By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed Red Bank ordinance that would limit Airbnbs and other short-term rentals was tabled before it could be formally introduced Wednesday night.
The send-back followed an hour of public debate over impacts on owner-occupant operators and on the broader rental market.Though the proposed ordinance has been under review behind the scenes by the code committee for months, the language of the proposed ordinance was not made available until a few hours before the council met, with a mistaken version of it initially getting posted on the borough website.
Because Airbnbs and other short-term rentals “are a business,” the ordinance would allow such activity only in zones that permit business, including in homes within industrial zones, said Councilman Michael Ballard, who chairs the code committee.
The “overarching goal” of the law, said Ballard, is to “bring regulation to an unregulated market,” and to offer homeowners “assurance that we are looking out for their quality of life – that we hear them and are concerned about the impacts on their neighborhoods.”
Though the draft specified zones in which short term rentals would be permitted, the law is a licensing law, not a zoning law, said borough Attorney Dan Antonelli. It does not specifically exempt, or “grandfather,” short-term rentals now operating in places where they would be prohibited in the future, prompting concern, he said.
Nicole Shore, of Linden Place, and Chris Havens, of River Street, were among those who urged the council to consider the adverse impacts of short-term rentals on the overall housing market and halt their proliferation.
Short-term housing “tends to take housing away from long-term tenants,” said Shore. “It changes, completely, the makeup of a town and a neighborhood” and “is highly disruptive” to nearby residents, she said.
Rules need to be set, she said, with enforcement. “Without enforcement, it will run rampant,” she said.
She supports owner-occupied rentals, she aded later.
Havens, a real estate sales agent with a masters degree in city planning, said Monmouth County has “a dire rental shortage,” especially for units priced under $2,500 per month.
“The main issue for me is over 60 percent of the West Side dwelling units are rental,” Havens said. “The issue with short-term, as we saw in Asbury [Park] and other places is that short-term leads to more short-term. It will reduce owner occupancy, and it’s an absolute disaster for affordability, because it trumps just renting it to a family or a couple of people.”
Others, however, pressed the council to protect owner-occupants who rent out rooms on a short-term basis.
Amanda Doremus, of Garfield Place, asked the council to give “consideration to owner-occupied” rentals such as hers. She said her B&B is “fully transparent” to the borough, and has never been the basis for a call to police.
“It keeps me in my home as a single mom,” Doremus said. “Should I have to move?”
Anthony Jude Setaro, who operates an Airbnb on Oakland Street, just steps from the train station, said such units “make the most sense” in a transit zone.
Setaro said that in the time he’s operated his B&B, he’s paid $16,840 to the borough in occupancy taxes via Airbnb, which leads him to believe the revenue to the town “is a pretty significant number.”
“If there’s anybody who wants regulation, it’s us,” Setaro said of the dozen or so Airbnb operators in town.
Branch Avenue resident Stephen Hecht ask Ballard why the adoption of the law was “so urgent.” Ballard responded that the committee wants to establish the standards before addition homes are converted to short-term rentals.
Ballard promised a full discussion of the measure at the council’s next workshop session, scheduled for Wednesday, December 14, at 6:30 p.m. A regular council session is to immediately follow, with possible introduction of the ordinance.
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