The Roslyn Estates Board of Trustees passed a local law at its meeting Monday evening that will regulate home rentals in the village.
The law intends to stop residents from renting their homes on Airbnb or similar internet services by imposing fines that exceed potential profit from such rentals, said village Attorney Chris Prior.
The law bars rentals for less than 120 consecutive days. The fine for a first penalty would be $7,500, followed by $15,000 for a second and $30,000 for a third, continuing to increase for ongoing penalties.
No audience members spoke at the public hearing that preceded the board’s vote on the law.
The board also introduced a new amendment to the village code that would allow the mayor to authorize specific village employees to enforce appearance tickets around the village.
“Police officers and state peace officers are authorized to enforce local rules, but you need to have yourself identify who else can do it,” Prior told Mayor Paul Leone Peters. “I am proposing that we add a section to our code, which is similar to provisions in other village codes, which authorize those village officials and employees directed by the mayor to enforce various code provisions to be able to then issue appearance tickets.”
The board plans to hold a public hearing on the bill at the next meeting on Nov. 19.
In the public comment period, village resident Kevin Kopinsky said he was concerned about a poorly lit section of The Intervale. He was driving there and nearly hit a group of people walking in the middle of the street as they returned home from Yom Kippur services at Tohr Ohr Roslyn, he said.
“I could have plowed through maybe 15 people on their way home from a religious service,” Kopinsky said.
The synagogue advises members to wear reflective clothing, he said.
His father, Keith Kopinsky, wrote a letter to the board requesting a streetlight and “pedestrians present” sign in that area.
The board talked about potentially installing a light on a post Kevin Kopinsky had noticed that is already on that street but is currently unused.
The board separately discussed how to make a curve on Diana’s Trail safer.
The mayor had planned on placing a stop sign and then potentially adding yellow striping in the middle of the road. Other board members questioned whether drivers would ignore it, especially since it is not at an intersection and there are multiple other stop signs in the area.
“If anything, the solid line around the curve perhaps with a sign that says ‘blind turn’ might be a better answer than putting up a stop sign, where you’re stopping but don’t know that it’s a blind turn and you don’t appreciate how important it is to stay all the way to the right,” said Trustee Stephen Fox.
