[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Kings Point 2-8-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Amended 9-20-2022 by L.L. No. 19-2022]
The intent of this chapter is to attempt to protect the bucolic
nature of the Village and the peace and quiet of its residents from
unreasonable noise and traffic, and to provide that all rental dwelling
units are safe, that necessary information is provided to the Village
for essential communications between emergency responders and tenants
in the event of an emergency, to prevent illegal rentals, and to prohibit
the rental of accessory facilities or other portions of the premises
separate and apart from the dwelling itself.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Accessory structures such as, but not limited to, swimming
pools, tennis courts, basketball and other sports courts, garages,
guest houses, and the vacant grounds of the premises, or, as to a
vacant lot, all or any part of the premises.
[Added 9-20-2022 by L.L. No. 19-2022]
A building within the Village, or part of such building,
occupied or to be occupied by one or more persons as a residence.
Such residence does not have to be the occupier's sole residence.
The grantee of the property as set forth in the last deed of
record on file with the Clerk of the County of Nassau, every partner
of any grantee that is partnership, company, or firm, and every officer
of any grantee that is a corporation, except:
A public housing authority organized as such under the laws
of the State of New York;
A not-for-profit corporation organized to own and operate a
group home or assisted-living or moderate-income senior-citizen housing
in conjunction with New York State; and
A state-, county- or village-operated group home or treatment
facility.
A tenant in relation to its subtenant.
A return, in money, property, or other valuable consideration
(including payment in kind or services or other thing of value), for
use and/or occupancy or the right to the use and/or 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.
A building wherein there is a rental dwelling unit.
A dwelling unit established, occupied, used or maintained
for rental occupancy.
The occupancy or use of a dwelling unit by one or more persons
as a dwelling unit under an arrangement whereby the occupant or occupants
thereof pay rent for such occupancy and use. There is a rebuttable
presumption that any occupancy or use of a dwelling unit is a rental
occupancy if the owner of the building containing the dwelling unit
does not reside in the same building.
The Superintendent of the Building Department or his or her
designee.
[Amended 9-20-2022 by L.L. No. 19-2022]
A.
This chapter shall apply to all rentals of property not used by the
United States government or a department thereof, a public school
district, or a special district of the Town of North Hempstead.
B.
The issuance of any permit pursuant to this chapter does not make
legal any use that is otherwise illegal under any other applicable
law.
C.
Rentals may only be made to one or more individuals who compromise all or a part of the family, as "family" is defined in § 161-3 of this chapter, which will be occupying the premises during the rental period.
D.
No rental permit shall be for less than one consecutive thirty-day
period and, if there are nonconsecutive periods, each period shall
be for not less than thirty consecutive days.
E.
No rental permit shall be for the use of a premises that is not improved
with a legal family dwelling.
F.
No rental permit shall be for the use of one or more accessory facilities
if it does not include the dwelling.
G.
In the event that this section causes a severe and substantial financial
hardship to any property owner, an application may be made in writing
to the Board of Trustees requesting an exemption from the provisions
of this section. After due notice to all property owners within 800
feet of the subject premises and a public hearing on such application,
the Board of Trustees may grant such exemption and impose any conditions
as may be deemed reasonable or necessary. No exemption shall be granted
pursuant to this section, except upon a determination in the sole
discretion of the Board of Trustees that severe and substantial financial
hardship exists as a result of the application of the provisions of
this section and the granting of the application will not have a significant
adverse impact on the surrounding properties.
It shall be unlawful for the owner, owner's agent, real estate
agent, or any other person with actual or apparent authority over
any dwelling unit to allow, permit, suffer, or tolerate the rental
of such dwelling unit without having first obtained a rental occupancy
permit pursuant to this chapter.
A.
An application for a rental occupancy permit for a rental dwelling
unit shall be made to the Superintendent and shall include the following
information and such other information as the Superintendent may deem
appropriate:
(1)
The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the managing
agent or operator, if any, or of the owner of the rental building;
(2)
The street address and tax map description (section, block. and lot
or lots) of the rental building; and
(3)
The number of dwelling units within the rental building.
(4)
The name, telephone number, and email address of the occupant or
occupants to whom the dwelling unit is rented. If not known at the
time of the registration, that information shall be added to the registration
within 30 days after it becomes known. In the event that such dwelling
unit is at any time thereafter rented to a different occupant or occupants,
within 30 days of that rental, such registration information shall
be updated so that it is always current.
