Editor:

I have handed in to the town and to the Orleans Hub some good reasons why a STR (short-term rental) or airbnb  should not be on an easement, shared lane, or private shared lane.

On a private one-way lane, when approximately 10 people reside on the lane, it’s a private lane. People who purchased that type of property have spent their hard-earned money on their properties for peace and quiet and not to see strangers come in and out.

That was not their intentions in buying that type of property. They are not on a public road way. It’s a private one-way  lane where the people should not have to beg  the town not to allow it  when there are other places in the town of Yates/Lyndonville where STRs or airbnbs can reside.

It’s  not like people are asking the town or the people not to have any of them at all. People who have saved all their life just to have something like this, a beautiful home on the lake,  not  a motel in their quiet and peaceful area and for it to be ripped away from them.

The chairman of the board has been asked several times to exclude two of the Yates Town Board and they weren’t, even when one owns an STR in a  different town and the other owns a business here hoping it will generate more business for him which is very acceptable but not on a lane that consists of approximately 10  people. On the private lanes, STRs should be  prohibited, period.

It also seems to me by going to these meetings when we are allowed to talk about it to the Town Board, some of the board members seem to have already made their decision.

I realize it’s stressful to the town supervisor and board members because they are being  pulled in different directions and trying to make everyone happy but like I said these properties were purchased before STRs and airbnbs where ever as popular as they are today.

I am pretty sure most people would of thought twice before purchasing if they knew they would be next to an STR. We personally own two properties on the private one-way lane  and I would be very disappointed if Town Board allows STRs on these private one-way lanes.

Please think this through to the fullest extent due to the people who paid  a large amount of money to own this type of property, and not be next to a motel and have to not to worry  about who is who and what is what when their children or grandchildren are at play.

A  private one-way  lane is not a public roadway. It’s a private one-way  lane for the people who own and pay taxes and lane  maintenance, period.

Bonnie Mack

Yates