Short-term rental public hearing extended to Nov. 18

The village of Warwick gave interested persons the opportunity to share their views on its proposed short-term rental law during a public hearing held at the October 21 village board meeting. Warwick Village Mayor Michael Newhard reported that he had received written comments from the Warwick Village Planning Board as well as from Warwick Village resident, Patrick Gallagher, who was also present at the meeting.

Patrick Gallagher asked the board if the public hearing would result in any changes to the proposed law, saying that in his experience he has found public hearings to be ineffective. Warwick village attorney Stephen Gaba said the purpose of the public hearing was to get input from the public to see if their concerns were the same as the board’s, such as the question of when to require inspections.

Gallagher said these were not concerns for him and that his issue was with the need to regulate his short-term rental, which he said receives great reviews and that he has never had any issues with parking, garbage, or other concerns. He also identified himself as a senior, wondered if there were other short-term rental operators in similar situations, and asked if exemptions were possible for owners such as himself.

Trustee Carly Foster questioned the issuing of exemptions, saying she thought it would violate the purpose of the law, which is to ensure safety and compliance.

Another concern, raised by Trustee Thomas McKnight, was how to effectively enforce the law and manage the applications. He said that Village Hall was not in a place to administer this regulation and that it would overwhelm the front office. Newhard acknowledged that this was also a comment from the planning board and noted that the village was coordinating with a program to monitor short-term rentals and seeks to have it running once the legislation is passed.

Later in the meeting, McKnight shared that he and others reviewed Municity, the software the village uses for document management, and learned that there were several features not being utilized. In addition to setting up STR management, McKnight noted that the software also included a module to allow more efficient management of planning and zoning applications.

The board agreed to keep the public hearing on the proposed short-term rental law open until November 18.

Veterans Memorial Park

During the meeting, Foster shared that the village was awarded $734,500 through the Local Community Assistance Program which will be used for the development of the Patriots Path and other improvements at Veterans Memorial Park. Foster said the grant was issued through State Senator James Skoufis’ office and thanked him for his support.

Lead pipes

The board adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of $575,770 in bonds to cover the cost of replacing lead service lines within the village of Warwick. Trustee Barry Cheney explained that the village of Warwick was awarded a grant through the state to fund these costs, however, it was later revealed that the state agency did not factor in federal criteria when determining grant recipients. Cheney said that the village was operating under the premise that it would be reimbursed for those costs and later learned that it didn’t qualify. He explained that the way around this issue was through issuing a bond for the cost of the replacement up to that $575,770 amount, which will then be reimbursed by the state’s Environmental Facilities Corporation.

Parkland

The village of Warwick entered into an agreement with the town of Warwick to accept a portion of monies received by the town from the now dissolved Warwick Economic Development LLC, which oversaw the revitalization of the former prison property at Wickham Woodlands. As previously reported, the Warwick Town Board passed a resolution pledging to provide $150,000 each to the villages of Florida, Warwick, and Greenwood Lake for parkland acquisitions or improvements to parks within the town, through a fund established with the $1.5 million donated to the Town of Warwick.

Warwick Town Councilman Kevin Shuback responded to the village’s gratitude saying, “It’s rightfully so because you are town resident, so we are trying to do a little bit of all the parks throughout the town.”

The board discussed the possibility of putting the funds toward its Veterans Memorial Park plan.

Town and village cooperation was also evident in the village board’s discussion of a proposed multi-use trail that would connect the village to the area around ShopRite within the town. Trustee Foster shared how she, Mayor Newhard, Town Supervisor Jesse Dwyer and Town Councilman Thomas Mattingly met with Barton and Loguidice, the firm helping the municipalities develop a feasibility study, to review the project. She shared her hope that it could be submitted for consideration for a grant via the Safe Streets For All initiative and the hope that the trail could potentially connect to West Street near the schools.