The 2015 Community Response To Federally Investigated Beacon Police Was "Beacon Speaks Out" (Now Dormant) - City of Beacon Silent About Reopening It - Seeks New Initiative

In 2015, when Beacon’s police department was under an investigation by the Justice Department that started in or before 2010, and ended in 2016, Beacon community members got together to form a community-based line of communications with Beacon’s Police Department called “Beacon Speaks Out.”

To describe the police investigation, a press release was issued on December 21, 2010 by the United States Department of Justice: “The Justice Department announced today an agreement with the Beacon, N.Y., Police Department (BPD) to resolve the department’s investigation of the BPD, in accordance with the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. That law authorizes the attorney general to file suit to reform police departments that may be engaging in a pattern or practice of violating citizens’ federal rights.”

Who Was Behind “Beacon Speaks Out?”

The group “Beacon Speaks Out” met more than once and conducted a process that was co-facilitated by Rabbi Brent Spodek of Better Together: The Beacon Interfaith Clergy Association, and Brooke Simmons of I Am Beacon, and citizens of Beacon, including my former building landlord, Deborah Bigelow, who first made me aware of the group. A Little Beacon Blog later wrote about an upcoming meeting they were having back in 2016.

For context, Brooke Simmons is the sister of Reuben Simmons, the Founder and President of I Am Beacon, and a one-time Highway Superintendent for the City of Beacon. After holding that position for a year in a half, Reuben was changed to Working Supervisor for just over a year and a half, and is currently a Maintenance Worker for the City of Beacon. If that job title timeline looks backwards to you, it is. This professional descension was confusing when I went to quote Reuben for an article about the event he created to raise awareness for mental health: Rock Out For Mental Health. I served on the Planning Committee with him and other agency heads for this awareness effort.

Reuben was also the Union President of the City of Beacon’s Unit of CSEA Local 1000, where he dealt with contract negations, representing employees in grievances and disciplinary matters, campaign planning, among other responsibilities.

The original agenda of Beacon Speaks Out is below. But first, a question:

“Beacon Speaks Out” Sounds Like A Good Idea. Should It Be Reignited?

Groups and committees are formed all of the time in Beacon. Many of them do work that you didn’t know was happening around you, but feel the effects of. This was one such group. Not many people knew about it. Eventually, it stopped meeting. The Chief of Police, Doug Solomon, who participated in the group, abruptly left Beacon’s force to take the Chief job in Newburgh (which he also just resigned from after a riot incident in March, 2020). He was succeeded in Beacon by current Chief Kevin Junjulas, who was promoted from his position of Captain.

When the protests against police brutality and institutional, systemic racism started in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s murder, and the protests spread to New York, A Little Beacon Blog reached out to Beacon’s new Mayor Lee Kyriacou, for comment as to whether he thought the band of “Beacon Speaks Out” should be brought back together, to start communications between the community and the police. Mayor Kyriacou is a new mayor to Beacon, but has served on the City Council for 9 terms beginning in the 1990s.

Mayor Kyriacou has not answered A Little Beacon Blog’s question about if Beacon Speaks Out should be called upon again. We have asked him twice, and received no response.

Since that time, Beacon’s Police Department and City Council have received numerous questions about the policies of the Beacon Police. The City Council invited the Chief of Police to attend last week’s public Workshop meeting to give an overview of what their textbook says. During this meeting, it was suggested that a forum with a moderator be created to hear from the public, and the council agreed. They were going to think about who the moderator would be, and the setting for the forum in this social distanced time. Watch the hour-long sit-down with the police and get a recap here.

The Mayor suggested that the Human Relations committee take responsibility for this. Currently there are 5 members of the Human Relations Committee. The City’s web page says that there can be 15 members, but the city Committee Vacancy page lists that 1 position is vacant. Current Councilmembers including Dan Aymar-Blair and Amber Grant disagreed with that delegation, stating that the committee was over-worked and inexperienced to deal with this issue.

The Original Community-Based Agenda Of “Beacon Speaks Out”

A Little Beacon Blog reached out to Brooke Simmons, original member of “Beacon Speaks Out,” to revisit the history on how the group started and what it wanted. This is what she provided:

“The city was involved and in fact, the “Beacon Speaks Out” initiative was born out of a meeting called on and facilitated by Mayor Randy Casale. [Then] Mayor Casale, City Administrator Anthony Ruggerio, and former Police Chief Soloman attended numerous meetings providing insight, dialogue and updates to the committee. “Beacon Speaks Out” presented the outlined initiatives to City Council (see below).

Broad Ambitions for Police/Community Relations in Beacon, NY

Through the beginning of 2015, residents of Beacon, NY had been meeting to discuss their hopes and ambitions for police/community relations in their city. What emerged was a clear desire for closer ties between the police and the community they serve and protect.

As the result of Beacon Speaks Out a process co-facilitated by Rabbi Brent Spodek of Better Together: The Beacon Interfaith Clergy Association and Brooke Simmons of I Am Beacon, the citizens of Beacon can articulate the following 8 broad ambitions for policing in our community. Following each ambition is a composite quote based on approximately 150 community conversations.

