LEWISTON, N.Y. — The Town of Lewiston is a proud town, and town board member John Jacoby might be its proudest resident.
“Lewiston’s a gem, a real hidden gem, if you will,” he said. “It was a dream to live on this street.”
That’s what Jacoby tried to show on Monday by spearheading an effort passed by the town board to ban short-term rentals in residential zones. The ban only applies to the Town of Lewiston, not the village.
“I don't want to live next door to a house that's vacant,” Jacoby said. “It's not conducive to a sense of community. It doesn't promote a neighborhood feeling ever.”
The board voted 3-2 in favor of the new law with the three members citing the feelings of their constituents from multiple public hearings. They shared concerns over factors like noise, damage to personal property and large gatherings that short-term rentals like Airbnbs and bed and breakfasts can welcome.
However, those concerns came from other towns that allow short-term rentals, not the experience in the Town of Lewiston.
2 On Your Side: “How are you certain that these issues would arise in the Town of Lewiston?”
Jacoby: “I'm not certain that they would.”
That logic frustrated short-term rental owners like Jena Copelin, who told 2 On Your Side Tuesday that she believes the town board made a decision on assumption without doing its due diligence.
She even pointed to one board member, Sarah Waechter, who voted with Jacoby in favor of the ban despite owning an Airbnb in the Finger Lakes.
2 On Your Side pressed Waechter on that Wednesday.
2 On Your Side: “It looks like you're on the record from a previous board meeting saying that you own an Airbnb in the Finger Lakes? Do you not see how some people could find that to be hypocritical?”
Waechter: “For full disclosure, yes, my husband and I do have one in Cayuga Lake. … Cayuga Lake is a little bit different in the fact that it is a summer community.
“I understand that it's potentially, as some people say, a conflict of interest. I don't find that because I don't own and operate one in the Town of Lewiston, or in the Village of Lewiston. And then also two, it's a little bit more of a unique community.”
Monday showed Lewiston is a proud town, but those within it just can’t fully agree on what its future should look like.
Waechter said she expects the law to go to the courts in an effort to repeal it, but Jacoby does not believe it will be overturned under the current town board.