The progressive advocacy group behind Kingston’s Good Cause Eviction law has set its sights on another housing issue — homes maintained as short-stay vacation rentals marketed on online platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. For The Many’s “Homes Are Not Hotels” campaign is seeking an outright ban on non-owner-occupied vacation rentals in five Mid-Hudson communities.

The push to ban vacation rentals in Kingston, Beacon, Newburgh, New Paltz and Poughkeepsie comes as communities across the Hudson Valley see explosive growth in vacation rentals driven by the region’s expanding tourist economy. In many cases, the short-stay accommodations are held as investment properties by owners who do not live at the home, or even in the state.

Vacation rentals can charge nightly rates similar to hotels and far above what the property might yield under a traditional lease arrangement with a long-term tenant. Housing advocates say this practice cuts into housing stock and contributes to rising rents.

“Vacation rentals … play a significant role in limiting our housing options and driving up prices,” said For the Many Executive Director Jonathan Bix. “Absentee investors are buying up huge swaths of our housing stock and turning them into vacation rentals for tourists instead of renting or selling to long-term Hudson Valley residents.”

The campaign, dubbed “Homes Are Not Hotels” seeks to pass legislation in the targeted communities that would ban non-owner-occupied vacation rentals entirely. The law would also create a registration process that would require anyone listing a short-stay rental to sign a sworn statement that the address is their primary residence, and that they will be present anytime the rental is in use. Communities would enforce the law by monitoring vacation rental online platforms to ensure owners are in compliance with the law and issue hefty fines to those who are not.

In Kingston, Mayor Steve Noble, who embraced For the Many’s push for a Good Cause Eviction law, said this week he’s open to dialogue with the group on their latest effort. Last year, the Common Council approved a measure that mandates short-stay rentals operate by the same regulations governing hotels — including zoning-based restrictions which ban them in residential neighborhoods. The city has also entered into an agreement with Ulster County to share information on vacation rental listings to allow for better enforcement.

In a statement to Kingston Wire, mayoral spokesperson Summer Smith said the city’s Building and Safety Department was in the process incorporating the new restrictions into their procedures and bringing some 200 short-stay rentals in Kingston into compliance.

More changes to those vacation rental rules could be on the horizon. Kingston is currently in the process of developing a new “form-based” zoning code that includes short-stay rentals on a list of allowed uses. A first draft of the code allows owner-occupied short stay rentals anywhere in the city, but restricts non-owner-occupied operations to the city’s most densely built-up commercial corridors.

Ninth Ward Alderwoman Michele Hirsch, who pushed for the new regulations said that she believes the rules in place now — if properly enforced — would combat the most pernicious impacts of short stay rentals. Hirsch said that she signed on as a supporter of For the Many’s Homes Are Not Hotels campaign because she believes the lack of available housing stock is a regional issue requiring action across municipalities.

“My feeling is that we [in Kingston] have already dealt with it for the moment,” said Hirsch. “I’m taking on this campaign for the Hudson Valley in general because I think it if other communities [adopt the proposed legislation] it will help Kingston too.”