Threat of Short-term Rentals to mountain towns

Harvey wrote

Z wrote

This is the #1 local issue in the Daks

Maybe Lake Placid?

I haven't heard about this in North Creek.

Keene, Jay, Wilmington, LP and Saranac Lake this is the issue.  Are you sure it’s not an issue at Gore?

North Creek can barely support a bed and breakfast and a small hotel but just maybe that is because there are 87 properties listed on Airbnb alone for Gore Mt.  There are probably more like 125 to 150 total.    These STRs don’t eat in restaurants and put local lodging out of business yet you guys scratch your head at why North Creek is a goast ski town

Lake Placid metro?

I haven't heard about it in North Creek.  It could be the #1 issue. I'm just saying I haven't heard about it.

I don't scratch my head about North Creek.

Is North Creek a 'goast' town or are STRs the #1 problem?  It can't be both.

There seems to be plenty of skiers at Gore.  Do they all day trip?
That there are 100 plus STRs could that be why regular lodging seems to be unable to survive?  I’d really like to find something close to gore during multiple day races yet it doesn’t exist.  Besides Becks there are not much in the way of restaurants STRs have their own kitchens thus no need for restaurants

Z wrote

There seems to be plenty of skiers at Gore.  Do they all day trip?
That there are 100 plus STRs could that be why regular lodging seems to be unable to survive?  I’d really like to find something close to gore during multiple day races yet it doesn’t exist.  Besides Becks there are not much in the way of restaurants STRs have their own kitchens thus no need for restaurants

Please refrain from discussing a topic you know nothing about - Gore rental property.

Stick with what you know - COVID-19.

I'd say count your blessings Coach.

I do think main street in North Creek has more going on than it used to, but putting that aside, the town is what it is and that predates VRBO and AirBNB.

I don't know how you can say that you can't find lodging in town and that short term rentals are the #1 problem in town.  That doesn't make sense to me.

I believe Gore has more day skiers than WF. There are also property owners (like me) that drive Gore's business.

As the Chair of The Planning Board here in the Town Of Johnsburg, we are in the process of updating our zoning code which was adopted and approved by the APA in 2007, and STR's are certainly a subject that we have been discussing.
Thankfully, we are not in the situation of LP or SL, but we could be someday, so we are trying to proactive instead of reactive.

The Copperfield Inn (which is now called the Phoenix Inn) just reopened as well as The Black Mountain Lodge, and both of those places have their own resturant, so all lodging facilities in the immediate area are now open. So Z's boring rhetoric about poor little NC is full of hot air.


Lake Placid has a zoning code, they just don't have the backbone to follow it, so they are in the position they are in for no one else's fault but there own, and the new regs are just circumventing the current code, imo.

Glad to hear they got the copper field up and running again, will check out the restaurant next time I’m in town. Also glad to hear the Black is back - place has not been the same since Marian and Kip ran it. Will drop in there to. I know that getting staff has been a big problem for businesses, are there any plans to address those issues? Businesses won’t survive if there isn’t adequate staff and that requires good affordable housing.

Yes, that is the elephant in the corner for all areas here in the Park. Trying to get ORDA to help address it though is truly falling on deaf ears, because they are hell bent with giving LP as much $$ as they can, with the pipe dream of getting the Olympics back.

Is this really an ORDA issue, in my opinion it’s not. The local towns have a lot of power to help this situation by providing tax breaks and incentives for people to renovate some of those big houses and turn them into apartments. As a town there is a lot you can do if your creative about it.

I think it is an ORDA issue.

 Any town who's propped up by NYS tax payer money has a huge advantage.

Well ORDA provides housing in LP for the foreign kids, so why can’t they at least look into working with the local towns for grants??
It’s not just Orda’s problem, but it’s not going away on it’s own.

Darkside Shaman wrote

Lake Placid has a zoning code, they just don't have the backbone to follow it, so they are in the position they are in for no one else's fault but there own, and the new regs are just circumventing the current code, imo.

Speaking with one of my LP friends about STR when I was up there 2 weeks ago.  He said the same thing you did about LP's existing zoning laws.

Out of curiosity, what is considered "affordable" when talking about Lake Placid?



Or is this more of a problem for the apartment rental market then for single family homes?

If I bought a piece of land and put some affordable cottages on it, would the locals get paid enough to rent? The issue is the pay, at least in the southern ADK.

Johnnyonthespot wrote

If I bought a piece of land and put some affordable cottages on it, would the locals get paid enough to rent? The issue is the pay, at least in the southern ADK.

If you were given a substantial break on your property and school taxes if you kept the rent low and the property maintained and at today’s current mortgage rates, then yes.

This is how I believe the local governments could solve this problem.