Chestnut St.

To resolve it, the HARB may bring in an independent contractor to assess what repairs would be necessary so a certificate of occupancy could be issued on the home.