Asbury Park joins a growing number of local New Jersey municipalities regulating online rental sites such as Airbnb.
ASBURY PARK - Officials in Asbury Park are proposing an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals like those found on increasingly popular websites like Airbnb and VRBRO.
As online marketplaces for short-term rentals heats up, so is the conversation on how to regulate and tax those units.
In 2016, about 6,100 residents in New Jersey put their residences up for rent on Airbnb, renting to about 257,000 people. That resulted in $50 million in income for the renters.
Critics say these sites don't face the same regulations and taxes as the hotel industry.
A bill advancing through the state Legislature would expand an existing state law, which imposes sales and use taxes as well as hotel and motel occupancy fees, to include short-term rentals.
Asbury Park joins a number of local municipalities in New Jersey that have imposed their own ordinances to regulate the growing online market.
In Asbury Park, officials held a public meeting on Saturday to discuss a proposed ordinance that would regulate short-term rentals.
Officials say there's no limit on how frequently a property may be rented out and current owners of rental properties much obtain a certificate of occupancy (CO) when they change over tenants -- a process evaded by owners of short-term rental properties.
Officials defined a short-term rental property as one that rents to tenants for 30 days or less.
"Changes to this policy are intended to make the permitting and CO process simpler for property owners, and allowing the city to more effectively regulate short-term rentals and enforce regulations," the city said in a news release announcing the public meeting to discuss the proposed ordinance.
But some property owners in Asbury Park, which has seen a huge boom in tourism in recent years as the city continues to transform the beachfront, are opposed to the ordinance because they say it's an "infringement on our property rights."
An online petition has more than 150 signatures of its 200-signature goal.
"While the city has put forth an absurd rationale related to phantom nuisances created by transient lessees, citizen stakeholders know the truth," the petition, created on moveon.org, states. "Residents have become increasingly reliant on supplementing their income through rentals to offset spiking city taxes and in 99% of instances fully comply with all existing codes related to noise and nuisance."
The city says the ordinance could be introduced at the end of April or in early May.
"The city is attempting to address the concerns of residents in the neighborhoods surrounding short term rental properties, while still protecting the ability of property owners to responsibly rent their properties," the press release states. "To achieve that balance, the city plans to shape the upcoming ordinance with as much community input as possible."
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.