New Short-Term Rental Regulations: October 18th

At the October 18th meeting, Brigantine council unanimously voted to adopt new regulations for the Island’s short-term rental industry.

City council has been working for the last eight months with residents, short-term rental owners, and the local business community to develop a plan on how the City will deal with problem short-term rental properties on the Island.

At the meeting, there was more than three hours of public comment with residents and short-term rental owners voicing both their support and concerns for the new regulations.

Residents on 20th street asked city council to change the 2 night minimum to a 7 night minimum.  Mayor Vince Sera said “The City may move to a 7 night minimum in the future, but council is not there right now”. 

Brigantine council wants to see if they can get the problem short-term rental properties under control by focusing on the behavior that is causing the problems in the community.

Many of the problems from the short-term rental properties are coming from the constant parties and commercial events that are being hosted in a number of these properties.

“Short-term rentals are not what they were a decade ago, they have evolved into a very profitable industry that’s in desperate need of proper regulation”  said Mayor Sera.  “This isn’t just a Brigantine thing, it’s a nationwide issue and many communities are struggling to figure out how to properly handle the problems associated with this industry.  It’s very clear that we need stricter regulation, and no one knows this better than the people who have had their lives totally disrupted by the problem short-term rental properties. But, we also need to make sure we have a balanced approach on how the City deals with this issue.”

The City’s new regulations are heavily focused on enforcement and are designed to give the City the ability to deal with problem properties with minimal impact to the well managed ones.

“We have some short-term rental properties on the Island that are a major problem, but we also have many that are not. There’s a real fear in the community that a problem short-term rental property could pop up, at any time, and totally destroy a neighborhood. And, that fear will continue to exist until the CIty gets these problem properties under control” said Mayor Sera.

According to city officials, the first part of getting the problem properties under control is holding short-term rental owners accountable for what goes on in their properties.

According to Mayor Sera, “Under the old regulation, the short-term rental owners had very little responsibility or accountability for what went on in their properties.  Under these new regulations, they will be held accountable.”

City council has increased the maximum fine to $2,000 and implemented a 5 strike policy that will give the City the ability to quickly shutdown problem short-term rentals.

“We know that as soon as the City starts to enforce these new regulations and begins to suspend short-term rental licenses, that the City will end up in court.  The legal battles can be very expensive and this is why we need to increase the fees and tax associated with the short-term rental industry in Brigantine” said Mayor Sera.

In order to cover the expenses for the tools, staffing, and legal resources needed to address the issues, the City is changing the license fee to $150 per advertised bedroom and imposing a 1.25% transient market tax.

According to the City, the cost required for proper staffing and legal resources to enforce the new regulations will be about $560,000.

Brigantine council’s position is that all costs associated in dealing with the problem short-term rental properties should be fully paid for by the short-term rental industry and not the taxpayers of the Island.

Mayor Vince Sera said that “these new regulations are a good starting point and can be adjusted and amended as needed.”