Town of Dunkirk responds to rental ‘confusion’
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After residents attended a recent meeting of the Dunkirk Town Board asking for clarification to the Town's stance regarding short-term rental properties, the Town Board has since issued a statement on the matter.
On behalf of the Town Board, the statement said, "The position of the Town of Dunkirk Town Board is that Local Law 1 of the year 2023 regulating Transient and Short-Term Rentals was adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Dunkirk and became effective upon filing with the Secretary of State of the State of New York on July 17, 2023. Said Law is currently in effect in the Town of Dunkirk.
The Town Board stands by Section 11 of said Local Law which provides for the termination of a non-conforming, prior use, of a property as Transient, Short-Term Rental, including the provision for an amortization period, and a process whereby a property owner may apply to extend said amortization period."
The statement was issued in an attempt to clarify the "confusion" stemming from media coverage of a ruling from the State Supreme Court's Appellate Division this past November, which reversed a 2022 judgment by Judge Grace Hanlon, who ruled in favor of the Town's stance on the matter, and against Jennifer Friedman, a short-term rental property owner in the Town.
With the matter remaining in litigation, the Town Board "will have no further comment" on the matter.
The Town Board also recently approved the purchase of a 2024 Chevrolet Heavy Duty 3500 truck from Basil Chevrolet at the lowest received bid amount of $60,800. The funds will come from the Highway Surplus Monies account, with a plow attachment to come at a later date. The initial motion passed by the Board was to use Highway Reserve funds to purchase the truck, but in order to avoid a permissive referendum to restrict the sale for 30 days, the Board later rescinded the motion and instead opted to utilize Highway Surplus funds to purchase the vehicle.
Highway Superintendent Jeff Feinen also informed the Board that the New York State Department of Transportation is in the "engineering phase" of replacing the bridge over Canadaway Creek on Route 5. Feinen said he has not heard an exact date as to when the construction will begin or what the detour plans will be, but the work will be done "in the near future."