In early December, the Walden board of trustees discussed a possible new short term rental law. Now, there is a rough draft.

The draft, prepared by Village of Walden Attorney David Donovan, was announced and shared with the board last week. Because of some of the feedback they received originally when proposing this new local law, which is largely based on Goshen’s pre existing law, they expect to make changes.

Goshen’s short term rental law has a purpose to “...promote the public health, safety and welfare by establishing regulations, permitting and enforcement procedures related to Short Term Rentals within the Village Code.” Short term rentals are places like AirBnB and VRBO.

The local law aims to set tighter restrictions for short term rentals to increase protection and safety of residents. This includes owners getting rental permits, only allowing single-family rentals, authorizing only short-term rentals at owner-occupied property, no additional parking spaces between the primary rental property and the street, and more.

Some board members remarked on the denseness of the draft and noted they would share their thoughts at a later date after digesting it. However, trustee Becky Pearson had her notes ready to go.

Pearson originally had many comments on the idea. She stated, “There’s a lot more that can be added,” when the conversation first came up. Pearson still believes more can be done, including tighter definitions and a better statement of purpose, as well as discussion amongst board members about what they specifically would like to change or keep the same.

When Pearson asked if they wanted her to bring up her notes now or not, Donovan stated, “It is likely more efficient if I get them in writing so I can incorporate them into a future draft.”

However, Pearson thought the board should be the one having the discussions.

“I don’t know that it will be productive for me to make the comments and just turn it into a war,” said Donovan.

Trustee Lynn Thompson then noted her thoughts. “I think we should have some things in our mind of where we want to go; like how much do we want to encompass with this because that’s what keeps coming up with the information I’m reading. It really can have a significant impact on the neighborhood, so I think as we read, you just need to be cognizant of some of the questions,” said Thompson.

Though there was some more light discussion, board members agreed to come back to the law after reading it fully.