Red Bank bans Airbnb, short-term rentals in residential zones, sets tight rules elsewhere

RED BANK - The Borough Council voted Wednesday night in favor of banning Airbnbs and other short-term rentals in residential zones and tightly restricting their use in most of the town.

In a 5-1 vote, Councilman Michael Ballard derided the practice of housing being used as an investment while Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, the sole vote against the ordinance, voiced concerns about the conditions imposed used.

“Red Bank is becoming unaffordable to most people who want to live here, plant roots here, be part of a community here," said Ballard, who led the effort to crack down on short-term rentals. "And this ordinance was designed to help bring more affordability to housing, to open it up to people who want to be part of our community. … Not transient people who want to come and go.”

The ordinance affects any rentals for less than 28 days and forbids them in parts of the town that are zoned purely residential. It permits their use in parts of the town zoned for commercial use, namely the BR-1, BR-2, CCD-1, CCD-2, I, LI, NB, HB, WD and PO zones of the borough, but also requires that the property be owner-occupied, meaning that the short-term rental would be the primary residence of the owner.

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“I want to see people who want to be here permanently have the opportunity to be here permanently,” Ballard said.

Triggiano countered, arguing, “If we’re going to be talking about the issues of housing here, we need to talk about the long-term rentals and the hundreds of them that are owned by LLC and portfolios. … To sit up here and say that this has to do with (affordability) is wrong.”

She pointed out that restrictions would not allow short-term rentals in residential zones even if the houses are owner-occupied.

“I’m against it because of the zones; I’m against it because it blocks the owner-occupied throughout the town and I believe that there is language in there that’s problematic,” she said.

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Resident Mary Ellen Mess said she supported the ordinance, saying other municipalities across New Jersey have begun regulating short-term rentals.

“I would hate to be surrounded by short-term rentals.” She said the ordinance “sends a message to other people who are looking here to speculate on real estate to say, if you’re coming here to buy real estate, then let it be for the purpose of running residential properties and giving people a place, a permanent place to live.”

Vahid Walker, who operates an Airbnb in his house, questioned the proposal, saying, “Is there any instance where you think, by banning these short-term rentals, will actually create a low-income housing scenario? … Is there any evidence that would lead us to believe that it would provide one, two or five more low-income units in town?”

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The number of short-term rentals in town listed on Airbnb fluctuates between 11 and 13. Only one of the listings is owned by a corporation.

Walker argued that going after short-term rentals was a political maneuver by the council and that it was going after the “wrong boogeyman.”

Michael Geghan, who also operates an Airbnb in his house, said that during the pandemic, “the only thing that kept me from losing my home to foreclosure was Airbnb.”

A traveling musician, he said he vets all his guests and had never had a complaint from a neighbor or emergency services call to his house.

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Bruce Shapiro, a lobbyist with NJ Realtors, a trade group of real estate agents, argued against the ordinance due to its zone restrictions.

“We do not agree with only allowing certain property owners to engage in short-term rentals based on what street or even what section of the street the home is located on,” Shapiro said.

Tony Scannell, who also owns a short-term rental, said it was ridiculous that the council wasn’t willing to have a collaborative conversation.

But his neighbor, Cindy Burnham, a former councilwoman and the first person to raise the issue of short-term rentals before the council during public comments last year, said, “Red Bank has a law, no commercial in residential neighborhoods and this is obviously commercial. … If these people are doing Airbnb so they can live off of it, then sell your house. Sell that house, then you’ll have tons of money.”

Burnham, who rents out her property long-term, distinguished her operation with a short-term rental saying, long-term rentals are more regulated.

“I can do an Airbnb in my second floor and do double, triple what I get for long-term rents,” she said. “But I’m not going to do that because it ruins the neighborhood.”

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Councilman John Jackson said he was willing to work with Triggiano to address the proliferation of corporations buying properties to rent in Red Bank.

According to the ordinance, the restrictions will go into effect in 20 days.

OliviaLiuis a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Red Bank NJ bans Airbnb, short-term rentals in residential zones