Beach club crowd questions cabana rule changes
'We have to remember these aren’t our cabanas. They’re the town’s cabanas.'
The Feb. 12 borough commissioners meeting was packed as Allenhurst Beach Club members clamored for more information about possible changes to the rules governing cabana rentals.
Some borough residents attended a January meeting to suggest rule changes in order to lessen the wait time for a resident to rent a cabana at the Allenhurst Beach Club. Many cabana renters illegally sublease their spots to others, while some renters have moved out of town while maintaing their cabanas, they said.
Since then, discussion of the cabanas has become heated in town, Commissioner Chris McLoughlin said. A parent approached him at a birthday party he was attending with his daughter to complain about the rumored changes.
“In the presence of my daughter and 15 other seven-year-olds, they said, ‘If you take away my cabana, I’ll shoot you all,’” Commissioner McLoughlin said.
Despite the fervor and rumors in town, no changes have been made to any cabana rules yet, Mayor David McLaughlin said. The lengthy process of changing the rules has only begun. Changes likely won’t be in effect at the start of this season, he said.
If the borough does make rule changes, they have thought of some possibilities. They may require residents who move out of town to give up their cabanas, Mayor McLaughlin said, although they may pass their cabanas on to a son or daughter who is a taxpaying Allenhurst resident.
Residents who sublease their cabanas will no longer be tolerated under the new rules, Mayor McLaughlin added.
Officials admitted the rule changes may not please everyone. They urge residents to come to borough meetings and voice their opinions about the changes.
“There’s not a soul out there that’s going to be happy with everything on this list,” said Commissioner McLoughlin, “but there’s no panacea for this.”
“It’s incumbent on the people to come and talk to us,” Commissioner Terence Bolan said. “During the next three or four or five meetings, this would be the time to throw problems at us.”
The borough commissioners meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month in Borough Hall at 7:30 p.m.
Whatever is eventually decided, Mayor McLaughlin said that there will be a user agreement issued to all cabana renters, clarifying the rules and responsibilities of renting a cabana.
“I know Allenhurst feels like a family, and it’s like a family down there. But we have to remember these aren’t our cabanas. They’re the town’s cabanas,” Mayor McLaughlin said.
Mayor McLaughlin also said that the town will definitely not kick all non-residents out of the cabanas.
“It’s healthy, it supports the infrastructure of the beach club. We’re just trying to make it so that in-town people aren’t waiting so long for a cabana.”
A necessary part of that process will be changing the waiting list for cabanas. There are around 40 names on the waiting list now, but over the last few decades some names have been accidentally deleted or moved due to clerical errors, Mayor McLaughlin said.
The waiting list may also be posted online, so residents can check how high up on the list they are.
