By Paul Wisniewski
LANCASTER — If you own a house in one of the Village of Lancaster’s residential neighborhoods and rent it out on Airbnb or VRBO without living there yourself, a proposed village law would put you out of that business.
The Village Board of Trustees held a public hearing Monday, Nov. 9, on a local law that would register, inspect and restrict short-term rentals, defined as rentals of less than 30 days in a row. The draft law, revised Oct. 14, says short-term rentals are not permitted in any residence district unless the home is owner-occupied, meaning it is the principal residence of at least one person who owns it and actually lives there.
Trustee John Mikoley, who has led the push, traced it to one complaint nearly two years ago, the Lancaster/Depew Bee reported.
“This originally came to us two years ago. On Jan. 8, 2024, we had a resident on Fairfield [Avenue] came here complaining about one [short-term rental] on their street,” Mikoley said. “That person has since moved, allegedly, because of the problems.”
How many rentals are there?
Mikoley said seven short-term rentals appear on a county-based website that tracks rental activity, the Bee reported. Based on his own online research and neighbors’ complaints, he estimated 11 are operating in the village.
He said the village asked residents for feedback a year ago through its newsletter and online. “I wanted both positive and negative feedback,” he said. “What we put together is based on that, both good and bad.”
What the law would require
Under the draft, every short-term rental in the village, owner-occupied or not, would need a permit before a single guest checks in. The notarized application would list the number of bedrooms, occupancy limits, off-street parking, fire protection, exits and a floor plan, along with every website the unit is advertised on and every owner, including the people behind any LLC or partnership. Owners claiming the owner-occupied exemption would have to show a driver’s license, passport or voter registration card.
The village building inspector or code enforcement officer would inspect each unit against the state fire and property maintenance codes before a permit is issued. Inspections would cost $150 per unit, with a $75 fee for each re-inspection. Permits would last three years.
The draft also caps occupancy at three adults per bedroom, bars guests from subletting, and lets the village revoke a permit for “any conduct which disturbs the health, safety, peace or comfort of the neighborhood.” Owners could appeal a denial or revocation to the Village Board within 14 days.
The penalties
Fines would run $500 a day for a first offense of failing to register or of letting guests stay without a valid permit, and $1,000 a day for later offenses, with each day counted as a separate violation. The draft also allows up to 15 days in jail, and every person with an ownership interest in a property would be jointly responsible.
The law would take effect six months after it is enacted.
“Essentially a hotel next-door”
Mikoley said the most common complaint he heard was about neighborhoods, not noise.
“Among the most significant complaints I heard repeatedly, was that short-term rentals have a negative impact on the very fabric of the community. People want to know their neighbors,” he said. “Having what is essentially a hotel next-door, or on the block, disrupts the community as no one knows who is there from one day to the next.”
Lancaster would be taking a stricter route than the Town of Hamburg, which adopted its first Airbnb law in October with a $2,000 first permit and, unlike its hearing draft, opened single-family R-1 neighborhoods to rentals.
What we still don’t know
The Bee’s account of the hearing does not say whether the board voted on the law that night, and the village’s hearing notice only set the hearing. Several questions remain: how many of the estimated 11 rentals are owner-occupied, what happens to bookings already on the calendar when the law takes effect, and whether any of the operators spoke at the hearing.
The ban applies to residence districts. The draft also adds a reference to the new rules in the village’s mixed-use districts, but it does not spell out a separate ban there, so rentals in mixed-use areas would still need a permit.
The Buffalo Chronicle is asking the village clerk whether the board has adopted the law, and when, and will update this story with any response. The law applies only in the village, not in the surrounding Town of Lancaster.
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