Residents Blast Board Over Proposed Rental Regs

A crowd of Greenport residents turned out Monday night to rake the village board over the coals regarding proposed residential rental regulations some say are unfairly aimed at immigrants and the area's struggling poor.

Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce prefaced the public hearing by explaining the history of the proposed new law, which has been in the works for three years. The code committee "kicked around" the legislation for awhile, he said, and at a previous hearing, the public were unhappy with a portion of the code, especially concerning privacy issues. After it was sent back to the committee, a new version was drafted and up for a hearing.

But, apparently, the new version did not sit well with at least some residents who came out to blast the proposed code.

Former Greenport Village Mayor David Kapell said the preamble to the proposed legislation, which talks about "a proliferation of substandard housing . . .is completely out of touch with village history."

Kapell said in the past, Greenport sported "some of the worst slums in Suffolk County. There's no comparison between the conditions existing now and then."

Of the legislation, he said, "This is an unnecessary act. I don't know who wrote this but it reads like a Fascist manifesto aimed at the low-income and immigrants that populate this community."

Kapell pointed to a section of the proposed code that says a rental can only be occupied, leased or used by an individual or a family.

"What is a traditional family?" Kapell asked. "Who decides? The courts can't even figure it out and we're going to put ourselves in this position? It's preposterous."

The proposed code, he said, excludes seasonal rentals -- the singular reason municipalities have adopted such legislation to tackle illegal summer rentals and share houses.

"Clearly this law is directed at poor people and immigrants that live here year round," Kapell said, adding that the new code would bar non-family roommates.

"What if I have a four or five bedroom house and want to take in a lodger? That's permitted now, but this would exclude it, and make it a criminal offense," Kapell said.

The new legislation, he said, requires owners to vote from their Greenport addresses and subjects them to "investigation and inspection. A third of the properties in Greenport are occupied by summer homeowners," he said. "They don't vote here. You're telling me we're going to go in and inspect every one of those? This is unbelievable."

To make matters worse, Kapell said the violations are a criminal act, with stiff penalties of misdemeanor charges, $1500 fines and six months in jail. "It effectively criminalizes the business of being a landlord in Greenport," he said.

Also, there is no "phase in" for the 400 existing rentals in Greenport, Kapell said, leaving existing landlords and tenants at the risk of criminal charges and possible eviction. Of the existing tenants, he asked, "Are you going to put them out on the street?"

The majority of rentals in the village are currently "responsibly occupied, maintained and owned," Kapell said. 

The new legislation would be pose administrative challenges, he added, with 400 inspections needed and the cost to do so higher than the fee that would be taken in by the $100 permit fee for rental applications. "It's totally ridiculous," Kapell said.

"This is a cruel and unnecessary law that's impossible to administer, targets working class families, and guts the year round economy," Kapell said.

The former mayor urged the village board to use the "tools you have to do the job now" and handle violations.

"Use the existing law," he said. "Don't place your failure to properly administer the current law on the backs of those that are soul of this village -- what makes this place tick. If you want to live in Sag Harbor, move to Sag Harbor. Leave Greenport alone."

The crowd applauded Kapell's comments.

William Swiskey agreed. "I think David said it all," he said. "This hasn't improved since the first time you put it out. You have people -- enforce your code. I've heard complaints about substandard conditions and there is no action taken. Just enforce what you've got."

He added, "There's a lot wrong with this -- there are fairness and constitutional issues. It's vindictive."

One resident stood up and said she was in favor of a unified code as long as all landlords are treated equally and that North Fork Housing Alliance be held to the same standards as all landlords.

Eileen Kapell said the new code crossed the line. "My mother was a single parent who raised four children in a four-room apartment with two sets of bunk beds in the bedrooms, and we turned out just fine, with no one arrested. It insults me to the core that you sit there and judge the way people raise their families."

She added that she has a bedroom in her basement, one that is fully ventilated with a fire escape. "People are getting too involved in other people's lives. What is it about this board that thinks it has the right to tell people how to run their businesses, their homes? If people are not doing the right thing, go after them. You can't throw everyone into the same pool.

Nyce held the hearing open and adjourned the matter to the village board's July 22 meeting.