Watkins expects zoning meetings this month

WATKINS GLEN--The Watkins Glen board of trustees voted to again extend the short-term rental moratorium, with the expectation of the new zoning regulations on the way, during the Tuesday, Sept. 21 meeting. While there was no specific end date for the moratorium, Mayor Luke Leszyk said once the new zoning regulations are adopted the moratorium will end.
"We originally put a deadline on the moratorium but we are still in the process of our zoning, so we are going to open-end it because part of our new zoning will have a section on short term rentals, which will regulate that and we will lift the moratorium at that point," Leszyk said after the meeting.
While the new zoning regulations are not being drafted by the trustees, the board will have final approval.
"We already had our first meeting with (the firm that assisted with writing the new regulation) and a public meeting with the zoning board of appeals and the planning board... to get an overview because this is the first time we are seeing the zoning laws and it allows us to ask a few questions," Leszyk stated.
He added, "Hopefully we can start having public meetings in October, before anything is finalized, because it's important to let the public get an eye on it sooner rather than later because somebody is not going to be happy."
While there may be concerns about the updates, Leszyk added the new regulations are very much needed and had to be done.
"The old zoning regulations come from (roughly) 50 years ago and needed to be updated to ensure not just the present but the future of the village," Leszyk mentioned.
The board also discussed the process for how residents with completed projects that contain zoning violations should go about fixing the problem.
"They can correct the issue, or go before the zoning board of Appeals to get a waiver, so it is not the end of the world if someone has a violation," said Leszyk.
Some of those issues that currently exist might even be resolved by the new zoning regulations, Leszyk added.
The board voted to increase the rates for the campground and boat slips at Clute Park but did not increase the rate for the community center.
For nightly campers, the cost has risen from $65 to $70 and tent camping has gone up from $35 to $40.