The Town Board of the Town of Islip has determined
that serious conditions exist in the Town of Islip arising from the
rental of dwelling units that are substandard or in violation of the
New York State Building Code, New York State Fire Code, New York State
Fuel-Gas Code, New York State Residential Code, New York State Property
Maintenance Code, New York State Plumbing Code, New York State Electrical
Code, Multiple Residence Law, Building Rehabilitation Code, and other
codes and ordinances of the Town, are inadequate in size and overcrowded,
that such dwelling units pose hazards to the safety, well-being and
property of residents of the Town and others, create blight and tend
to promote and encourage deterioration of the housing stock of the
Town, exacerbate vehicle traffic and parking problems and overburden
municipal services. The Board finds that current Code provisions are
inadequate to halt the proliferation of such conditions and that the
public health, safety, welfare and good order and governance of the
Town will be enhanced by the enactment of the regulations set forth
in this article, which regulations are remedial in nature and effect.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated.
ABANDONED HOUSEHOLD CONTENTS
Furniture, furnishings, housewares, appliances and other
personal property customarily found in and used in residential dwellings,
which are deposited at or along said dwelling's street frontage, in
part or in whole, pursuant to a duly executed warrant of eviction
by legally authorized law enforcement officers and/or personnel.
APARTMENT
An entirely self-contained dwelling unit containing complete
housekeeping facilities, including cooking facilities, for only one
family. An apartment shall have no enclosed space in common with any
other dwelling or apartment other than vestibules, entrances, hallways
or porches.
APARTMENT HOUSE OR GARDEN APARTMENT
A building or buildings arranged, intended or designed to
be occupied by two or more individuals or families living independently
of each other in apartments.
AUTHORIZED AGENT
Any person, organization, partnership, association, corporation
or other legally recognized entity having actual or apparent authority
to act on behalf of an owner regarding this article and all state
and local rules, regulations and ordinances referenced herein. It
shall be a rebuttable presumption that any person, organization, partnership,
association, corporation or other legally recognized entity that accepts
or receives rent or any other consideration from the occupant of a
dwelling unit is an authorized agent.
BUILDING
A structure having a roof supported by columns or walls.
When separated by a party wall without openings, it shall be deemed
a separate building.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL
The official who is charged with the administration and enforcement
of this article, or any duly authorized representative of such person,
including but not limited to the Building Inspector, Chief Building
Inspector, Principal Building Inspectors, Senior Building Inspector,
Building Permits Coordinator, Zoning Inspector, Plumbing Inspector,
Fire Marshal, Fire Marshal I, Fire Marshal II, Chief Fire Marshal,
Town Investigator. Senior Town Investigator or Ordinance Inspector
of the Town of Islip, and such person(s) shall be certified as a New
York State Code Enforcement Official.
DWELLING
A building designed exclusively for residential purposes
and arranged or intended to be occupied by one individual or one family
only. A dwelling shall not have a separate entrance leading to a separated
living space which contains a stove, kitchen and/or attached plumbing
fixtures.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE
A building or portion thereof arranged, designed for or occupied
by three or more families living independently of each other with
separate cooking facilities. A boardinghouse, furnished-room house,
dormitory, rooming house, tourist house or fraternity house is a building
in which there are fewer than 30 sleeping rooms occupied primarily
by transients who are lodged with or without meals and in which there
are provided such services as are incidental to its use as a temporary
residence, and is a multiple dwelling; a dwelling occupied by one
or two families with five or more transient boarders, roomer or lodgers
in one or both households.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A building arranged, designed for or occupied exclusively
as a home or residence for not more than two families living independently
of each other.
DWELLING UNIT
A structure or building, one-, two- or three-family dwelling,
apartments, multiunit apartments, apartment houses, condominiums,
cooperatives, garden apartments or townhouses, occupied or to be occupied
by one or more persons as a home or residence.
FAMILY
One or more persons, whether or not related to each other
by blood, marriage or adoption, all occupying a single, whole, legal
single- or one-family dwelling unit as a traditional family or the
functional equivalent of a traditional family, having access to and
utilizing the whole of such dwelling unit, including but not limited
to all rooms and housekeeping facilities, in common.
