Airbnb-Style Rentals Back On Toms River Council Agenda

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It's gone through several changes since the Toms River Township Council first began to address the issue of Airbnb-style rentals in the township.

Tuesday night, however, the council may at last finalize an ordinance that aims to regulate short-term rentals that they hope balances residents' concerns and those of the business community.

The council was scheduled to finalize the ordinance at its March 14 meeting, but the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce urged the council to delay action to tweak the ordinance some more.

"We agree that there is a need for reasonable regulation," the chamber said in a letter released to the Patch before the March 14 meeting. The chamber "is in support of positive but not prohibitive regulations."

Airbnb has criticized the proposed regulations, which Toms River first began considering late last year. A report in the Asbury Park Press quoted Peter Schottenfels, Airbnb's press secretary for New York and New England, as calling the draft of the ordinance "an attack on scores of Airbnb hosts in Toms River who rely on sharing their own homes to age in place, save for retirement, and pay the bills."

Chamber officials offered to work with the council to craft regulations that address issues where residents have complained about "flophouse" situations yet allow those whose depend on the income from such offerings to pay their mortgages.

The chamber offered information on similar regulations in other communities that have similar-size populations as starting points for adjusting the ordinance.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.

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