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Asbury Park is considering new regulations for short-term rentals

A meeting is planned for Saturday at 10 a.m. at City Council chambers

More than 1 million people visited the Shore town last year

ASBURY PARK - With summer in sight, Asbury Park is eyeing new regulations on short-term rentals like the ones marketed on Airbnb and VRBO.

The regulations under consideration are aimed at cutting down nuisance complaints and providing a uniform structure for property owners who want to rent out their homes for short-term visitors, officials said.

On Saturday, the city will host the first of two planned meetings to discuss revisions to its short-term rental ordinance.

The meeting comes as Asbury Park has become an increasingly popular destination for Shore visitors.

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More than 1 million people visited the city last year, according to the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce.

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"I think the goal is to regulate and preserve the existing housing stock and neighborhood characteristics and at the same time try to ensure individuals who use online booking rentals are protected and can earn individual income," Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said.

In Asbury Park, a short-term rental is defined as being less than 30 days. There is no limit to how frequently a property may be rented. Currently, Asbury Park property owners can receive a summer rental permit that allows them to rent their property on a short-term basis between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day.

The property is inspected once for the summer season by the city and property owners are supposed to inform the city each time a new tenant arrives.

Outside of the summer period, owners are supposed to apply for a certificate of occupancy — at a cost of $100 — from the city each time they have a change in tenants, according to Rob McKeon, director of property improvement and neighborhood preservation for Asbury Park.

The city performs a new inspection each time a certificate of occupancy is issued.

McKeon said in 2016 the city received 14 summer rental permit applications. He said at the same time the city had actively tracked more than 140 listings in Asbury Park on sites like Airbnb. A summer rental permit costs $250.

"A lot of short-term renting properties were just ignoring the law completely. We weren’t getting in to check the properties to see if they were safe," he said.

Quinn said the city was considering implementing regulations that would limit short-term rentals at a property if it exceeded a certain number of complaints. The new regulations would allow permit-holders to get new tenants year-round, without getting a certificate of occupancy each time.

She said the city was also considering mandating that a responsible person be on-call 24 hours as an emergency contact if complaints have been issued that need to be addressed immediately.

But the precise parameters of any ordinance revision are yet to be determined.

Quinn stressed city council wanted public input on any decisions made.

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“These are things we’re thinking about, but we’re looking to the community to give us some feedback,” she said. "We're hosting two meetings for public input prior to even introducing the ordinance. None of which we're required to do."

John Loffredo, a former Asbury Park city council member who works in real estate, said he felt it was time to update the regulations on short-term rentals.

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"The (short-term) rental market has really exploded," Loffredo said. "They do have to stay on top of it. This is America we are a capitalist society, but it's also a safety issue."

Any revision will be closely watched by online rental companies.

"It is clear that lawmakers in Asbury Park are taking a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to short-term rental regulations," said Airbnb spokesman Peter Schottenfels, in an email to the Press. "We are hopeful that our work with city officials will lead to sensible policies that allow residents to responsibly rent out their home from time to time."

In March, Toms River adopted an ordinance that severely limits homeowners' ability to rent their properties on sites like Airbnb.

The video above this story shows debate that took place as Toms River considered the ordinance.

The ordinance in Toms River limits short-term rentals to a minimum of one month in all areas of the township, except the barrier island sections of the Barnegat peninsula. In that area, short-term rentals, with a minimum of three days, will be allowed between April 15 and Sept. 15.

The meeting Saturday in Asbury Park will take place at 10 a.m. at City Council chambers, 1 Municipal Plaza, at the Bangs Avenue entrance. The meeting is scheduled to last for an hour. Attendees will have a chance to make public comments. Another meeting is planned for next week, but has not been scheduled.

Austin Bogues 732-643-4009; abogues@gannettnj.com

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