Residents irked by lack of available beach club cabanas
Out-of-towners take up too many rentals, they say
Some borough residents complained about the long wait time to rent a beach club cabana at last night’s board of commissioner’s meeting, and suggested the commissioners change the rules.
“Considering that our beach is basically wiped out, this is possibly a good time to try and create a more fair and equitable policy on renting the new cabanas to citizens of Allenhurst,” resident Larry O’Rourke said.
O’Rourke has been on the waiting list for a cabana rental for 10 to 15 years, he said. Borough Administrator Lori Osborn estimated that the waiting list for a rental is about 22 names long.
“It’s always stuck in my craw personally,” O’Rourke said.
About 50 percent of the cabana renters are out-of-towners, Osborn said.
“When they leave the town, they should lose that right. And I think that would solve a lot of the problems we have,” Resident Jim Caulfield said. “If people are going to leave the town, leave the beach.”
Previously, the cabana policy required two out of three new cabanas to be reserved for Allenhurst residents. When Mayor David McLaughlin took office in 2003, he changed the rule so that every new cabana would be reserved for an Allenhurst resident.
But having the cabanas rented to out-of-town beach club members has some benefits, since they pay double the rental price, McLaughlin said.
For use after May 11, Allenhurst residents pay $2,4221. Non-residents pay $4,012.
O’Rourke and Caulfield said that they would be willing to pay the non-resident price, if it meant getting off the waiting list they’ve been on for years.
Commissioner McLoughlin said that although some non-residents have exploited the cabana system by sub-letting their cabanas, he didn’t want to be unfair to the non-residents who haven’t “completely jobbed the system.”
“My fiduciary responsilibility is to Allenhurst, which makes me think this is a good idea. But I’m not sure, for people who haven’t jobbed the system, how to rip something away from them that they’ve had for so long. I’m struggling with this,” McLoughlin said.
Commissioner Terence Bolan recommended that O’Rourke, Caulfield, and Michael McLaughlin form an unofficial committee and draw up a proposal for the commissioners to look over at a future meeting.