A.
In determining whether individuals are living
together as the functional equivalent of a traditional family, the
following criteria must be present:
(1)
The group is one which in structure and function
resembles a traditional family unit; and
(2)
The occupants must share the entire single-
or one-family dwelling unit and live and cook together as a single
housekeeping unit. A unit in which the various occupants act as separate
roomers may not be deemed to be occupied by the functional equivalent
of a traditional family; and
(3)
The occupants share expenses for food, rent,
ownership costs, utilities and other household expenses; and
(4)
The occupancy is permanent and stable. Evidence
of such permanence and stability includes, but is not limited to:
(a)
The presence of minor children regularly residing
in the household who are enrolled in local schools;
(b)
Members of the household have the same address
for purposes of voter registration, drivers' licenses, motor vehicle
registration, filing of taxes and delivery of mail;
(c)
Members of the household are employed in the
area;
(d)
The household has been living together as a
unit for a year or more whether in the current dwelling unit or in
other dwelling units.
(e)
Common ownership of furniture and appliances
among the members of the household; and
(f)
Any other factor reasonably related to whether
or not the occupants are the functional equivalent of a family.
KITCHEN
An area within a building which contains a sink, a refrigerator
and an element utilized for heating or cooking of consumable goods.
MANAGING AGENT
Any individual, business, partnership, firm, corporation,
enterprise, trust, company, industry, association, public utility
or other legal entity responsible for the maintenance or operation
of any rental property as defined within this article.
NEW PERMIT
A permit which is to be issued to the owner of an intended
rental premises where such premises have not been the subject of a
rental occupancy permit continuously prior to the date of application
for the permit.
OCCUPANT
A natural person who leases, uses or occupies a dwelling
unit.
OWNER
Any person or entity in whose name the real property upon
which the dwelling unit is situated is recorded in the office of the
Suffolk County Clerk. The person or entity in whose name the real
property is recorded in the Office of the Suffolk County Clerk shall
be presumed to be the owner thereof.
RENEWAL RENTAL OCCUPANCY PERMIT
A permit which is to be issued to the owner of a rental dwelling
unit where such premises have been the subject of a rental occupancy
permit continuously prior to the date of application for the permit.
RENT
A return in money, property or other valuable consideration
(including payment in kind or for services or other thing of value)
for the use and occupancy or the right to the use and occupancy of
a dwelling unit, whether or not a legal relationship of landlord and
tenant exists between the owner and the occupant or occupants thereof.
RENTAL DWELLING
A dwelling unit established, occupied, used or maintained
for rental occupancy.
RENTAL OCCUPANCY
The occupancy or use of a dwelling unit by one or more persons
as a home or residence under an arrangement whereby the occupant or
occupants thereof pay rent for such occupancy and use.
RENTAL OCCUPANCY PERMIT
A permit which is issued upon application to the Code Enforcement
Official and shall be valid for two years from the date of issuance.
TRANSIENT RENTAL PROPERTY
[Added 12-15-2015]
A.
For the purposes of this chapter, the term “transient
rental property” shall mean a rental dwelling unit and/or accessory
use on the same property such as yard space, accessory structures,
swimming pools, hot tubs, etc., occupied as a home or residence by
persons others than the owner or a family member/guest of the owner
and for which rent is received by the owner, directly or indirectly,
in exchange for such rental occupation for a period of less than 14
nights and shall not include:
[Amended 8-13-2024
(1)
A dwelling unit lawfully and validly permitted as an accessory apartment in accordance with §
68-602 of the Code of the Town of Islip; or
(2)
Properties used exclusively for nonresidential commercial purposes
in any zoning district; or
(3)
Any legally operating hotel/motel business or bed-and-breakfast
establishment operating exclusively and catering to transient clientele;
that is, customers who customarily reside at these establishments
for short durations for the purpose of vacationing, travel, business,
recreational activities, conventions, emergencies and other activities
that are customary to a commercial hotel/motel business.
