The Town of Southampton plans to ease its short-term rental rules during next year’s U.S. Open Golf Championship at Shinnecock Hills to allow for minimum stays of three days.
Under current law, homeowners in the town cannot rent their properties on platforms such as Airbnb or Vrbo for less than two weeks. During a public meeting with tournament organizers, officials agreed to allow stays of at least three days for the duration of the championship, which is scheduled for June 18-21. Practice rounds start on June 15.
Ryan Murphy, Southampton’s public safety administrator, said local real estate agents have approached his office about the regulations so they can begin to advertise rentals. The town’s code allows the board to temporarily amend its regulations for a “regionally significant event.” The town board used the code provision to suspend its minimum stay requirement in 2018, the last time the U.S. Open was held at Shinnecock Hills.
“The more people that we can have staying locally — whether that’s attendees, whether that’s players, whether that’s vendors and sponsors … the more we can reduce the traffic volume coming from west to east during the time period of the Open,” Murphy said.
The U.S. Open is one of professional golf’s four major tournaments, and caused traffic jams on major roads in Southampton in 2018. Michael Iasilli, a town councilman, said Southampton Police leadership is already preparing traffic management plans for the event.
The U.S Open is expected to bring a daily peak attendance of about 40,000 — including golfers, staff and spectators — U.S. Golf Association tournament manager John Ryan Celiberti told Newsday.
The USGA aims to reduce car traffic as much as possible by establishing shuttle bus services to and from parking lots at local businesses and from local Long Island Rail Road stations, Celiberti said.
The USGA is also negotiating with Riverhead Town to use runways at the Calverton Enterprise Park as a parking area, Celiberti said. Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard said the town met with the USGA but has not finalized an agreement.
Like the town, Southampton Village has a ban on rentals for less than two weeks. But the code, which was adopted earlier this year, contains an exception allowing homeowners to rent for a weeklong period twice a year. Village Mayor Bill Manger said in a text message he anticipates homeowners to use that exception in the code when the U.S. Open comes to town.
Southampton officials said the tournament should provide an economic boost to the town.
Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara said she already knows of residents planning to rent out their homes during the tournament and use the extra income to take a vacation — and avoid the heavy traffic.
Councilman Rick Martel pointed to September’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, which drew people into local businesses nearby the Farmingdale golf course. Attendance at that tournament reached nearly 250,000 over its three practice rounds and three competition days, Newsday reported. Martel said he expects the U.S. Open to kick off Southampton’s busy tourism season on a high note.
“The summer season is now July and August; June is kind of a wash …” Martel said, adding the tournament will be “a good shot in the arm for our local restaurants and Main Street.”
Shorter staysSouthampton Town officials say they will allow homeowners to advertise their properties on short-term rental sites during next year’s U.S. Open for less than the current minimum of 2 weeks. The town will allow stays of at least 3 days.The U.S. Open is scheduled for June 18-21 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton. Practice rounds start on June 15.
Alek Lewis covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island for Newsday. He previously worked as a reporter for RiverheadLOCAL, where he received awards from the New York Press Association and the Press Club of Long Island for his reporting on local government and politics. A Riverhead native, he is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
