Crowd Packs First East Hampton Rental Registry Workshop

Photos courtesy of RichardLewinPhotography.com

Rental registry workshops in East Hampton kicked off Wednesday to a crowd.

With real estate always a hot topic on the East End, two completely filled sessions on East Hampton’s new rental registry legislation commenced yesterday at Town Hall.

Town officials were on-hand to answer questions, allay fears and walk attendees through the procedure for filling out forms relating to the new rental registry application process.

Yesterday’s workshop, the first in a series, was geared toward real estate professionals. A sea of well-known local realtors attended to get updated on how to navigate the new rental registry law.

Seen in the crowd were Casey Staubitser of Town & Country, Pam Burke, Jordan Daniel and Barbara Mattson of Douglas Elliman, Mary Ellen McGuire, Susan Ratcliffe and Jared Schiavoni of Brown Harris Stevens, and Gina Decker and Peter Moore of Corcoran.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell led the presentation, as well as Betsy Bambrick, the town’s direcotr of code enforcement, Ann Glennon, principal building inspector, Robert Pease, network systems administrator and Town Attorney Michael Sendlenski.

Seats are still available at a session scheduled for members of the general public on Wednesday, January 27 at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., or 5 p.m.

All sessions will take place in the main meeting room of Town Hall at 159 Pantigo Road.

To attend, RSVP with your name and preferred workshop time to Colleen Reynolds, assistant to the supervisor, at creynolds@ehamptonny.gov or (631) 324-4140.

Applications are available on the town’s website, www.ehamptonny.gov, and at the building department, located at 300 Pantigo Place.

Questions about the rental registry may be directed to the town’s building department at (631) 324-4145 or rentalregistry@ehamptonny.gov.

After months of public debate, East Hampton adopted its rental registry legislation last month.

Moving forward, landlords hoping to rent their properties will need to register with the town or face charges.

Town officials scheduled the rental registry workshops to help explain the new legislation to real estate agents and the public, especially prospective landlords.

Rental Registry applications are now available on the town website, www.ehamptonny.gov,or at the building department, located at 300 Pantigo Place, and the town has begun accepting completed applications. The form may be filled out online, but must be submitted either in person or by mail, along with the $100 application fee.

The town first pitched the idea of a rental registry legislation last summer, when the board began working on proposing laws to help solve the problems in Montauk, such as overcrowding, noise and a constant turnover of guests, that angry local residents said were destroying their quality of life.

The hamlet has received a reputation of a “party town” and locals got fed up after the “crazy” Fourth of July weekend.

The board’s aim was to implement a rule to require homeowners to register all rentals with the town by this summer in order to address safety and quality of life violations with enforcement and prevent over-occupation, according to Cantwell.

Cantwell says that there are probably a “couple thousand” homeowners who rent their homes to visitors, especially over the summer.

Residents have been vocal on both sides of the hot-button issue.

In July, a local resident started a petition on change.org to create a rental registry in order to help prevent illegal housing, ensure tenant safety, reserve water quality and the environment, preserve the quality of life on the East End, preserve real estate values and preserve the single family residential character of the hamlets.

The website links to a second petition on Change.org, STOP the Rental Registry Law in East Hampton.

According to the website, East Hampton visitors who rent a home for their vacation may face fines upward of $15,000.

“It is widely recognized that a Rental Registry Law will not achieve its legislative intent of addressing overcrowded year-round rentals and unruly seasonal share houses,” the website reads. “The Rental Registry Law is misguided in what it can achieve, while providing code enforcement with an end-run around the U.S. Constitution and the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unwarranted searches.”

However, Cantwell previously said that “the purpose of the rental registry is not to stop rentals, people have been renting in East Hampton for years.” Instead, the goal is to ensure that landlords are not crowding renters into homes, and to be sure health and safety standards are met, with required measures such as smoke detectors and pool fences onhand.

Seven out of the 10 towns in Suffolk County had already implemented a rental registry, including Southampton Town, before the East Hampton town board’s unanimous vote in favor of the legislation last month.

Important dates:

February 1: The Building Department will begin issuing rental registration numbers.

May 1: The Town will begin full enforcement of the rental registry law. This date was selected to allow property owners ample time to come into compliance with these new requirements.

Patch photos and additional reporting by Richard Lewin.