A proposed solution being considered in Oak Bluffs in March would require that property owners who want to rent live in their houses at least 30 days each year. The law would also prevent an owner from operating more than one short-term rental.
Whether the changes would result in more year-round housing options is a big question. One Martha’s Vineyard planning board member told The Gazette, “Would people all of a sudden rent year-round? I don’t know. . . . It’s a problem that I don’t know we’ll ever be able to fix.”
That kind of thinking must have helped prompt New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to try to flip a key community review rule on its head. Buried in the governor’s 2027 budget request is a nuclear option that would allow developers who clear local zoning requirements on previously disturbed land, for example, a former shopping center or a newly vacant lot, to bypass the environmental review process altogether.
The changes, as critics see it, are under the guise of allowing more affordable housing development, but would come at too high a cost. Organizations including the Peconic Baykeeper are alarmed that gutting the State Environmental Quality Review Act would block towns and villages — as well as residents — from weighing in on projects of up to 100 units apiece. This is a dangerous state proposal worth watching very closely.