Town Not Set To Support Proposed East End Tourism District

SOUTHOLD, NY — A proposal for a new East End tourism district that would call for a new charge of $1 per room for motels and hotels has garnered no support from the Southold town board.

At the most recent Southold town board work session, Bryan DeLuca, of the East End Tourism Alliance and executive director of the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead, pitched the idea for a Peconic Region Tourism Marketing District.

DeLuca said there's a "movement in the industry" for the creation of such districts, where funds generated would go to the municipalities where they are collected.

Currently, he said, Suffolk County's 3 percent hotel/motel tax brings in approximately $10 million, with about $2 million targeted to Discover Long Island's promotion efforts.

The new movement, he said, comprises 157 tourism marketing districts nationwide, collecting the $1 fee on an overnight stay in a room; those monies raises "stay 100 percent in the district," he said. "It stays in the district — that's very appealing for us on the East End," DeLuca said.

Both New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele and New York State Senator Ken LaValle are "very enthusiastic" and have helped to draft the legislation, DeLuca said.

The five towns would sign on through an intermunicipal agreement; state law is needed to form a tourism improvement district, DeLuca said. A tourism district, he said, provides funds for destination marketing that would address shoulder seasons, transportation elements, and other issues.

Each of the five East End towns would be capable of directing a portion of their funds to support tourism, he said.

A town-designative representative would be chosen to sit on the independent board.

But from the start, the Southold town board expressed reservations based in concerns for local business owners that would be impacted.

Councilwoman Jill Doherty asked what would happen if there was disagreement between the five towns on where the monies should be allocated; DeLuca said each town was responsible for its own portion of the funds raised.

"Transportation is the main thrust of this," he said.

DeLuca said with 2,919 rooms, East Hampton could generate $458,000; Southold, with 977 rooms, could garner $160,472.

The intermunicipal agreement, DeLuca said, would put parameters in place to ensure fair distribution of funds.

"What if we opt out totally?" Doherty asked.

DeLuca said the issue being discussed was focused on the creation of the district and towns would be able to opt out later.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he didn't know what action DeLuca was asking the town to take; there was no action to take until the home rule message. Lawmakers did not need the town's sanction to get the draft to the floor of the legislature, he said.

DeLuca said Thiele was looking for each town's input.

DeLuca said Southold would either be part of the draft legislation, or not.

Councilman Jim Dinizio said the town has 977 rooms and before he made any decisions he wanted to talk to the owners of those rooms.

DeLuca said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman felt the same way and expressed a desire to speak to stakeholders, but said he'd support the idea at this stage.

East Hampton Town, he said, passed its home rule support right away; Shelter Island and Riverhead also voiced support, he said, adding that he had "an obligation to the other towns" to move the proposal forward.

"It would be terribly unfortunate if a town opts out at this juncture," DeLuca said. He added that Thiele was just asking if there was anything Southold would like phrased differently in the language should the draft become legislative law.

Russell said he's gotten anonymous emails from individuals in the industry opposing the plan. The decision lies with his constituents, those affected by the proposal, he said.

"I've made it clear that the town needs to get out of funding the tourism industry," Russell said.

In his state of the town address, Russell said the town would no longer allocate funds to the North Fork Promotion Council.

David Perrin of the Mattituck Chamber of Commerce asked the board if they were wondering if the idea had the support of the business community; he said both he Duncan Kennedy, president of the North Fork Promotion Council, agree that they have not heard anyone say that they did not support the idea.

Russell asked Perrin where was "the specific notice" he and Kennedy had sent all the stakeholders in the lodging industry affected by the proposal.

Doherty agreed that there was nothing to confirm that lodging representatives were onboard. "We're just hearing this from your mouth," she said.

Perrin said business owners weren't always the best at responding but assured he had done his due diligence in reaching out.

Doherty said business owners could at least be asked to initial a form to show they'd read it.

Russell said he'd at least like to know that DeLuca had sent out some kind of letter; he's received calls saying business owners had heard about the proposal on Channel 22 and maintained that not enough outreach had been done.

"I have a constituency to represent," Russell said.

Councilman Bob Ghosio said the devil is in the details. "I will wait to see what the details are."

Russell said while the concept has merit, "The issue for me is that the people who are impacted need to be aware of it and say whether they want to accept it or not."

DeLuca said that was not required at this point.

"Neither is our approval," Russell said.

DeLuca said he's met with motel and hotel owners; Russell said the same small group of people has been at those meetings. With 977 rooms in Southold, the voices of all owners of rooms need to be heard, he said.

The intermunicipal agreement, DeLuca said, is in draft stage; Southold Town attorney Bill Duffy said the town hasn't seen it.

"My personal view is we are hands off at this point. Show me where the support is, in this industry," Russell said. He said clear information needed to be sent out to all owners.

DeLuca said again that Thiele wanted feedback.

"Say we don't have any input at this time," Ghosio said.

Dinizio agreed the devil is in the details. "And I don't trust the devil right now," he said.

Russell asked that the Town of Southold be removed from the draft until they've heard from the lodging industry.

DeLuca said his concern is that the legislative session is over by June; if Southold was eliminaed now in the state legislation, they could not sign on later.

Russell said he'd reach out again to Thiele but for now, the town was not saying yes or no.

"I'm in a tough spot," DeLuca said.

"Give us the information we are asking for and we will give you an answer," Doherty said.

No support from supervisor

On Friday, Russell said since that work session discussion, he has received a great deal of feedback from several hotel, motel and B&B owners "expressing overwhelming opposition to the proposal. All but two said no one every reached out to them or asked them their opinion."

The NFPC, partially funded by the town, was originally created as an organization to coordinate the efforts of various businesses and chambers of commerce to promote tourism, Russell said.

"Led by committed leadership, it had worked historically. Now, we need to consider whether the leadership is pursuing its own goals or that of all of the businesses.Last year we asked them to do one simple thing — to go to the impacted businesses and measure their support. They said they did. Obviously they didn't. I can't answer for the rest of the board but, I won't support it. I am answerable to the businesses of Southold Town. I have no idea who they are answerable to."

In addition, Russell said there is a provision in the draft that would allow the fee to go to $2 per room, per night it is occupied. The district would be overseen by an independent board, and each town would have one representative on the board — but it is unclear how the rest would be picked, Russell said.

"There was no requirement that Southold take any formal action. I won't support it. I do not know what its fate will be," he said.

Patch photo by Lisa Finn.