Cassadaga village Trustee Cathy Cruver raised her concerns at a recent meeting with points in the currently drafted short-term rental property law. Photo by Braden Carmen

CASSADAGA — The topic of regulating short-term rental properties has been a point of contention in the village over the past year. At a recent Village Board meeting, Mayor Bill Dorman, Deputy Mayor and Trustee Bill Astry, and Trustee Cathy Cruver debated some of the main issues of the proposed law.

A major point of discussion was the enforcement of the proposed law and the due process of how to hold violators accountable.

“I have zero reason to doubt that the person that we have as the (code enforcement officer) currently would be unreasonable or be biased. I have no reason to believe that, but five years down the road, three years down the road, if we have somebody different …” Cruver pondered.

Astry responded, “It’s our responsibility to hire somebody that can do the job. … It comes right back to here. … If there is a question about their integrity, they’re gone.”

Cruver explained her concern that minor violations would be taken to the extreme of shutting down a short-term rental property. Astry responded to her concern by stating that a complaint would need to be reported to the police first, then an investigation would be required before a property would be shut down.

“They file a complaint, then it’s investigated, then the process begins,” Astry said. “… The (code enforcement officer) is responsible … and has to have the integrity to look at the situation and say, ‘This is a violation, but I’m not shutting you down. It’s a warning.'”

The Village Board came to the decision that the officer will have the authority to police the matter, as stated in the currently drafted law.

“It’s described in our law what he’s responsible for, and I don’t think we should limit his ability to do his job,” said Astry. “If there was a situation where the (Code Enforcement Officer) had to do something, I think he should be able to do it.”

Another one of the main points discussed was the limit of two short-term rental properties per owner in the village.

“In a small community that has already seen all kinds of dust-up about this, I’d hate to see that be the piece that people use to go after somebody,” Cruver said. “… It feels like it just becomes the bone of contention, this axe for people to grind. Again, I’m not going to argue or make this be the thing that holds everything up — just food for thought on it is all I want to provide.”

“It’s that particular line that gives me heartburn,” Dorman said of the limit of two permits per owner. “That’s the most likely place we’d be attacked with a lawsuit, for prohibiting commercial competition. If we said you can only have two, it’s more likely to be attacked than anything else that we have in the law. … That’s my biggest concern.”

Astry responded, “The only way it can be enforced is if somebody buys a third property, they don’t get a permit. If that’s the law that we have, if they challenge it, generally speaking, it’s not a big deal, we win. … If they can only have two, and they want a third one, and they can’t get the permit to have it, then they shouldn’t buy the third one. They shouldn’t buy it and then expect to sue us so they can have another one. I think that’s the philosophy we ought to have. I think two is the limit.”

The Village Board decided to keep the limit of two rental properties per owner in the law as it was written.

The village has also proposed a permit cap of 20 short-term rental properties in the village. To obtain a permit, the operator must prove the business was operating as a short-term rental property before the moratorium was in place.

The Village Board previously approved a 90-day extension from the original expiration date of the moratorium on short-term rentals in the village. The motion was made by Trustee Cindy Flaherty and seconded by Trustee Mark Wilson. Neither member attended the recent meeting when additional discussion took place.

The Village Board will inform Attorney Joe Calimeri of its decisions on the matters discussed at the recent meeting.