Greenport board keeps status quo on short-term rentals

At its Dec. 4 regular meeting, the Village of Greenport board decided to keep no minimum stay on the books for short-term rentals, despite Mayor Kevin Stuessi voting against it.

However, short-term rentals will now be limited to only properties that are constantly used as homes. The updated code goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

“I am very conflicted by the law that is in front of us,” Mr. Stuessi said. “This law, with allowing for essentially no minimum, is very different than anything else on the entirety of the eastern end.”

Discussions on the rental code have been ongoing throughout the village for well over a year. Among the talks had been minimum rental lengths of 30 days, then two weeks, and now there is no minimum. The 30-day minimum had previously been highly contentious.

Mr. Stuessi said his preference was to keep the minimum stay at two weeks, but added that there was a substantial desire for weekend rentals. He said the Business Improvement District expressed concern about losing business with minimums.

Southold Town does not allow rentals under two weeks. Riverhead does not allow under 30 days.

Under the new code, short-term rental permits will cost $750 and last one year. Long-term rental permits will cost $250 and last two years. The previous fee was $250 for two years, regardless of the length of the rental.

The village will be developing a new application for rental permits as a result.

There are three types of short-term rental permits: hosted, owner-occupied and resident. Property owners can have more than one permit, but only one permit per unit.

For owner-occupied, the entire house could be rented, but the owner has to show that they live in the home at least part of the year. Resident short-term rentals refer to two-unit properties, where one must be occupied by the owner or a year-long lease tenant. 

“I am as conflicted as the mayor is, but the issue that I have, and hopefully it will be something that will continue, is that we’re putting a code on the books that will be fair in code enforcement,” said Trustee Mary Bess Phillips, “and the enforcement section will start to work itself out, so that people who complain about the situation as to why they wanted to curtail short-term rentals completely, will feel comfortable with this code.”

Though she voted in favor of the resolution, Ms. Phillips expressed some concern as to how it will be implemented and enforced. Earlier in the meeting, before the resolution was voted on, the board passed another one to hire Kenneth Marulli as a part-time code enforcement officer for $24 per hour.

Greenport currently does not have a full-time code inspector.

The previous code allowed for two-family houses to have one half rented out as long-term or owner-occupied, and the other as short-term. Because of there being relatively no enforcement, people were renting out both as short-term, going against the code.

Ms. Phillips said she would like for the board to receive monthly status reports on how enforcement is going.

Violations of the code can result in fines ranging from $500 to $5,000, permit suspensions or revocations, a three-year disqualification from getting a new permit, perjury prosecution and repayments of unlawful rents. Owners can appeal denials, suspensions or revocations to the Board of Trustees. 

Trustee Julia Robins was all for the resolution, saying it addresses the village’s current short-term rental needs. She said if they have to revisit it in a year and make changes, so be it, but she thinks it will work.

Only one of the four community members in attendance shared any last-minute thoughts on the resolution. John Saladino briefly stated he was for it.

The resolution, directly after the short-term rental vote, had the board unanimously approve sending a letter to the state asking for changes allowing the village to impose an occupancy tax on transient residential units. This includes short-term rentals, hotels, motels and more.