Ventnor commissioners facing greater pressure to place restrictions on short-term vacation rentals. Some of these STR’s have become party houses. Nuisance properties.
Listen to Resident Rich Gober
Anecdotal evidence shows one or two night stays are more likely to bring noise, trash and overcrowding to a neighborhood.
Ventnor currently has no rental restrictions. Margate has a one week minimum. Other towns have 3-day minimums.
On Thursday, Feb. 9, Ventnor Commissioners got an earful from residents and are now considering:
- Limit number of short-term rentals someone can operate.
- Require proof of liability insurance.
- Noise monitors on property.
- Video cameras on property.
- Post occupancy limits.
- Limit number of units that can be rented in one building.
- Limiting occupancy load of guests and visitors.
- Mandate video cameras. Property owners can keep an eye on things.
- Review video for potential violations. Monitor comings and goings.
High rises and other multifamily condos often have toughest restrictions. Ex: only ONE rental per year. 3 month minimum
Residents complain that one-night stays don’t help the local economy. They just disturb the peace. Enforcement would be difficult. Noise or overcrowding complaints should result in bad landlords losing their mercantile license.
Commissioner Lance Landgraf believe some are clearly running a motel business in a residential neighborhood.
Residents says Ventnor should adopt the successful Margate 7-day minimum.
Mandate noise monitors. inside units that automatically notify operators that the noise level exceeds an acceptable limit.
No difference between a one-night short-term rental and a motel / hotel.
Ventnor wants more families to shop and eat local. One or two night stays don’t do that.
On-site owners are best. Keep an eye on things.
Absentee landlords can ruin a neighborhood.
Some investors bought multiple homes. They kicked out year-round rental residents and became AirBnB operators.
Short-term rentals can sometimes attract ‘riff-raff’.
Operators should be paying a hotel tax.
Landlords don’t want to police guests.
Set occupancy loads for guests and their visitors, difficult to enforce.
Ventnor Commissioners will soon draft revisions to existing ordinance.
Could introduced in March and voted on in April 2023.
I don’t doubt that some of these comments above about short term rentals are true, and I support the notion of longer required minimum stays, and hotel taxes/fees being required. But anecdotal ‘research’ isn’t research. It’s a collection of anecdotes, which are then generalized to all people renting their properties. Cue the owners who rent their properties for short term stays passionately saying these bad things don’t happen at their units, followed by others who live adjacent to rental units equally or more passionately saying it does.
The proposed controls and regulations as proposed are all very reasonable. True hotels impose local/state taxes and other resort fees — those would be excellent sources of revenue NOT currently being captured.
Respectfully, as a landlord and someone who shows up for local Summers and again in Spring, I would suggest 3 day’s minimum off season and 1 week minimum between Labor through Memorial Day Holidays sounds reasonable.
Strictly enforcing noise ordinances and occupancy guidelines would also address some of the other concerns mentioned.
There is no hardship to property owners and I would go as far to suggest a better quality of renter would be the end result. If someone needs a cheap room for the night there are plenty of hotels to grab around the area.
Ventnor shouldn’t be a one night pit top community.
If 1 week minimum, I agree with shorter minimum stay in off season, though I’d suggest a 2 day minimum because my “kids” and friends from out of state tend to visit for a 2 night long weekend or 2 nights during week.
A 1 week minimum in summer would mean my visitors would have to stay in a motel rather in a cottage or B&B in Ventnor.
I live in a condo and don’t hear much noise (other than the annoying noise of firecrackers set off on beach below my condo.)
In my ocean front home in NC most noise in summer was from noisy parties of teens and 20s. which wasn’t improved by 1 week min.
The issues isn’t about your kids, it’s properties being used as defacto hotels, with no controls, without the proper insurances and not capturing taxes and fees that should be paid for renters super short term rentals.
1-3 night stays are my bread and butter. Plenty of bookings already. Can summer be here already?
Hopefully with the new rules in place, and to tax your “hotel” revenue.
Good luck collecting it from me