Residents reiterate rental property objections
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A recent Town of Dunkirk Board meeting was a blast from the past. All it was missing was a handwritten letter from Sue Hazelton.
Several members of the Dunkirk community spoke out against a short-term rental property operating on Woodlands Drive. Among them were Sue Hazelton and Jay Warren, who each consistently spoke out against the same property more than four years ago. Warren spoke first at the latest Board meeting, playfully introducing himself as a member of the "West Town rabble rousers club."
Warren took issue with Jennifer Friedman, the owner of a rental property in town, who has continued to operate her residence as a vacation rental against the spirit of the town's local laws. After years of complaints, the Town Board eventually passed a local law to regulate short-term rental properties in Dunkirk in July of 2023. Friedman, however, kept her property in operation with minor adjustments to skirt the consequences.
Hazelton, never one to pull punches, spoke bluntly on her opinion of the situation. "What she is doing is she's hoodwinking us. ... She's just pulling our chain, that's all it is. She is just seeing what she can get away with, and it isn't fair," Hazelton said.
The Town of Dunkirk's local law on the matter, Local Law No. 1 of 2023, states that short-term rentals are not permitted in single family residential (R-1) districts, but Friedman's property on Woodlands Drive complies with the local law's requirement of a rental needing to be a commitment of at least 31 days to avoid being classified as a short-term rental.
However, residents have stated that the guests Friedman rents to are not long-term tenants, and comments online have insinuated the renters are utilizing the property for a week at a time.
"Send her a bill. Don't you have a fine or something that they get? She's violating the law," Warren said.
The law states its purpose and intent as follows: "The Town Board of the Town of Dunkirk has determined that short-term rentals can be incompatible with the sense of privacy, community and ambiance currently enjoyed in residential neighborhoods in the Town and has the potential to create significant issues with respect to the public health, safety, and welfare within the Town. The Board also recognizes that short-term rentals can attract visitors to the Town and provide an additional source of income to Town residents. Accordingly, the Board wishes to provide regulations to protect against adverse impacts of this type of use while allowing it under appropriate circumstances."
Irene Strychalski, a member of the Zoning Board, said she agreed with Warren's comments. "We are all noticing that things are not as they should be," Strychalski said.
The Town retained special counsel to represent itself as a whole, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the community on Woodlands Drive against Friedman with a lawsuit filed with the Supreme Court of Chautauqua County. Judge Grace Hanlon sided with the Town on the matter, but even now, the issues persist.
Allison Lang, a resident of Woodlands Drive, said that by not following the intent of the local law, a precedent is being set that property owners can get away with not adhering to the Town's requirements.
"I think this will continue until something is done about it. Everybody in our community spent a lot of time, effort and money to make sure that our neighborhood remained a neighborhood, as opposed to a rental community," Lang said.
Code Enforcement Officer Ryan Mourer addressed the matter, stating that he spoke to the owner of the property in question. "She's definitely trying to work the system, in a fashion I find to be challenging to proceed completely," Mourer stated. "... There's ways to manipulate it, and she's doing a fairly good job at this point."
Mourer then scheduled a meeting with Town Supervisor Shari Miller and Attorney Jeff Passafaro for advice on how to proceed. "I'm not really sure what direction, completely, we can go yet. The dialogue is going. I feel like there is some opportunity, but we've got to make sure we do this the right way," Mourer said. "I want you guys to know that we're not ignoring you. There's a process, and the process is a little longer than maybe you'd like, but we're doing the best we can at this point."