The village of Lake Placid and the town of North Elba have proposed new short-term Vacation Rental laws. These laws would make it much more challenging for short-term vacation rentals to thrive.
Lake Placid is one of many resort communities across the U.S. contending with potential barriers to short-term rentals. Last Thursday, The Washington Post published an AP article about issues of balancing “neighborhood concerns against the economic benefit of tourists who stay in short-term rentals.”
In truth, Lake Placid has thrived as a resort town long before the emergence of Airbnb. As I point out, “Seasonal rentals are nothing new in Lake Placid, famous for the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s medal-winning ‘Miracle on Ice.'” Short-term rentals contribute greatly to Lake Placid’s tourism economy. And, as I expressed, any “minimum nights” to STR’s would be detrimental to STR’s and to the Lake Placid.
Furthermore, “Lake Placid is likely to face legal challenges if it goes ahead with the 90-day limit,” says Huda Scheidelman, chairwoman of Gold Medal Hospitality group. To ensure more harmony between local residents and vacationers, “she agrees there should be regulations to address concerns like noise and parking, but she said the rules need to be reasonable.”
Obviously, I don’t want the local community to collapse in Lake Placid. I suggest that Lake Placid and North Elba research the root of our towns’ affordable housing shortage to come up with the best remedy for it. I also suggest that any income received from occupancy taxes, etc. from vacation rentals be reinvested back into the community. We should invest in its people, infrastructure, schools and give back to make Lake Placid the best that it can be.
And as Scheidelman suggests, it is unreasonable to restrict “‘the rental business to the point where guests actually are not feeling welcomed to Lake Placid.'”
To learn more and to join our group, Gold Medal Hospitality, please join our Facebook page and/or send us an email to: [email protected]. We will get back to you promptly.
To support our community of vacation rental owners, please consider writing a short letter to the town as soon as possible, stating how much you enjoy coming to Lake Placid and staying in a vacation rental rather than a hotel. Here are the names and email addresses of those you can send your letters to.
Thank for your continued support.
