Watkins Glen amends fees

WATKINS GLEN--The Watkins Glen board of trustees voted during the Feb. 1 meeting to amend the recently passed zoning laws to increase fees associated with short-term rental applications and establish a fee protocol for extensions of existing building permits. Code Enforcement Officer Darrin Stocum spoke in favor of the increases, arguing Watkins Glen should be brought more in line with the fees being charged by surrounding municipalities.
"I did research based on other municipalities and (despite the increase) we would still be relatively on the inexpensive side of things," Stocum said of the proposed fees.
The fee associated with the short-term rental application was increased from $400 to $500 while a fee schedule was introduced that will charge for permit extensions based upon the amount of work is left.
"If they have 20 percent of the work left, they will be charged 20 percent of the original permit cost," Stocum said.
While other municipalities tend to charge a flat 50 percent of the original permit fee for permit extensions, Stocum mentioned his experience as a builder led him to design a fee structure he felt would be more equitable. The extension fee would only apply to projects that cost less than $500,000.
The board decided to not go with a uniform sign for all short-term rental properties, and will instead allow individuals to come up with their own signage.
The new zoning rules say, "A sign must be displayed on the front exterior of the building to indicate its use as a short-term rental (STR). The current permit and certificate of occupancy shall also be prominently displayed inside and near the front entrance of the STR."
After a discussion about various options, the board decided to allow homeowners to come up with their own signage.
"I think we should leave it up to the homeowner," said Laurie DeNardo, member of the board of trustees.
The board discussed a request from Watkins Glen International to allow for signage space rented from the village to stay up longer than the current two-week allotment before an event. While the board voted the measure down, it did so with an eye towards readdressing the issue at the next meeting.
"We need to figure out the timeline, we do not want indefinitely," said Mayor Luke Leszyk.
While some board members were comfortable with a three-week timeframe, others expressed no issue for a time period as long as four-weeks.
"So long as there are no conflicts, just review it every year," said DeNardo.
According to officials, the two-week limit was instituted by the village to allow equitable access to village signage space. However, in recent years, WGI along with Watkins Glen Promotions have been the only two to rent the space.
In the end, the board decided to vote down the extension but to readdress the matter at the next board meeting after WGI presented more information on exactly how long they want the extension to be for.