Strengthen Connections to the Broader Community

1. We’d like the police/community relationship to move from a place of intimidation, suspicion, and superiority to a place of kindness, calm and respect.
Conversation Example: The police don’t seem to practice restraint in heightened situations.... we’d love for them to have training on how to de-escalate incidents rather than intensifying them.

2. We’d like for the police to develop positive relations with the youth of Beacon.
Conversation Example: I would like to see some sort of program that allows the cops to interact with or even mentor the at-risk youth in Beacon so officers can be seen by young people as helpers, not adversaries.

3. We’d like for the police to have more face-to-face contact with the community.
Conversation Example: I want to know my police force... I miss our Main St. bike cop! When they are always in cars, they don’t get to know community members. I want the officers to KNOW and care about the community they serve.

Adopt best practices to improve community safety

4. We’d like for the police to be better equipped to deal with Beacon’s diverse populations.
Conversation Example: The police need to be able to deal with people who have mental health issues, who are not the same race or gender or sexuality as the cops, they need to be able to deal with senior and elderly issues.

5. We’d like a more diverse police force.
Conversation Example: We need a force that looks like Beacon to serve Beacon. We need more women, more people of color.

6. We’d like for the police to work together with the community to develop a progressive strategy for dealing with Beacon’s drug problem, especially heroin.
Conversation Example: I found needles and drug paraphernalia by my home. I took it to Police Station but got no response or follow up. Something needs to be done about the Heroin epidemic.

More and better community communication

7. We’d like data on crimes reported, arrests, and convictions to be publicized, as well as police policies and procedures.
Conversation Example: We need more information and more transparency about what the police are doing.

8. We’d like for the Human Relations Committee to be publicized and strengthened.
Conversation Example: I didn’t even know there was a civilian complaint hotline. It should be plastered everywhere. Do they have the power to do anything?

Details on what this new community forum will look like, who will attend, and who will moderate will come as the City Council decides what it wants to do.

Beacon Mayoral and City Council Election Results So Far (Unofficial)

The votes were rolling in and updating until about 11:30 pm the night of Tuesday’s election. As of 6:57 am Wednesday, some results have not changed, and the Dutchess County Board of Elections website still marks the results as Unofficial.

So far, here is how it is looking:

BEACON MAYOR
Lee Kyriacou (DEM, WOR, GRE) 2,161 57.02%
Randy J Casale (REP, IND) 1,474 38.89%
Lee has served on Beacon City Council for a number of years, impacting zoning law to tighten regulations on what can be built. Historic preservation is also important to him. He ran his platform on this.

BEACON CITY COUNCILMEMBER WARD 1
Terry Nelson (DEM, WOR, GRE) 735 99.19%
Terry ran unopposed. Rent control is one of his key areas on his agenda.

BEACON CITY COUNCILMEMBER WARD 2
Air Rhodes (DEM, WOR, GRE) 684 99.42%
Air is on the Conservation Committee for the City of Beacon, and ran unopposed. Air is the Development Director & Assistant Executive Director at Hudson Valley Seed and cites social justice values and the environment as core to the platform. Air replaces John Rembert, who did not seek re-election. John’s platform issues were serving youth and seniors, affordable housing and overdevelopment. You’ll still see John around, as he is a military veteran who is active with the American Legion, and is an Ordained Minister of the Star Bethlehem Baptist Church.

BEACON CITY COUNCILMEMBER WARD 3
Jodi McCredo (DEM, WOR) 592 68.12%
Andrew E Gauzza IV (REP, CON, IND) 276 31.76%
Jodi is currently the Councilperson for Ward 3. Several issues are key to her platform, including overdevelopment and parking.

BEACON CITY COUNCILMEMBER WARD 4
Dan Aymar-Blair (DEM, WOR, GRE) 651 67.39%
Kelly A Ellenwood (IND) 314 32.51%
Dan has been a large presence in resisting overdevelopment and organizing others through information about Planning and Zoning issues. Kelly has served as a founding volunteer for many community programs around town, and was with BeaconArts for a number of years. One of her latest projects included getting the free Beacon Bus Loop - the G Line - off the ground and happening.

BEACON CITY COUNCILMEMBERS AT LARGE
George Mansfield (DEM, WOR) 2,689 42.62%
Amber Grant (DEM, WOR) 2,769 43.89%
Estefano Rendon (REP) 812 12.87%
George and Amber return to City Council for additional terms. George is a longtime councilmember, local business owner of Dogwood, and is in the construction industry. Key to Amber’s platform are the environment and Beacon’s new Municipal ID program.

COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 16
Frits Zernike (DEM, WOR) 1,676 54.15%
Theoni S Salotto (REP, CON, IND) 1,418 45.82%
Frits is the current County Legislator for District 16 and represents Beacon. One of his projects has included extending the open hours for wine and liquor stores to be open past 7 pm until 9 pm. This was an issue that had been defeated for years.

COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 18
Nick Page (DEM, WOR, GRE) 1,950 72.12%
Michael B Justice (REP, CON) 657 24.30%
Nick is the current County Legislator for District 18 and represents Beacon. One of his issues is uncovering more about Beacon’s sales tax, which is collected by Dutchess County and distributed out to Beacon by the County in a flat rate. The actual amount of sales tax generated in Beacon has yet to be disclosed. Article from A Little Beacon Blog to come on that.

COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Marcus J Molinaro (REP, CON, IND) 39,871 58.53%
Joseph Ruggiero (DEM, WOR) 28,235 41.45%
Marcus is the current County Executive.

COUNTY CLERK
Bradford Kendall (REP, CON, IND) 36,260 54.77%
Kenya Gadsden (DEM, WOR) 29,936 45.22%
Kenya has served on Beacon’s Board of Education for a number of years, seeing it through one of its dark periods when Beacon’s Superintendent position turned over nearly every year for nine years. She was on the Board when the search was conducted for Beacon’s current superintendent, Matthew Landahl, who has been a good fit with the district and community.

CITY OF NEWBURGH MAYOR
Torrance R. Harvey (DEM, WOR, LIB) 1,569 74.54%
Ali T. Muhammad (IND) 529 25.13%
Beacon’s neighboring city across the Hudson River. Torrance is the current Mayor of Newburgh, who initially came in to replace Mayor Judy Kennedy at her request in April 2018. Torrance is a history teacher. Ali grew up in Beacon and had served as a Councilperson in Beacon. (source)

CITY OF POUGHKEEPSIE MAYOR
Rob Rolison (REP, CON, IND) 2,835 52.87%
Joash Ward (DEM, WOR) 2,523 47.05%
Rob is the current Mayor of Poughkeepsie. Beacon is tied to Poughkeepsie in a lot of ways, with shared municipal services.

"Ready To Move To Beacon For This View"

Photo Credit: @nihaonewyork

On Election Day, a reader tagged us on Instagram in this photo they took of the corner of Main Street and Tioronda, just outside of the Howland Cultural Center. In their photo post, they wrote: “I think I’m ready to move to Beacon for this view… just kidding, or maybe not.” They went on to use the hashtags #smalltownvibes to describe a few of the emotions they were feeling about the scene.

I wanted to bring the photo to the surface for a few reasons:

1. It’s beautiful.

2. It’s a special thing to be included in someone’s thoughts of how they view Beacon and why they would move here, or have already moved here.

3. It reminds me of why I moved here.

4. It shows how someone who does move here and is brand new values the same things that those who currently live here also love and cherish. Sometimes there is a fear of people coming to a “new” great area. (Beacon is always new, it’s always changing, and thanks to the Beacon Historical Society for making it easy for us to follow the city’s living history, and to the neighbors who share their stories on a daily basis.)

Keeping this view seems consistent with the City Council’s rezoning work, that was especially heavy during the Building Moratorium of 2017, where several zoning requirements were tweaked and tightened after several buildings that had existed for a while in concept were built and actually presented themselves in the flesh of concrete.

In the December 18, 2017 City Council Meeting, legislation was passed for the Fishkill Creek Development that would limit the height of a building to three stories. After a new four-story building was constructed at 344 Main Street, the public pushed for limits to the heights of buildings. The new legislation caps new buildings at three stories and not more than 40 feet in height, as first reported by Jeff Simms for the Highlands Current.

When, or if, you see pictures of people who live in New York City getting fresh air, it is usually at Central Park, and many tree branches are in the frame. They want more tree branches in the frame. All of the numerous founding transformational people of Beacon, and there have been many over the generations (the Howlands, the Sauers, etc.) have come from far downstate in the city, to our lower “upstate” region in the south of the state, all looking for space and fresh air above and around them.

Beacon City Council Votes "No" to Airbnb Type Short-Term Rentals - Striking Down Their Own Legislation

Photo Credit: An Airbnb in Rome. We did not want to affiliate anyone's unit with this article. When in Rome...

UPDATE 2/7/2020: This ruling still stands. Beacon has not legalized “short term rentals” which is what Airbnb falls under. Therefore, people who do run an Airbnb from their home are subject to getting a cease and desist letter from the City of Beacon. Is it a bummer? It is. Airbnb in its simplest form is fun and useful. But Airbnb needs to respect municipalities (Airbnb is known to not be cooperative), and homeowners need to respect zoning laws of the city and their neighbors. So there we have it until this is revisited by City Council for a new vote on the legislation they crafted but voted against at Airbnb homeowner’s requests.

The headline of this article might seem odd, because it implies that Beacon's City Council was not in favor of short-term rentals (aka Airbnb or home-sharing). Council members actually largely did support homeowners renting out their homes to earn extra income. The night of the vote, homeowners who rent out spaces via the Airbnb website had come to the City Council meeting to ask the Council members to vote against the legislation that the Council had been crafting to legalize short-term rentals in Beacon based on the public's input for the past several months.

In a vote of 3-4, with Mayor Randy Casale, Jodi McCredo, and Lee Kyriacou voting "Yes" to legalize short-term rentals, the rest of the Council voted "No." After tallying the votes, the Mayor announced: "The law does not pass. What that means is that all short-term rentals are illegal in the City of Beacon."

The resulting silence was stupefying. It lasted for 24 seconds. The night had been set up for the vote to pass. Homeowners and people who cleaned short-term rentals had shown up to demonstrate their support for short-term rentals - yet asked for a "No" vote. They then got that "No" vote, along with the declaration that short-term rentals were illegal in Beacon because there was essentially no law at all in the first place to protect them.