(4)
A dwelling unit located on Fire Island.
B.
Presumption of dwelling unit as transient rental property.
(1)
The presence of the following shall create a presumption that
a dwelling unit is being used as a transient rental property:
(a)
The dwelling unit and/or accessory use is offered for lease
on a short-term rental website, including Airbnb, Home Away, VRBO,
Swimply and the like for a period of less than 14 days; or
[Amended 8-13-2024
(b)
The dwelling is offered for lease in any medium for a period
of less than 14 nights.
(2)
The foregoing presumption may be rebutted by evidence presented
to the Code Enforcement Official that the dwelling unit is not a transient
rental property.
No rental occupancy permit or renewal thereof
shall be issued under any application unless the property shall be
in compliance with all the provisions of the Code of the Town of Islip,
the laws and sanitary and housing regulations of the County of Suffolk
and the laws of the State of New York.
It shall be the duty of the Code Enforcement
Official to maintain a register of the rental occupancy permits issued
pursuant to this article. Such register shall be kept by Tax Map number,
license number, receipt number and street address showing the name
and address of the permittee, the number of rental dwelling units
at such street address, the number of rooms in each such rental dwelling
unit and the date that said rental occupancy permit expires for such
unit.
The Code Enforcement Official is authorized
to make, or cause to be made, inspections to determine the condition
of rental dwelling units to safeguard the health, safety and welfare
of the public. The Code Enforcement Official is authorized to enter,
upon consent of the owner if the unit is unoccupied, or upon consent
of the occupant if the unit is occupied, any rental dwelling unit
and the premises in which the same is located, at any reasonable time,
or at such other time as may be necessary in an emergency, without
consent of the owner, authorized agent and/or tenant for the purpose
of performing his duties under this article.
The Code Enforcement Official is authorized
to make application to any court of competent jurisdiction for the
issuance of a search warrant in order to conduct an inspection of
any premises covered by this article where the owner refuses or fails
to allow an inspection of its rental premises and where there is reasonable
cause to believe that a violation of this article has occurred. The
application for a search warrant shall in all respects comply with
the applicable laws of the State of New York.
Nothing in this article, except for provisions
concerning emergency inspections, shall be deemed to authorize the
Code Enforcement Official to conduct an inspection of any premises
subject to this article without the consent of the owner of the premises
and without a warrant duly issued by an appropriate court.
No change of occupancy or use shall be made
in a building hereafter erected or altered that is not consistent
with the last-issued certificate of occupancy for such building unless
a permit is secured. In the case of an existing building, no change
of occupancy that would bring it under some special provision of this
chapter shall be made unless the Code Enforcement Official, or his
designee, upon inspection, finds that such building conforms substantially
to the provisions of this chapter with respect to the proposed new
occupancy and use, and issues a certificate of occupancy therefor.
Under New York State Public Officers Law § 87(2)(b),
rental registration forms, and that portion of the rental occupancy
permit application required, shall be exempt from disclosure under
the Freedom of Information Law on the grounds that such disclosure
would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The
Code Enforcement Official will institute strict policies to ensure
that such information is available only to Town personnel who are
engaged in the enforcement of the provisions of this article.
[Amended 4-14-2009]
Any person, association, firm or corporation
who or which violates any provision of this article or assists in
the violation of any provision of this article shall be guilty of
a violation, punishable:
A. By a fine of not less than $750 and not exceeding
$2,500 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both,
for conviction of a first offense.
B. For any second conviction, committed within a period
of five years of the first conviction, such violation will be subject
to a fine of not less than $2,500 nor more than $5,000 or by imprisonment
for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both.
C. For any third or subsequent offense, after having
been convicted two or more times within a period of five years, such
violation shall be prosecuted as an unclassified misdemeanor, with
a minimum fine of $5,000 and a maximum fine of $10,000 and/or a maximum
period of incarceration of one year.
This article shall be enforced by the Code Enforcement
Official as defined by this article.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section
or part of this article shall be adjudged by any court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair
or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its
operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof
directly involved in said judgment.§