Ventnor short-term rentals finally facing much needed restrictions. But are they enough to deter party houses?
Families are looking to stop animal house rentals and ‘motel zones’ in their residential Ventnor neighborhoods.
Ventnor residents have one last chance to speak up.
Final public comment and vote will take place 5:30p, Thurs, June 8. at City Hall.
Key issue to be voted on: Three or more bedroom properties will have minimum rental stay of 3 or 5 nights.
Public hearing and adoption vote is 5:30p, Thurs, June 8.
Attend in person at City Hall, or watch and participate via ZOOM online video.
Some Ventnor neighborhoods turning into motel zones. Party zones. Animal houses. No parking. Quality of life diminished.
During public comment, one short term rental (STR) operator boasted of his portfolio of 29 rental properties.
Another rental business owner was happy to share his expertise in running a national rental business that included Ventnor. He’s not happy with a recommended 5 day minimum for his rental business operation.
You’re running a business in a residential neighborhood.
Ventnor Mayor Landgraf
How did these so-called ‘motel zones’ pop-up? Some used cheap money to buy out homeowners. Investors scooped up large homes in Ventnor and converted these family homes into short-term rental operations, aka: motel zones.
Converting family homes and residential neighborhoods into short-term rental operations, aka motel zones.
Rental company owners shocked that Ventnor Mayor Landgraf looking to protect residential quality of life.
- Studios and one-bedroom units can still rent 1 night.
- 2 bedroom properties can rent minimum of 2 nights.
- Any current rental contract ‘grandfathered’ in for Summer 2023.
Chasing full-time residents away. Ventnor becoming less affordable for families that typically rent on a yearly basis.
When annual rentals are converted to short-term rentals, the year-round population declines. This causes local business to suffer or shut down in the off-season. Many close soon after Labor Day.
Lack of affordable Downbeach housing hurts local business because they can’t find local employees.
RISK: unlimited buying of family homes and converting them into short-term rental operations. Running an ‘absentee owner’ rental business is made easier by online apps like AirBnB.
Short Term Rentals, (STR’s) are not required to provide adequate parking for their rental business.
They’re operating a motel business in a residential Ventnor neighborhood.
Ventnor Neighbors
Former Ventnor Mayor Beth Holtzman stepped down before her term was up. Holtzman had to sell her home (after divorce) and leave town due to lack of affordable housing.
Ventnor and Margate slowly becoming a Sea Isle City. Great in the summer, but a ghost town from Sept -May.
Note: Brigantine still allows single night rentals. Watch video:
Bottom line: Short-term rental chaos could persist for another year. Ventnor needs to address aggressive investments into STR’s.
Real Estate investors, entrepreneurs, flippers, vultures, speculators, business operators. Like pigs in slop before mortgage interest rates essentially doubled over the past year and slowed their acquisitions.
Like everything else where rules are put in place ENFORCEMENT will be the key. We’ve had posters, likely some of those referenced in this article openly state they won’t comply with the rules/fees in prior articles. Great – then double the fines for non-compliance.
Once the windmills are built, the whole area will be worth a lot less.
Bad enough Atlantic City is walking distance. Now dead whales and migrants will be the normal environment.
How are the Hanson rehab houses doing?
Hear hear… everyone blaming STR’s while the real problems continue to run rampant. Unchecked sober living homes will be in abundance when property owners have to turn to them because STR’s are too heavily restricted.
Apparently you don’t live near the STR’s, Karen…. And you’re whining about STR’a being TOO heavily restricted? As opposed to essentially no restrictions whatsoever? Ugh.
Your petulance rivals your ignorance… 300+ STR’s with 95% never having had an issue. Try understanding the codes and laws that are currently in place before crying foul; there are already ample regulations that, if enforced, would curb the poor behavior of the bad actors that make up a tiny percentage of STR’s… the same codes and regulations that cannot be enforced on the unchecked sober living homes that are growing rapidly & changing the landscape of the community.
My point (that seems to have escaped you completely) is that more restrictions on the STR’s will help reduce them, but at what cost?
If sober living homes continue to disproportionately flood Ventnor without local oversight, what will stop these EVIL investors in our community from turning to the lessor regulated and subsequently more profitable Sober Living Homes?
Apparently you don’t live near a sober living home, don’t worry, if things keep going the way they have been, you will soon enough.
95% have never had an issue? You’re delusional and have clearly never heard the complaints and legitimate issues expressed by neighbors adjacent to them.
The only thing that escapes me is your BS that sober homes are more problematic than unconfirmed STRs. You’re myopically making it a simple issue of STRs vs sober houses. Hardly.