Editor's Note, 6/1/2018: By default, short-term rentals in Beacon were prohibited, so they were never allowed in the first place (hard concept to grasp, but we explain below), nor had any protections. This legislation would have legalized them, and required them to get a permit.

Two additional pro-short-term rental laws were also being proposed, on the assumption that short-term rentals would be legalized:

• One proposed law would set the new permit fee;

• The other would have urged New York State to set its zoning code for short-term rentals, and separate short-term rentals from being classified as Bed and Breakfasts. At the state level, that classification requires that homes have sprinkler systems or egress windows for fire safety.

Technically, there is no law about short-term rentals in Beacon, so there is nothing in place to protect them. According to Beacon City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis, new things like short-term rentals that are not specifically written into Beacon’s Zoning Ordinance are prohibited. Said Nick via email: "The Beacon Zoning Ordinance provides in the Schedule of Use Regulations a list of permitted uses within a zoning district and provides that 'No building or premises shall be used and no building or part of a building shall be erected or altered, which is arranged, intended or designated to be used, in whole or in part, for any uses except the following [see the Schedule of Uses].' Any use not specifically listed shall be deemed to be prohibited.”

Why Now? Why Are Short-Term Rentals Being Contested?

Beacon’s City Council has been debating how to legalize short-term rentals since December 2017, after a Beacon resident and new owner of 51 Orchard Place cut down 13 trees in his yard without a permit, and listed the home on Airbnb. Some of his neighbors were enraged (others supported the tree removal), and brought to the City Council their concerns that homes in neighborhoods were being purchased not as primary residences, but as investment properties (aka "non-owner occupied"), thus altering the neighborhood feel.

Those against his listing of the Orchard Place property on Airbnb presented a petition to ask the City to define regulations about short-term rentals, but not stop the practice entirely. Neighbors were demanding that the City enforce that short-term rentals be illegal in Beacon, but there wasn't an ordinance either way about whether they were allowed or not. Hence the default to the rule that the City Attorney mentioned above.

The legislation that the City Council crafted (after several rounds of drafts) essentially legislated this house out of being a short-term rental because it was not the owner's primary residence. This home has since been unlisted from Airbnb, and put on the market for an asking price of $699,900. The Zillow estimate of the home is $412K.

Wait, What? Short-Term Rentals Are Illegal in Beacon?

According to a letter submitted by Airbnb to the City of Beacon, in 2017 alone, over 9,100 people stayed in Beacon in an Airbnb. Also in 2017, Dutchess County took in over $220,000 in taxes from the 4% Bed Tax paid by Airbnb on behalf of its homeowner hosts, according to Dutchess County Legislator Nick Page, who we reached out to for numbers. Based on those stats, there are far more people coming to stay the night in Beacon than there are hotel rooms to house them in Beacon or in Fishkill. There is a huge supply of people coming to Beacon to stay the night.

Other cities have been operational in the home-sharing market, but in an unregulated or protected way. For instance, in a suburb of Columbus, OH, called Upper Arlington, Airbnb was beginning to thrive, as people would seek to stay there when visiting for Ohio State University games. Last month, Upper Arlington voted to make all short-term rentals illegal, and stated to revisit it in one year.

Beacon had been drafting a law to allow short-term rentals (see our highlights of what was in or out here). Some topics that were addressed included possible limits on how many days a property could be rented, and what spaces were not rentable - attics, or basements, or RVs and tents in backyards. Other cities do have a limit on the number of nights homeowners can rent out, and Beacon started with a 100-day maximum, but during a public meeting, Council Person John Rembert suggested that the council revisit that after hearing public pushback against the maximum. The City Council did throw out that maximum. See the final version of the law here for what was included or not.

The final version of the bill called for one added expense for homeowners: a permit that would be good for two years and could be renewed. And that was the only added expense.

The Issue of the Sprinklers

Once you have the OK to set up shop in Beacon as a short-term rental, you have to also be OK with New York State code, and in compliance with whatever the state says. The state has not yet defined its code requirements for short-term rentals. It drafted a law, but that law has been stalled for a long time. In New York's draft of a brand-new state law for short-term rentals, sprinklers are not mentioned, and the fire-safety requirements for a homeowner would include "conspicuously" posting a list of emergency phone numbers for police, fire and poison control. They would also need to have a working fire extinguisher. However, we asked Beacon's Dutchess County Legislator, Nick Page, if he knew of any movement on that new bill. "Not as far as I know," was his answer.

If there is no code specified, Beacon's Building Inspector, Timothy Dexter, has stated that he would go by the Bed and Breakfast fire code, which requires sprinkler systems in the home or an egress window that can be pushed out.

Homeowners found that threatening and not affordable. However, if New York State completes their law, this could all be a moot point. The Beacon law was requiring that homeowners comply with New York State law - which people need to do anyway with state laws. Beacon's law was simply to say that short-term rentals in a primary residence were OK, and outlined some rules - which did not specify sprinklers.

What Was Beacon's Law For? What Got Voted "No"?

