The Village of Montgomery Board of Trustees is weighing revisions to the draft of a new short-term rental law.

William Freeman, former owner of the Borland House, told the board in a regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 16 that Airbnb hosts should be required to follow the same regulations as bed and breakfasts, including fire and health codes, disability accessibility, parking regulations and more.

“I believe that failure to require Airbnb hosts to be held to the same standards as Bed and Breakfast owners is an invitation to Bed and Breakfast owners to simply remove their signs, list on Airbnb, and ignore all regulations currently required by the Village,” Freeman said in a letter to the village board.

Freeman said Bed and Breakfast owners are put at a disadvantage because Airbnbs aren’t required to pay the 5 percent room tax required of bed and breakfasts, motels and hotels in Orange County. Currently, 25 New York counties collect a room tax, according to Airbnb.

Village of Montgomery Mayor Stephen Brescia said if the law allows, the village will tax Airbnbs, a reversal from the board’s earlier statement.

Freeman was also concerned about Airbnbs not offering adequate parking. Normal bed and breakfasts are required to provide adequate parking.

“You can have 20 Airbnbs on one street and they can each be offering three rooms,” Freeman said. “Can you imagine what that would mean for the street parking if they weren’t held to the same standards as B and Bs?”

Airbnbs should also have to register their address with the state and/or municipality, Freeman said.

Many municipalities have encountered problems because Airbnb owners aren’t residents of the property or don’t live in the community or even state in which the Airbnb is located, Freeman said.

Freeman was required to have a list of residents if there was a police issue with a tenant, a regulation that Airbnb owners don’t have.

Kevin Dowd, attorney for the Village of Montgomery, said some regulations that apply to bed and breakfasts might be hard to impose on an Airbnb because they might be hard to distinguish.

“If you have a four-bedroom apartment, how do you distinguish between which ones are being Airbnbs and which ones are just being regular rentals?” Dowd said.

Freeman said when operated in the correct way, Air bnbs are wonderful assets for the community, providing places for tourists to stay.

“It’s wonderful tourism and we’re doing things in this village and surrounding this village to bring tourists in and I believe in that wholeheartedly and we know that we want tourists to stay,” Freeman said.

The possibility of a short-term rental law was introduced at the village meeting on Sept. 18. The board will further revise the law and examine other municipalities’ laws before returning the law to the board.