The town of Hempstead is planning to crack down on homeowners who rent out their backyard docks.

The Bellmore canal is quiet and traffic-free at this time of year. But as the summer draws closer, one councilman says the serenity starts to fade.

“Unfortunately a common practice of renting residential dock space, or slips for boat storage, is becoming an eyesore in our beautiful waterfront communities,” says Councilman Anthony D'Esposito.

D'Esposito says renters bring more traffic and garbage to the area. He wants to limit the number of docks allowed to each residence, based on the size of their lot. 

“This legislation is not meant to target families or homeowners with multiple boats docked at their residence,” says D'Esposito. “But rather to eliminate rentals of residential docks and slips to a multitude of boats.”

Bellmore neighbor George Drape has been living on the canal since the 1980s. And he says he's got mixed feelings about people renting out spaces.

“I understand people are trying to subsidize their cost of living here, but at the same time it brings a lot more traffic and sometimes people that you don't want here,” says Drape. But for the most part, Drape says they really don't have any issues with any of the renters.

“Everybody's pretty good about it,” he says. “A lot of the people that do rent have rented for a long time. You don't see a lot of turnovers.”

D'Esposito says the next meeting on the proposed law will be May 22.