A ritzy Long Island hot spot on the luxurious North Fork is threatening to cap the number of Airbnb and short-term rentals it allows to just 1% of homes thanks to insufferable influencers and tourists.
A proposal in the Town of Southold would drastically limit the number of short-term rental homes to under 120 across the town’s nine hamlets — an estimated 80% drop from the current market.
“We are struggling to regulate [the short-term rental market],” Southold Town Attorney Ben Johnson told Newsday.
Under the proposed law, the few permits available would be awarded through a random lottery, a move that could upend a local short-term rental market that brings in roughly $27.5 million in host revenue, while leaving most of the town’s roughly 640 current rental owners out in the cold.
But as the short-term-rental industry has kaboom’d across Long Island’s tony East End, so have complaints from residents about loud parties, overflowing trash and parking issues.
The rise of seasonal vacation homes have also strained the area’s year-round housing supply, driving up costs amid a major regional housing and affordability crisis, officials said.
“We understand this is a seasonal economy, [but] most of the complaints we get are from people that it’s just a revolving door next to their house,” Johnson said.
The town has technically banned rentals shorter than 14 days since 2015, but officials admit the rule is virtually impossible to enforce, leading to the new proposal.
Under the plan, homeowners would be limited to one permit per person or LLC and would need a valid two-year general rental permit, which requires fire and safety inspections.
They’d also need $1 million in general liability insurance and plans for parking and trash removal, while homes with cesspools would be barred entirely.
Last year, a town report found there are roughly 640 short-term rentals in Southold, on average going for a jaw-dropping $902 a night.
Meanwhile, the median home price on the North Fork recently hit a record $1.25 million — more than 10 times Southold’s median household income of roughly $116,600, according to Census data.
Southold’s proposed crackdown comes as leaders in nearby Southampton on the adjacent South Fork effectively banned weekend getaways in August 2025.
The change was made after Southampton residents, similarly to Southold’s, complained that weekend warriors’ all-night “ragers” were keeping them up too late and making the posh beachside village unbearable.
