New Greenport code eases path for short-term rentals

Greenport Village is going against the grain when it comes to regulating short-term rentals on the East End.

As other municipalities clamp down, village trustees have approved new rental laws that contain no minimum lengths of stay. The law, which takes effect in January, imposes residency rules designed to discourage investor-driven real estate purchases.

The current law bans rentals for less than 14 days in single-family homes unless they are owner-occupied. The new provisions will allow entire single-family homes to be rented as long as an owner lives there part of the year.

Short-term rentals, popularized by sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, have set off debates in seasonal vacation communities over property rights, housing affordability and availability. In Greenport, tensions have flared: At one end of the debate are some residents who say short-term rentals bring too much noise, traffic and trash to their streets. But others argue that short-term rentals are crucial to the region's economy, including neighbors who say they depend on additional income, as well as businesses eager for tourist spending.

Mayor Kevin Stuessi voted against the legislation, which was approved 4-1 on Dec. 4. He said he supported a two-week rental minimum.

“All of the laws elsewhere on the East End … are much more restrictive than what we just passed,” Stuessi said in an interview.

In August, the Village of Southampton enacted a two-week minimum stay. The Town of Riverhead doesn’t allow rentals of less than a month, while Southold Town has a 14-day minimum requirement. Southampton Town is planning to lift a two-week minimum during the U.S. Open golf championship next year, Newsday reported.

Stuessi said the law could encourage seasonal residents to rent their homes.

“My hope would have been that we would see folks buying houses to spend more time in the village,” he said.

Residency requirements

The law requires rental properties to be used primarily as homes under three categories: “hosted,” meaning the owner lives on site during stays and rents a guest bedroom; “owner occupied,” allowing entire homes to be rented if an owner lives there for a minimum of 120 days a year; and “resident,” for two-unit properties that allows one to be rented if the other is occupied by an owner or long-term tenant.

Short-term rental operators are only allowed to have one permit in the village under the new law and accessory structures like garages and pool houses cannot be rented out.

The new law also raises short-term rental permit fees to $750 annually. The current fee is $250 and due every other year.

“An investor can’t just buy a house and turn it into a hotel and a money-maker,” trustee Julia Robins, a real estate agent, said in an interview, adding that she felt a minimum stay was too restrictive.

The current code, in place since 2018, allowed two-family homes and portions of single-family homes to be rented for shorter stays. Officials said the code had loopholes and was tough to enforce.

Concern about turnover

Critics of the new regulations say the village’s housing stock should be used for year-round residents rather than as a commodity that benefits part-time residents.

“It’s just really laying out a red carpet for a second homeowner to subsidize their summer here and rent it the rest of the year, potentially next, to a year-rounder who has to deal with 245 nights of different faces and turnover and all of the negative impacts that come with a short-term rental,” Bridget Elkin, a resident and real estate agent, said in an interview.

John Saladino, a resident who chairs the village zoning board, said short-term rentals “do nothing for the community” and chip away at year-round housing and tight-knit neighborhoods.

“Somebody that … comes and rents the house next door to me or down the block from me for the weekend is not going to join the fire department, is not going to be a crossing guard, is not going to join the ambulance service, and is not going to put a hot meal on Saladino’s porch if he ever got sick,” Saladino said in an interview.

Greenport has a large share of short-term rentals in Southold Town, according to a 2024 analysis by a town task force. Of nearly 1,000 short-term rentals townwide, the majority — 293 — were in Greenport.

Rich Vandenburgh, who chairs the village Business Improvement District, said the group supports short-term stays which “make it a little bit easier for people to come into town, stay at a place, go eat in a restaurant, spend money at the shops.” But he said the village and business owners should continue looking for ways to create more workforce housing.

In a statement, Michael Blaustein, Northeast Atlantic policy lead for Airbnb, said the company “has been a part of Long Island communities for years and we’re committed to supporting residents advocating for balanced and fair rules that keep tourism dollars local."