Beacon's law would have legalized short-term rentals in the city of Beacon, and had nothing to do with state law (because there currently is no state law around short-term rentals). The state law could have included the sprinklers depending on interpretation by the Building Inspector, based on guidance he got from the state, according to the City Attorney. During the night of the city council's vote, the City Attorney went on to say that the state has to regulate short-term rentals somewhere, and until there is something official, that somewhere is code relating to Bed and Breakfasts. However, he noted, the regulation could be in a more restrictive area called R1, but the State is seeking the less restrictive of Bed and Breakfast.

Said the City Attorney that night: “We are talking about two distinctions. What the zoning permits, versus what the state permits. You can regulate zoning, but you can’t regulate what the state code provides for.” Two different laws. Beacon's law would only have green-lighted the concept of short-term rentals in the Schedule of Uses, and how that would work.

Here's a screenshot of what a portion of what Beacon's Schedule of Uses mentioned above looks like. See those line items? Behind each item on this list is how the area of interest would work, according to how the City of Beacon regulated it. The short-term rentals regulation would have put Short-Term Rentals onto this list, with certain rules to follow (here's a link to the law's final draft, which was voted down).

Remember About the Tattoo Parlors? An Ordinance Was Written To Make Tattoo Parlors Illegal in Beacon, Until...

Editor's Note: This section was edited on 6/13/2018 after more information was provided by Keith Zahra in the Comment section).

Alright. Do you see Tattoo Parlors in the list above? Many years ago in 2000, under a totally different City Council, there was a tattoo parlor in town called Zahra's Studio. Tattoo parlors didn't have an ordinance at all. Much like short-term rentals don't have an ordinance at the moment (which by Beacon law, makes them illegal unless they have an ordinance defining how they should run). Some people didn't want tattoo parlors in town anymore. To lock that in and make sure the tattoo parlor couldn't operate legally, an ordinance was written and passed that banned any and all tattoo parlors. Zahra's Studio eventually closed, but not because of the ordinance, according to owner Keith Zahra in the Comment section of this article below!

Said Keith in an outtake of the comment below: "[I was] Open and running for years after the statues of limitations voided any possible future enforcement of the existing tattooing laws. I had a New York State Supreme Court lawsuit filed against City of Beacon for constitutional violations. This case is a lot more complicated than the simplicity of a prohibition and a grandfather clause. City of Beacon violated tattoo artist’s rights like no other government municipality in the country, it was becoming a legal precedence in the industry." Scroll down or click here to read more about his experience with the law. Twelve years later, that rule was reversed, and tattoo parlors were allowed.

Matthew Montleon, owner of Honorable Ink, was responsible for instigating the reversal of a law that prohibited tattoo parlors in Beacon. There is no law written to prohibit short-term rentals in Beacon, but City Council voted down a law written to protect them, leaving short-term rental law in the gray and beholden to default law.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Matthew Montleon, founder of Honorable Ink, the popular tattoo parlor on Main Street, approached the City Council in 2012 to have this reversed so that he could open his own tattoo parlor, Honorable Ink. According to a Poughkeepsie Journal article he has framed in his establishment, he had the support of Mayor Casale and Council Person George Mansfield, who worked to reverse the rule, saying that tattoos were part of our culture now, especially in our artist-friendly town of Beacon. You may remember the videos on it as Matthew showed up to debate the topic and present his case.

According to Matthew, not only did the City Council reverse the ordinance, but Mayor Casale suggested writing a new ordinance to legalize tattoo parlors, which would have set rules on how tattoo parlors could operate in Beacon, assuming they followed New York State health code and any other code New York State set. This is how legalizing tattoo parlors in Beacon in 2012 played out.

This situation could be likened to the move to legalize short-term rentals in Beacon. Only this time, Council Person George Mansfield voted against legalizing short-term rentals, and the Mayor voted for legalizing short-term rentals. Even though both of them were advocating for homeowners who wanted to rent their homes out in the short-term market.

New York State Law vs Beacon Law - Totally Different Things

Being that there is no clear-cut definition of fire safety code for these properties, Beacon's Building Inspector was leaning toward enforcing sprinkler systems or egress windows as called for in the New York State law concerning Bed and Breakfasts, based on guidance he got from the state, according to the City Attorney, who went on to explain:

“Other communities have not addressed this. ... They have turned a blind eye to the building code enforcement issue. Now that the issue is out there in the forefront, the building inspector’s viewpoint is it’s a fire, life, and safety issue, that ultimately is on him. If he turns a blind eye to it, and there is a casualty, ultimately it’s on him. I don’t want to be an alarmist, but there are examples of where there is criminal prosecution against building officials who do not enforce a code provisions when they are in knowing of violations. For him to continue to turn a blind eye, I don’t think is within his job description.”

It should be noted, however, that should New York State define its law, for short-term rentals, nothing changes in the Beacon law - only the requirements of the state law. Neither the proposed state law nor the Beacon law mentioned sprinkler systems or egress windows.

During the night of the vote, City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis recalled how he contacted a few people at the State level to get further clarification, but was unable to find any. "At the New York State Department of State (DOS), I spoke with Justin Cartwright, Director of Legislative Affairs for the NYS Department of State (who Airbnb referred us to). Mr. Cartwright referred us to Joseph Ball, Associate Attorney in the Department of State’s Office of General Counsel. We also spoke with Mark Miranda, Regional Contact, Department of State, Division of Standards and Codes." He was unable to get clear answers on fire-safety enforcement for short-term rentals, since no law exists.

