In their latest effort to shake off Seaside Heights' rowdy reality TV image and make it more family-friendly, borough officials are weighing an age requirement of 21 or older to rent a hotel or motel room.

Officials are also contemplating a ban on teen nights at bars, said Mayor Anthony Vaz, who has led an aggressive campaign to crack down on the kind of alcohol-fueled, overtly sexual, and occasionally violent activity highlighted on the MTV series "Jersey Shore," which was based in Seaside Heights for several seasons.

Last weekend a teen night at the "Jersey Shore" hangout Karma led to several arrests for underage drinking.

Vaz said the lodging and teen night proposals would be addressed at the council's meeting next Wednesday night.

"Basically, right now, we're going to discuss it," Vaz said of the lodging restriction. "I'm going to discuss it with with the council. The problems being caused by underage people. They vandalize, they use foul language, they drink under age. We've worked hard to change our image from the days of Snooki and MTV."

Vaz emphasized that the proposal to restrict the age of lodging renters was in the discussion phase, and no ordinance had been drafted, though he said the teen ban could be ready for introduction by Wednesday. He invited local hotel and motel owners or anyone else to the meeting to express their concerns.

Jignesh Dudhwala said he'll be there. Dudhwala owns both the Anchor Motel and the Sea Palace Inn in Seaside Heights, where he said 30 to 40 percent of his revenues come from the kind of teens and young adults that would fall under the proposed restriction.

"If this proposal passes, I'm not sure how we're going to survive," said Dudhwala, who said the borough had recently imposed new water and sewer fees on hoteliers and others in town. "I don't know how they expect us to pay all these new fees if they take away our revenues."

Other hoteliers said the restriction would wipe out their prom business, which accounts for a big share of their overall revenues.

"If they kill the prom season, they better lower the taxes," said Alice Hvidsten, manager of the Mark III Motel.

Vaz said he was not worried that the measure might violate anti-discrimination laws, nor had anyone expressed such concerns.

According to state Division of Civil Rights, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, "prohibits age discrimination in business transactions. 'Age discrimination' refers to both discriminating against people because they are older than others, and discriminating against people because they are younger than others."

A spokesman for the Civil Rights division, Lee Moore, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, Allison Peltzman, said the non-profit group would have to research the issue.

The mayor said the borough's own attorney was looking into whether other communities had imposed similar age restrictions on lodging.

"We're looking at polices throughout the state, throughout the nation for that matter, at how other communities solve their problem," Vaz said.

Referring to the proposed ban on teen nights at bars, Vaz acknowledged that the measure's practical effect would be limited to Karma, where members of the "Jersey Shore" cast have been videotaped -- making an entrance, dancing, and just standing around.

Last month, the borough sought an injunction in Superior Court blocking Karma from operating, asserting it was in violation of a 2008 expansion approval requiring that there be a restaurant on the premises. At the same time, the borough is also moving to rescind Karma's liquor license, which Vaz said was conditioned on the operation of a restaurant.

No one from Karma responded to a request for comment. It's owner, John Saddy, could not be reached.

"No one is doing it except Karma," the mayor said of teen nights. Of the proposed ban, he said, "If we put in an ordinance to formalize it, it's done."

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook