Short-term rental owners shared concerns about a proposed short-term rental (STR) law at a Gardiner town board meeting on July 9.

The draft law requires STR owners to register with the town code enforcement officer, install and maintain basic safety precautions, and that the STR must be owner occupied.

The largest bone of contention among STR owners was the owner occupancy requirement.

“How do you rent the house if you’re in it?” one resident asked. “If you’re a short-term rental, unless you’re doing a share, you have to get out of the house to let them in.”

Short-term rental owner Todd Baker lives in Gardiner part-time and uses his property as an STR. He said the rental supports him and his wife’s ability to have a second home, an owner-occupancy rule would affect their ability to support their lifestyle.

Pascal and Simone Vohradnik live full-time in Gardiner and rent out a second property adjacent to their home. They said their STR is a house they fixed up, beautifying the property in the process. They said they would be concerned about the owner occupancy component of the law.

The law defines owner occupied as the majority owner of the property who must be in residence a minimum of 49 weeks out of the year during short-term rentals. The law does allow the owner to be away during rentals for one three-week period out of the year, as long as they designate a host to deal with issues on the property should they arise.

Deputy Supervisor Laura Walls said the definition of owner occupancy could be subject to change pending public input.

According to the draft law, owner occupancy would also protect affordability of housing stock by preventing the purchase of real estate based on the return on investment associated with STRs.

The law states its purpose is to protect residents of the town from harm to character of their neighborhoods. Several board members have expressed concern for the problems that occur as a result of absentee STR owners, such as noise, litter and traffic issues.

“It’s for the people that live here year-round and have to justify not being able to put their kids to bed because there’s a party going on or having their quality of life impacted by this,” Town Supervisor Marybeth Majestic said.

Baker said the language used to describe owners in the law unfairly paints owners in a bad light. He said most STR owners are invested in the Gardiner community, whether they live part- or full-time in the town.