Belleville OKs Strict Rules For Airbnbs, Short-Term Rental Properties

BELLEVILLE, NJ — The Belleville Town Council has given its final approval to a local ordinance that will roll out strict regulations for “short-term rental properties” in the township, including Airbnbs.

The council unanimously voted to approve Ordinance #34-23 on second reading at their meeting on Tuesday.

Read the full ordinance online here. Watch a video of the Sept. 12 meeting here.

The ordinance has been in the works over the past few months in Belleville, where the council has broached the subject in previous meetings. It was introduced on Aug. 15. Read More: Belleville Town Council Considers Short-Term Rental Ordinance

Here are two key definitions to know, as written in the ordinance:

SHORT-TERM RENTAL – “The accessory use of a dwelling unit for occupancy by someone other than the unit's owner or permanent resident for a period of 30 or less consecutive days, which dwelling unit is regularly used and kept open as such for the lodging of guests, and which is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to transient occupants.”

SHORT-TERM RENTAL PROPERTY – “A residential dwelling unit that is used and/or advertised for rent as a short-term rental by transient occupants as guests … Dwelling units rented to the same occupant for more than 30 continuous days, licensed bed-and-breakfast establishments, licensed rooming houses or boarding houses, hotels, and motels shall not be considered short-term rental property.”

Under the town’s new rules, short-term rentals will be allowed for “one dwelling unit within a two-family to five-family, owner-occupied residence.” The owner of the property (or at least one principal or member of the owner entity) must legally identify the address as their “principal residence.”

Belleville’s new rules prohibit short-term rental of the following properties:

• Single-family homes, condominiums or townhomes
• A unit in a two-family to five-family residential dwelling where one unit is not occupied by the owner or legally identified by the owner as his or her principal residence
• A unit in a two-family to five-family residential dwelling which is rented for less than three days
• A two-family to five-family residential dwelling which does not maintain on-site parking for each unit based on the residential parking requirements of the township zoning code
• A room or portion of any dwelling unit where full access to the entire property among all occupants is not permitted, except for existing legal rooming houses
• Any unit in a property with six or more dwelling units

The owner/operator of a short-term rental property must obtain a permit from the town’s building and code department before renting or advertising it. That permit will require them to pass some additional conditions:

• “For existing short-term rentals, the applicant must not have had more than two documented and verified instances where the Belleville Police Department has been called to address complaints of any type attributable to the short-term rental within the last two years”
• “For existing short-term rentals, the applicant must have no violations of the Township of Belleville's noise ordinance within the last two years. A violation of the noise ordinance means a documented violation by the Township of Belleville Municipal Court.”
• “The applicant must be current with all township taxes, water and sewage charges”
• “The applicant must have no open zoning or construction permits or open zoning, construction or code enforcement violations”

Owners must include proof of general liability insurance with their permit applications. The ordinance also creates an appeal process for property owners who are denied a permit.

Short-term rental properties can’t be rented to anyone younger than 21-years-old.

Owners who break the rules can face daily fines up to $2,000 per violation, and can have their permit revoked under certain conditions.

The Sept. 12 town council meeting also included an update about the status of a loan to the board of education for the construction of a middle school parking deck, and the approval of several bond ordinances.

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