Therefore, written into Beacon's law, was a requirement for the building inspector to inspect a prospective short-term rental to see if the short-term rental was compliant with "the International Series of Codes and New York State Code Supplement," and then make a recommendation from there. The city attorney also mentioned that an individual who disagrees with the building inspector’s interpretation of the International and State Code provisions may appeal to the NYS Department of State, Division of Building Standards and Codes, by filling out and submitting an application form available at: https://www.dos.ny.gov/Dcea/pdf/2078-a-f.pdf.

During the Council's last Workshop on short-term rentals on April 30, 2018, the City Attorney did suggest that a way to trigger New York State into addressing the fire code issue was to file a lawsuit against New York State.

Can Sprinklers Be Written Out of the Law?

Moments before the vote took place during the May 21, 2018, City Council Meeting, George Mansfield asked the city attorney if Beacon's law could be written so that sprinklers were not required. The Attorney answered that the law could not, that a state code could only be added to, and not subtracted from, at the city level. "The city does not have the ability to create laws or definitions or regulations for the State building code. You could apply stricter interpretations, but you can’t have it less permissive. The city does not have the ability to influence the State code interpretation."

The proposed local law required that homeowners follow New York State law, which could change at any time, given pressure to the state to complete their law. If New York State law changes, nothing would be amended into Beacon's law. Meaning, if New York follows through with only requiring a fire extinguisher and list of phone numbers, then that is what people would need to do because they need to follow New York State law.

Plus, Did You Know That Major US Cities Like NYC Actually Heavily Regulate Airbnb?

The headlines at major news outlets have been popping up recently. Some communities turned a blind eye to short-term rentals not being on the official list of things allowed and not allowed (like Beacon did). Others turned a blind eye, but after complaints, created legislation to officially shut down the practice (like Upper Arlington, that suburb outside of Columbus, OH). Cities like Miami Beach don't allow it in certain zones.

Surprisingly, New York City has very tight restrictions on short-term rentals, as pointed out by a recent CNBC article, which states:

New York City, which Airbnb lists as its top destination for guests, has some of the tightest restrictions on short-term rentals in the country. It is illegal to rent out an entire residence for less than 30 days in New York City. Short-term rentals are permitted only if the homeowner is also staying there throughout the rental period and there are no more than two renters.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law in 2016 making it illegal to advertise occupancy for short-term rentals in buildings with three or more units (here's the state law). Violators are subject to fines of up to $7,500.

Beacon's proposed law imposed no limit on the amount of nights the property could rent per calendar year. Beacon's proposed law did not require the homeowner to be on the property at the time of renting. Beacon's proposed law did not restrict short-term rentals by zone.

Did Beacon have a bird in hand, and not realize it?

Did the council members who voted "no" do it as a bluff or statement against the sprinklers (that weren't even in the local law)? Not realizing how many of them would trigger a majority?

Did that many constituents who supported short-term rentals ask their council member to vote "no," and were maybe confused about how a vote of "no" would pan out, or what it included? That this vote was a separate issue from The Sprinkler Issue?

Beacon Was Being Progressive - So What Happened?

The night of the vote, Council Person George Mansfield stated that his vote of "no" was contingent upon Beacon asking New York State to hurry up and decide already about their fire-safety code. However, a vote of "no" does nothing to protect short-term rentals during the time in which it takes New York State to move in any direction - which could be a long time.

Additionally, if New York State did decide to only require a list of phone numbers and a fire extinguisher as their required fire code in short-term rentals, the vote in Beacon would not be retroactive.

We reached out for comment from the council people and heard back from everyone but Mayor Casale, John Rembert and George Mansfield. They get a lot of emails, so we get it if ours was lost.

Terry Nelson, who voted against the legislation stated: "I personally received an overwhelming amount of email urging me to vote 'no' and these came from short-term rental (STR) owners. Their rationale was that the proposed resolution was a step towards driving them out of business. My reason for voting 'no' is that the resolution did not adequately address many of the subtle nuances of STR ownership. Also, it would create a system in which only those with the financial means would be able to be in the STR business."

When I asked Terry for clarification on the financial implication, Terry referred to the possible New York State mandated sprinkler system or egress window requirement that Bed and Breakfasts need to conform to. But sprinklers are not in the currently stalled New York State law, and they were not in the local Beacon proposed law. Terry referred to other fees in the proposed law, but there only seems to be a permit fee in Beacon's law. So fear of additional fees as a reason to vote no on Beacon's law is unclear, since the Beacon law that was up for a vote did not require sprinklers.

Jodi McCredo, who voted in favor of legalizing short-term rentals, stated: "I did receive requests to vote 'no' as well as requests to vote 'yes.' I believe that voting 'yes' to the law, along with the resolution to request state action and a grace period on the code until the end of the year, was the bast way to help our owner-occupied short-term rental hosts stay in business while shutting down the non-owner-occupied short-term rentals that most of the community seemed to be against. The 'no' vote simply shut down everyone."

Lee Kyriacou, who voted in favor of legalizing short-term rentals, stated: "There looked to be a concerted effort to encourage a 'no' vote. In my view, no change in current law keeps all short-term rentals illegal, which leaves the city free to chase them down. The proposed local law that did not pass 3-4 would have legalized owner-occupied short-term rentals."

