A year after the village adopted a local law to regulate short-term rentals, not one person has applied to register one.

No applications have “ever been made,” Code Enforcement Officer Dan Pollan said at Monday’s Village Board meeting. That means Ellenville doesn’t have a single regulated short-term rental property, even though Pollan has observed between eight and 10 functioning Airbnbs, including an 800-foot garage advertised as a “cottage.”

Other aspects of the village’s law don’t make much sense, Pollan said. For one thing, it would be impossible to enforce a limit of 90 nights of rentals per year with available village resources. In addition, a 3,000-square-foot limit doesn't make sense, since the village doesn’t even have many buildings that size.

Furthermore, the law’s process for registering an Airbnb could involve going before the planning board, a three-month process that he called, “a waste of time.”

“Nobody’s regulated, nobody’s applied,” he said. “There are no rules for enforcement.”

Pollan, noting that Airbnb operators are usually from New York City or Long Island who bought local properties as investments, said he would prefer to start with short-term properties that he’s already identified. He’d like to steer clear of what happened in Woodstock, where many multi-families have been turned into Airbnbs, limiting the number of longer-term rentals.

“I will mail them an application form,” he said. “Then, when we have contact with the owners, I will make a fire and safety inspection. This will be the same inspection as I would make for a hotel.”

An audience member, who didn’t give her name, said short-term rentals may be the only option for visitors because the region has few hotels.

“I get that,” responded board member Samantha Ellis. “But we have to remember that our people need places to live. We need balance on this.”