MONTICELLO  — The Village of Monticello passed Local Laws #6, #7, and #8 during their regular meeting Wednesday night.

These three Local Laws were as follows:

Local Law #6 amends Chapter 252 entitled “Vehicles and Traffic” section 32.

Local Law #7 amends Chapter 202 “Rental Permits” by adding subsections 202-3(c), 202-4a, and 202-5(b)(3)(a-e).

Local Law #8 amends Chapter 12. It is entitled “Defense and Indemnification”. 

During the Public Hearing for Local Law #7 which pertains to short-term rentals (STR’s), newly appointed Spanish Community Liason for the Village, Ernesto Middelhof, told of his experiences with STR’s.

“We have to keep an eye out for [STRs] ... Airbnb has taken over Puerto Rico,” explained Middelhof, “There’s no rent for working-class people. Rent is almost like New York City now in Puerto Rico. I think the Village should keep an eye on the expansion of Airbnb.”

He addressed that an expansion can “keep off” the working-class people. He stated that people in Puerto Rico are reportedly throwing people out of senior homes just to install STR’s.

Village Attorney Michael Sussman agreed, adding that he believes the Board also agreed on that point in their prior meeting.

“The first step is getting ahold of registration and knowing how many there are,” Sussman reminded. “[There’s also] knowing how many there are, because we need to understand how prevalent this really is. Right now, it’s unregulated and we have no way of even assessing that, other than speculatively.”

Residents share 

housing concerns

During public comment, a few Monticello residents expressed a shared concern of available housing in the Village.

Trustee Gordon Jenkins invited Sheldon Roberts and his father Selwyn of DSS Services LLC, to discuss their resolution to the issues.

Two months ago, Roberts opened up an office on 7 St. John Street. For 20 years, his specialty has been real estate development management.

“Recently my job done here is to address those needs of affordable housing, senior housing, and things of that nature,” explained Roberts. “My father and I have done real estate down in the Harlem area in Manhattan. We’ve kind of seen similar situations down there in the early days with a lot of public health issues and a lot of affordability issues.”

It was thanks to Selwyn’s relationship with Gordon that Roberts found out about housing, public health, and senior needs, among similar things.

Thus, he took it upon himself to take an interest in Monticello and try to develop the much-requested housing.

“I’ve sort of engaged in the beginning stages of a partnership with a large affordable housing developer that does a lot of it throughout the State,” said Roberts. “We’re just looking to be welcomed in this community to try to help it. We appreciate your input. We want to make sure it’s more than just the housing, it’s the revitalization of the community.”