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Short Term Rental regulations will be introduced during the Asbury Park City Council Regular Session on Wednesday.

Defined as rentals that are 30 days or less and those that do not exceed 180 days in a calendar year, short term rentals applies to stays outside of the already regulated bed and breakfast, rooming or boarding house, and hotel and motel venues.  Short term rentals are posted on websites like  Airbnb, Vrbo, and Home Away.

The ordinance comes after months of discussion and public input meetings and is aimed at protecting a potential loss of long-term rental housing stock, minimizing any deleterious effects, and protecting the residential character of neighborhoods.

“This is the result of a really thoughtful process,” said Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, who served on a subcommittee to help create the ordinance with Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton, City Manager Michael Capabianco, Land and Redevelopment Director Michele Alonso and Property Improvement and Neighborhood Preservation Director Robert McKeon.

“We tried to take everything we heard over the last year into consideration,” she said. “This ordinance is really about giving Asbury Park residents an opportunity to deal with the rising costs of living in city. It expands some of the classification for those who could do short term rentals, as long as it was their primary residence, while tightening the regulation for those coming into Asbury Park and buying up properties for the sole purpose of creating short term rentals.”  

Two State legislative bills  [A4587 & A4441] were introduced earlier this year to not only regulate short term rentals but to impose sales and use taxes, and apply occupancy fees similar to those paid at hotels.

Locally, the proposed ordinance states it would ‘provide for an organized and reasonable process for the short-term rental of certain defined classifications of residential dwelling units in the City.’ This includes satisfying basic maintenance standards to protect occupants and registration guidelines.

“The short-term rental of homes can provide homeowners an opportunity to maintain ownership of property in difficult economic circumstances,” the ordinance reads. “The needs of long-term residents should be balanced with the allowance of short-term rentals.”

Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton said the regulations will now allow homeowners to rent a room in the house and those with two family homes to be able to rent out the second half of their property, both were previously prohibited.

“We are not trying to kill the short term rental market because we believe it’s an asset to the city,” Clayton said. “At the same time we want to preserve the long term rentals for those who live and work in the city. This ordinance is good for the city and for the residential neighborhoods in this city who don’t want to live next to hotels and who want to know who is coming in and out of a home next door. It’s also not fair to the existing hotels and B&Bs that there are businesses being run without the same type of regulations and without paying the same types of fees.”

The Regulations:

Short term rentals will be allowed in condominiums [not restricted by an association’s bylaws], single family homes, two family units, and not more than one unit in any multi-family residential dwelling where the owner resides on site.

They will be prohibited in boarding or rooming houses, dormitories, foster homes, adult family care homes, assisted living facilities, community residences for developmentally disabled persons, community shelters for victims of domestic violence, and nursing homes.

The Permit:

Applicable short term property owners must apply for a $300 annual permit.

Property owners, whether they live on the property or not, who possess a 2017 Summer Rental License will be grandfathered in while in ownership of the property. In these cases, the short term rental allowance will cease once the property is sold.

A 7-day a week, 24- hour a day contact information for the appropriate short term rental agent and/or responsible party.

The number and location of all parking spaces available to the premises, including off-street and on-street parking spaces directly adjacent to the property.

The identity of all short term occupants must be provided and all renters must be over the age of  21.

The ordinance will be introduced during the 7 p.m. Wednesday City Council Regular Session meeting in Council Chambers, located at 1 Municipal Plaza [Bangs Avenue entrance]. The public will have the opportunity to make comments and ask questions during the Public Session portion, which occurs at the beginning of the meeting prior to the ordinance introduction.

The public also will have the ability to ask questions and make comments during the final vote, currently slated for Oct 25 meeting. To view the proposed Short Term Rental ordinance, click here.

[Feature photo of June Public Input Meeting]

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