Politics & Government

Brookhaven Tightens Code, Fines for Rental Abuses

Single-family home definition hardened, fines for illegal rentals upped.

Brookhaven Town officials this week tightened the definition of a single-family home and upped fines for rental abuses to crack down on illegal and overcrowded rentals in the community.

The move comes after weeks of outcry from Three Village locals, specifically in Stony Brook, who worry that illegal boarding houses most often overcrowded with Stony Brook University students are disruptive to neighborhoods and even drag down property values.

According to the Village Times Herald, the town board amended the zoning code to better define a single-family dwelling as one that "is arranged to be occupied by one family." The old description only said the home had to be "intended" for single-family use.

The board also agreed to boost fines for landlords who rent illegal apartments to $4,000 for the first offense and $6,000 for a second offense. In neighborhood preservation zones, those fines jump to $5,000 and $10,000.

The move comes weeks after the creation of the Stony Brook Concerned Homeowners organization, led by resident Bruce Sander. The group, which was at the town meeting in Tuesday, has held several demonstrations in Stony Brook, complaining that home values have plummeted due to boarding houses in the community - dwellings that have been carved up and rented to more students than the structures intended.

However, Herb Mones of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook in March cautioned that the vitriol over these dwellings can also create a stigma that all students living in the community are bad.

"I think that throughout the community there are students living in our neighborhoods, two, three, four students occupying a home that add to the vitality, creativity and energy of the community and seamlessly integrate themselves into the fabric of our neighborhoods. ... I would hate to think that in any way we are trying to stigmatize Stony Brook students, which i think is happening in our discussions," he said.


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