Amber Grant, who voted against the legislation to legalize short-term rentals, stated: "Throughout the entire process of crafting the legislation, I heard a lot from constituents. I also spent time with many of them, listening to their concerns and even touring a short-term rental. I thank everyone who made their voices heard."

So What Happens Now?

If you have seen the movie Evita starring Madonna, then you may recall the song, "Another Suitcase In Another Hall," in which Madonna sings the recurring breakup song, with the emotional line: "So what happens now?" wondering where she is going to go. The song ends with a character in the movie answering in whisper: "Don't ask... anymore..."

So... to be continued.

Here's the final proposed law that was voted on, in case you're interested in what was allowed for short-term rentals, in case it comes up again. Jeff Simms, Beacon beat reporter for The Highlands Current, got his article up about it last week, if you want another recap.

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Related Links to Airbnb Legislation in Beacon:

Latest Changes to Draft Legislation for Airbnb in Beacon, NY (Short-Term Rental)

The Beacon City Council has made changes to the proposed legislation it is currently considering, to regulate short-term rentals by homeowners, commonly referred to as Airbnb-ing one's home. These changes are being discussed today in a City Council workshop meeting. The topic is #4 on the workshop agenda, which includes a dozen other areas for discussion. You can see all of the changes here at the city's website in red underlines and strike-throughs in the link called "Short Term Rentals LL."

The city has received a lot of public feedback about short-term rentals and Airbnb spaces in Beacon. The topic was first discussed in 2014, and with the city's skyrocketing popularity, addressing lodging space has only become more urgent. Since the City Council began to revisit potential short-term rental legislation, the following major changes have appeared in the public draft of the proposed city law. It would be the first of its kind for Beacon, and will be discussed at tonight's City Council workshop.

• Language was removed from the overall introduction of the law that implied that short-term rentals in and of themselves cause bad behavior and disruption to neighborhoods at large.
• "Non-owner" specification added to the determination that short-term rentals are inconsistent with the use of a residence for residential dwelling purposes.
• Campers, garages, sheds, and other structures not approved for residential use - temporary or permanent - remain un-rentable in short-term residential situations.
  Editor's note: Just as an FYI, businesses that rent campers on their property, such as Kate's Lazy Meadow in the Catskills do exist, and require their own sets of business and insurance filings.
• "Owner" has been more refined to exclude "entity corporation, limited-liability company, partnership," in addition to other forms of entities like a trust, or guardian of an estate.
• Spaces available as rent-able have been more defined.
• Requirements of the owner to show where the house has been advertised have been reduced.
• Owner-occupancy remains the required status, which means that people would not be able to rent out a second or third home they owned on a short-term basis. The home would need to be the primary residence of the owner.
• Weddings, concerts and other commercial uses of a property would remain unlawful for short-term rental.
• The 100 days per year maximum amount of rental days has been removed. Nearly everyone who spoke at the public hearing for short-term rentals was opposed to that maximum. At that meeting, Council Member John Rembert voiced a request to "revisit the 100-day" maximum.
• Permits would be required once the law is signed, and those who already rent out would have "45 days to file an application to obtain a short-term rental permit and 90 days to receive such short- term rental permit before any violations are issued" by the Building Department, unless the Building Department gets delayed.

The entire proposed law, called "Short Term Rentals LL," is here for you to read." The document at the link includes more changes not highlighted here.

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Airbnb Paid Over $220K in Taxes to Dutchess County in 2017

Photo Credit: Screenshot from Airbnb listings, A Little Beacon Blog.

As the City of Beacon considers legislation for short-term rentals in residential houses, everyone involved is looking at their finances. During a public hearing for the legislation, homeowners who rent their homes out on a per-night, short-term basis, came out to speak in favor of continuing to allow short-term rentals in their homes. Many of the homeowners discussed financial implications they would face if Beacon legislated against short-term rentals or limited the amount of nightly rentals to 100 per year per house (the City Council has since scratched out that maximum from the draft legislation currently being discussed at City Council's Workshop meeting on 4/30/18), or imposing a New York State fire code law for Bed and Breakfasts that requires a sprinkler system or special windows installed in the home.

Other Areas of Economy Impacted by Airbnb

A Beacon resident and Airbnb user, Eileen O'Hare, shed light on another economic area that is impacted by Airbnb rentals, and that is the service industry. According to Eileen's presentation at the public hearing, Airbnb recommends for homeowners to pay for house cleaning and lawn care in order to attract good and consistent bookings. She then posed this question to the City Council at that meeting: "I pay my cleaning lady $25 per hour. What do you pay yours?"

Tax Revenue Going to Dutchess County Generated by Airbnb Bookings

People who make money from Airbnb bookings, like house cleaners, also attended the meeting to request that the short-term rentals be allowed to continue. This got us to thinking about the wider economic impact of short-term rentals on the area, and so we reached out to Dutchess County Legislator Nick Page to get some answers about any revenue generated by the Bed Tax. That tax, as well as sales tax, goes straight to Dutchess County and does not directly get paid to the City of Beacon. Here are some economic statistics derived from tax revenue raised for Dutchess County through Airbnb short-term bookings, according to Nick's understanding, from conversations with the Dutchess County Department of Finance:

• Airbnb paid a total of $221,918 of the 4% Bed Tax to Dutchess County for 2017. 