(5)
A floor plan or other diagram sufficient for the Superintendent to
identify the location of the dwelling unit within the rental building
if the dwelling unit is only part of the rental building.
(6)
A certification that the dwelling unit:
[Amended 9-20-2022 by L.L. No. 16-2022]
(7)
A certification
that the dwelling unit shall only be occupied by one family.
[Added 9-13-2021 by L.L. No. 17-2021]
B.
Each application shall be executed and acknowledged by the owner
of the rental building.
A nonrefundable permit application fee for each dwelling unit
shall be set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Trustees.
The Superintendent shall review each application for completeness
and the legality of the proposed rental and, upon satisfaction of
the completeness of the application, the legality of the rental, the
payment of the required fee, and confirming that there is a legal
certificate of occupancy for the proposed rental and that there are
no outstanding violations on the property, whether or not a notice
of notice of violation or a notice of appearance to the Village Justice
Court has been issued, the Superintendent shall issue the permit.
All permits issued pursuant to this chapter shall be valid for
a period of two years from the date of issuance.
A.
The Superintendent shall maintain a register of permits issued pursuant
to this chapter. Such register shall be kept by street address, showing
the name and address of the permit holder, the number of rental dwelling
units in the rental building, and the date of expiration of such permit.
B.
The telephone numbers and email addresses set forth on the applications
may be shared with the Police Department of the Village, but shall
otherwise be kept confidential to the extent permitted by the Freedom
of Information Law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.
§ 552.
A.
With the consent of the owner or anyone legally occupying the dwelling
unit, the Superintendent is authorized to make or cause to be made
inspections to determine the conditions of a dwelling unit, the rental
building, and the premises upon which the said rental building is
located, to safeguard the health, safety, morals, and welfare of the
public.
B.
The Superintendent is authorized to make application to the Village
Justice Court for the issuance of a search warrant in order to conduct
an inspection of any dwelling unit, residential building, and the
premises upon which the residential building is located when neither
the owner nor anyone legally occupying the dwelling unit consents
to such an inspection and there is reasonable cause to believe that
a violation of this chapter has occurred.
C.
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to authorize the Superintendent
to conduct an inspection of any dwelling unit, rental building, or
premises, unless otherwise permitted by law, without the aforesaid
consent or a search warrant issued by the Village Justice Court.
It shall be unlawful for any real estate broker or agent to
list, show, or otherwise offer for rent any dwelling unit for which
a current rental occupancy permit has not been issued by the Superintendent.
It shall be both the broker and the agent's responsibility to verify
the existence of a current rental occupancy permit before offering
any dwelling unit for rental. In the event that a real estate broker
and/or agent is convicted of a violation of this section, the Superintendent
shall transmit a record of such conviction to the Division of Licensing
Services of the Department of State and to make complaint thereto
against such real estate broker and/or agent on behalf of the Village.
No person shall solicit, advertise, cause, permit, and/or allow
another person to solicit, advertise, or publish an offer to lease
a rental dwelling unit, unless the rental dwelling has in effect a
current rental occupancy permit.
A.
Within the context of rental registration enforcement and prosecutions,
the presence or existence of any of the following shall create a rebuttable
presumption that a property is being used for rental occupancy:
(1)
The property is occupied by someone other than the owner of the property,
and the owner of the property represents in any manner that he or
she resides at an address other than the subject property;
(2)
Utilities, cable, phone, or other services are in place or requested
to be installed or used at the premises in the name of someone other
than the owner;
(3)
There are separate entrances for segregated parts of the dwelling;
(4)
There are partitions and/or internal doors with locks that may serve
to bar access between portions of the dwelling, including, but not
limited to, bedrooms;
(5)
There is a written or oral lease or other rental agreement for all
or portions of a residential building;
(6)
Any occupant or person in possession of a residential building does
not have unimpeded access to all parts of the residential building;
(7)
A premises has been advertised as being available for rent;
(8)
There is more than one mailbox, gas meter, and/or electric meter
at the premises;
(9)
There are more than two motor vehicles registered to the premises
and the registered owners of not less than three of such motor vehicles
have different surnames.
B.
Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent persons living together
as a family unit with the owner.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or
other part of this chapter shall be for any reason adjudged by any
court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or otherwise
invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the
remainder of this chapter, and it shall be construed to have been
the legislative intent to enact this chapter without such unconstitutional
and/or invalid parts therein.