Board backs code change to let clerk grant temporary permits for rental vehicles in hardship cases

Assistant town attorney Alex Vecchio presented a narrow code amendment the board discussed on March 10 that would add a clause to chapter 240‑35 permitting the town clerk to grant temporary resident parking permits for rental vehicles when an applicant demonstrates hardship.

Vecchio explained the current code bars rental vehicles from resident and other permit categories and that the proposed language — “notwithstanding the foregoing, the town clerk has discretion to issue temporary parking permits for rental vehicles upon a showing of sufficient hardship” — is intended to provide clarity and limited discretion rather than a blanket exception.

Board members described routine use cases — a resident whose car is in the shop after an accident, second‑homeowners who fly in and rent a car during brief stays — and said controls (temporary permit dates tied to rental agreements and use of license‑plate readers) can limit abuse. Council members urged that a written policy guide clerk discretion and suggested the change could later be expanded to other permit types (for example, recycling permits) if warranted.

The board agreed to place the local law on the agenda for the upcoming town‑board meeting and to publish it for a public hearing.

No final local law was adopted at the work session; the item will proceed to public notice and hearing.