• Dutchess County began collecting the 4% Bed Tax from hosts using the Airbnb platform on March 1, 2017. 

• The payments to the county are not broken down by municipality (i.e. city, town, or village) and the county does not have access to the host addresses from Airbnb.

• Airbnb remits one payment to the county by the 20th of each month for the preceding month's activity.

• Dutchess County is about to begin tracking other short-term rental sites as well. Currently, Dutchess County only collects from Airbnb.

The discussion continues, as the City Council meets tonight to go over the latest changes to the draft legislation based on feedback from the community. On the public agenda for tonight, this topic is filed under "Short-Term Rentals" and is currently #4 out of 12 topics to discuss. Bring your coffee.

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New City Council Ward Members and Dutchess County Legislators Sworn In for 2018

Photo Credit: Screenshot of swearing-in ceremony from video produced by Peter Skorewicz.
Graphic Art Credit: A Little Beacon Blog

On the first day of the new year of 2018, Beacon held a swearing-in ceremony for the brand new City Council ward members and two Dutchess County Legislators - all Democrats - who swept local elections after a tumultuous year in politics nationally. As reported by Jeff Simms for the Highlands Current, all citizens running were "first-time candidates, each [winning] by wide margins." The two at-large council members were old hands at this: Lee Kyriacou has served nine terms, and George Mansfield has served five terms so far.

Former City Council member Pam Wetherbee presided over the ceremony. Several notable people attended, including Kenya Gadsden, board member for the Beacon City School District Board of Education, and former Beacon Mayor Steve Gold, who is currently the Chief of Staff for New York State Assemblyman Frank Skartados.

Kicking off the ceremony were Cub Scout Pack 1, Boy Scout Troop 1, and Boy Scout Troop 141 of Beacon. Next, the Beacon High School Chorus, led by teacher Susan Wright, sang "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie, which was a "song special to Pete Seeger, who was someone important to Beacon," Susan stated. (See this stellar New Yorker profile on Pete Seeger by Beacon local David Rees).

The Swearing In

Terry Nelson, representing Ward 1, was sworn in by his daughter and wife, promising: "I will do the best job I possibly can to represent everyone in the City of Beacon." Terry is also a founder of the Beacon Independent Film Festival, and a board member for BeaconArts.

John Rembert, representing Ward 2, was sworn in by his wife, showing gratitude: "I thank the citizens of Ward 2 and the citizens of Beacon, NY, and I will do my best for the citizens of Beacon, NY."

Jodi McCredo, representing Ward 3, was sworn in by her children. Jodi was also one of the founders of the Advocates for Beacon Schools, a group of parents and community members who pushed for change and awareness of the politics and policies in public schools. They were active during the time of a resignation of a Beacon superintendent in 2016 and in the election of three new board members to the Board of Education. That group built a website for publishing information, advocates12508.com, and a similar website has been created for disseminating information about building development projects in Beacon, development12508.com. Said Jodi: "I'm looking forward to what we can do together for Beacon and for Dutchess County."

Photo Credit: Screenshot of Swearing In Ceremony from video produced by Peter Skorewicz.

For her swearing-in, Amber Grant, representing Ward 4, placed the Constitution on her small niece, who was held by Amber's sister. Amber said: "I look forward to getting to work. Hopefully I'll see a lot of you here tomorrow as well (for the next City Council meeting)."

After George Mansfield was sworn in for his at-large position, he reflected: "I was first here eight years ago, when I first ran for office, and it never gets any less exciting. The burden of responsibility is great."

Lee Kyriacou, the City Council's other at-large member, selected The Constitution as his object to be sworn in on. He thanked his family, "my spouse, my two lovely daughters who indulge my passion to indulge in community service., and to the voters who turned out in amazing numbers. Please keep doing that." Lee continued, reflecting on what he called Beacon's journey of renewal. "Beacon has probably done the biggest turnaround of the Hudson Valley, if not, almost anywhere. It's been a pretty important set of roles for us to undertake. I've said from Day 1 - my first Day 1 was 1994 - that Zoning and Enforcement are the most important things that we do." He added, "We aren't going downhill - which is where we were heading in those days. We are headed uphill, but we have to chart a journey that works for our entire community. I look forward to my colleagues on the Council and the County Legislature in charting that journey together."

Frits Zernike for Dutchess County Legislator, District 16. Frits stated: "District 16 extends into Fishkill. It was Beacon's energy that won us this election. I hope to take the energy we have in southern Dutchess County and infuse the entire county legislature with it... Democracy is not a spectator sport. It's nice to be participating this way. I hope and I trust that you all will continue to participate, show up, pester us, and get done what we need done."

Nick Page for Dutchess County Legislator, District 18, was eager to get started, stating: "The election effort in Beacon was truly astonishing."

The event concluded with a benediction by Reverend Perry from the Springfield Baptist Church.

The local paparazzi (aka friends and families showing support).
Photo Credit: Screenshot of Swearing In Ceremony from video produced by Peter Skorewicz.