Geneva City Council will take up a range of proposals tonight that could eventually change how short-term rentals are taxed, lower the speed limit on South Main Street, remove some on-street parking, and rewrite the city’s winter parking rules. The council will also begin discussing what the agenda calls a “structural modernization” of City Council and the repeal of obsolete ordinances, though the meeting packet provides no additional detail on either discussion item.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the second-floor Council Chambers at City Hall, 47 Castle St. and will be streamed on YouTube. Council is also expected to meet in executive session at 6 p.m.
Several of the most consequential items aren’t scheduled for final adoption tonight. Instead, councilors will conduct first readings and consider setting Sept. 15 public hearings on proposed changes involving South Main Street and winter parking. Other resolutions, particularly those involving short-term rentals, would direct staff or establish the city’s position ahead of additional action.
Short-term rental tax strategy takes shape
One of the biggest policy packages before council centers on short-term rentals and Geneva’s effort to capture more revenue from its visitor economy.
Three resolutions would move that effort forward. The first would direct city officials to modernize Geneva’s existing short-term rental registry and prepare a local law extending the city’s existing 3% occupancy tax to short-term rentals. The proposed registry changes would include requirements involving registration numbers, verification by booking services, insurance and safety. The city is targeting implementation in 2027, but any local law imposing the tax would have to return to council for separate consideration.
A second resolution would ask Ontario County to rejoin New York’s short-term rental registration system and adopt a “municipality-of-source” revenue-sharing model. Geneva is proposing that 50% of net county short-term rental occupancy tax revenue be returned to the municipality where the rental activity occurred.
City officials argue that Geneva shoulders a significant share of the infrastructure and public-service costs generated by tourism, including streets, sidewalks, parks, public safety and lakefront facilities. The resolution points specifically to an estimated $7.2 million in weather-related damage to the city’s lakefront.
A third resolution would ask state lawmakers to raise Geneva’s maximum occupancy tax rate from 3% to 5%. That wouldn’t automatically increase the tax. It would instead give council authority to consider a higher rate through a separate future action.
The city points to Auburn, which already has authority for a 5% occupancy tax, and Batavia, which received similar authority this year. Canandaigua has also sought permission from the state to increase its ceiling.
The resolutions themselves wouldn’t impose or increase a tax. City documents say that if the broader strategy succeeds, Geneva could begin receiving occupancy tax revenue from short-term rentals in 2027.
South Main Street speed limit could fall to 25 mph
Council will also begin formal consideration of two changes aimed at South Main Street.
Ordinance No. 3-2026 would establish a 25 mph speed limit on South Main Street, or Route 14, from Seneca Street south to Kings Lane. City officials say the change is intended to improve safety for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and nearby residents.
Council isn’t scheduled to finally adopt the ordinance tonight. The agenda calls for a first reading and a vote on setting a public hearing for Sept. 15.
A second ordinance would eliminate parking at all times on the east side of South Main Street along a section beginning 690 feet south of South Clover Leaf Drive and ending 225 feet south of St. Clair Street. Staff says removing those spaces would increase sight distance and improve traffic and pedestrian safety.
That proposal could generate more debate.
When council discussed the issue Aug. 18, residents argued against eliminating additional parking on South Main Street. Some councilors also questioned whether removing spaces was necessary, with alternatives discussed including better enforcement and physical improvements around crosswalks that could improve visibility while preserving more parking.
If council advances the ordinance tonight, a public hearing would also be scheduled for Sept. 15.
Winter parking rules return
Council will also revisit Geneva’s winter parking system, an issue that has already produced significant debate this summer.
The proposed Ordinance No. 5-2026 would rewrite portions of the city’s overnight parking rules, generally focusing restrictions between 2 and 6 a.m. during the Dec. 1 through April 1 winter season. The proposal also contains a separate South Main Street provision governing alternate-side parking during winter weather events.
The changes are intended in part to bring the written code into line with existing signs and address complaints that the city’s current parking rules are confusing or inconsistently followed.
The issue has divided residents and council members over whether Geneva should rely more heavily on seasonal restrictions or continue using weather-triggered alerts that require residents to move vehicles only when conditions warrant it.
Tonight’s agenda calls for a first reading and a resolution setting a Sept. 15 public hearing, meaning the changes wouldn’t become final tonight.
City-owned property could become hobby farm
Council will also consider selling three vacant city-owned parcels on Maryland Street for $4,000.
The prospective buyer, identified in city documents as Flint Hall, proposes turning the property into a small hobby farm with a commercial greenhouse, garden space, native plantings and accessory structures, with a single-family caretaker residence potentially added later.
Conceptual plans include a roughly 1,500-square-foot greenhouse, workshop space, growing areas and future residential and studio structures. The proposal also calls for cleanup, fencing, driveway improvements and ongoing maintenance.
A public hearing on the sale was previously held. Approval tonight would authorize the city to move forward with the transaction.
Housing grants and council restructuring also on agenda
Council will consider scheduling another Sept. 15 public hearing as part of an effort to seek 2026 Community Development Block Grant funding.
Geneva is considering applications in two areas: infrastructure funding that could help reduce taxpayer costs associated with the city’s lead service line project, and additional money to rehabilitate owner-occupied single-family homes not covered through the city’s existing rehabilitation program.
The city currently administers five CDBG grants, including one housing rehabilitation program.
Two potentially significant discussions are also listed earlier in the agenda: “Structural Modernization of City Council” and “Repealing Obsolete Ordinances.” The amended meeting packet doesn’t include supporting memoranda explaining what specific changes may be contemplated, and neither item is listed as a resolution or ordinance scheduled for action tonight.
Those discussions come as council continues broader work on how Geneva’s government is organized. At an Aug. 19 special meeting, council identified reorganization as one of several “must-do” items for the remainder of 2026, alongside water and sewer rates, rental taxation, winter parking and South Main Street traffic changes.
Tonight’s agenda also includes the mayor’s report, council reports, a supervisor report, public comment and a proclamation recognizing Mesothelioma Awareness Day.
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