It’s having rules and enforcement on STRs that are long overdue especially when STR bulk owners had admitted they don’t/won’t follow the rules. Mirrors in that glass house of yours?
Ventnor ain’t what it has to be.
Those beach towns are either very expensive second homes and/or too many rentals.
And now you have sober living homes.
I would recommend you sell ASAP to the highest bidder.
Ventnor is becoming Atlantic City-South.
They ruined NYC, Phila and AC. Now it’s time to ruin the Jersey Shore.
The new money brings high property taxes, crime, windmills, so-called sober houses and BS short-term housing.
What’s next, illegal dirt bikes down Ventnor Ave?
It also brings reinvestment and improvements to old, tired and often dilapidated housing stock.
“BS” Short-term rentals brings tourists who spend lots of money and keep out restaurants and retail stores open.
Eventually, someone in your “hand-me-down” house will run out of heirs or just not want to keep it. Or not have the cash to pay taxes or upkeep. When you or your relatives go to sell, your property values will be lower than market with all of Ventnor’s NIMBY restrictions.
Air bnbs are a business. A tragedy that you’re amending ordinance to 3 nights instead of 5. You should make it minimum of 7 nights.
Obvious that business owners earn their profits on backs of residents and community.
If Ventnor has a fewer nights minimum than Margate it’s a sure thing that we’ll get the least desirable renters.
Maybe if business owners profits fall, their insensitive to continue to rent will cause them to sell to future resident.
If not, more homes will be bought up by future business and this problem will continue to grow and grow at Ventnor’s expense.
Disappointing that council put this off and reduced nights at the expense of the community that they are responsible to serve.
Obviously the businesses get more consideration than the residents. They better not eventually say that off season they can go back to one night rentals again too.
Maybe I should just turn my property into a business.
5 day minimum rental should have been turned into 7. Other communities have banned air-bnbs, like Livingston NJ. I guess their council works for residents.
This is a disgrace. You’ll see the number of Airbnb‘s will continue to grow after this dune boggle, all at the expense of our community and it’s residents.
Who is city council working for? I hope they’re not on some business’s payroll.
It’s all of the above. STRs, sober living homes, lack of year round residents, lack of enforcement, too many dogs, eBikes, etc.
I’m a year round resident. Personally, there are good and bad concerning all those points.
P.S… ATVs already ride down Atlantic Ave in Ventnor. That’s why we need more cops and accountability. The same goes for STRs.
Cripes almighty! We surely don’t need more cops. I live near corner of Ventnor Ave. Invariably, at least 2 patrol cars are present for every traffic stop. Often, there are four cars.
A couple of weeks ago, a patrol car arrived with lights and sirens going to ” back up” an officer who had an elderly lady stopped for a motor vehicle violation.
4 cars arrived on our street once for a dog fight.
To me, this is excessive and a poor use of our resources .
Beach cops have their purposes but real cops work in the cities as the saying goes.
Wonder how many of these cops in these beach towns and nice suburbs would fare in cities like Atlantic City, Camden, Bridgeton or Philly.
Too much short-term rental activity will eventually degrade Downbeach business districts.
Inflated home and rental pricing hurts middle class families the most. This results in loss of year-round consumers/ residents.
Higher cost of living by the beach. Fewer have money to remain in their seaside family hometown.
Some call this ‘depopulation’. It hurts viability of a town’s year round business economy and community character. (Sea Isle City)
Unlike motels and hotels, short-term rentals reduce quality of life and contributes to population decline as rental properties supplant year-round residents.
Home-sharing companies like Airbnb and Vrbo skirt local zoning, lack proper screening processes for guests, and squeeze out profits to the detriment of a residential neighborhood.
Most shore towns mandate a minimum 7 night stay. Ventnor and Brigantine currently have no minimums. Thus both towns suffer from annoying party houses, noise, and lack of parking.
Homeowners need to protect their neighborhoods from absentee business owners running a motel business on their street. Some of these people are bad news.
Short-term rentals investors ‘gobbled up’ homes, worsening local housing supply. Converted stable annual rentals into speculative short-term rentals. This causes many local businesses to close soon after Labor day.
Ventnor should cap the number of rentals an absentee landlord can own and operate in town.
There’s a difference between absentee landlords (so called “party houses”) and homeowners who rent out part of their home. We vet anyone that wants to rent our first floor, and though we prefer longer term rentals, sometimes we do two night weekend rentals. I’m not sure there’s a way to find the happy medium, but it would be hurtful to have five night limits. We certainly don’t want Ventnor to become a “party town”, and for what it’s worth, sober houses aren’t party houses. We have a few near us and there’s never been a problem. Just my 2c.