By unanimous vote of 7-0, Mayor Sera and Brigantine City passed a new short-term rental law that will go into effect, Jan 1, 2024.
Brigantine Short-Term Rental Ordinance. 22 pages of sometimes confusing language and boilerplate.
Enforcement of behavior is the key component of this document.
A weak, 2-night rental minimum.
Sera: There’s a real fear a problem short-term rental property could pop up at any time and totally destroy your neighborhood. This fear will continue until the city gets these properties under control. These new regulations are heavily focused on enforcement, not length of stay.
Public Comment:
People here have a lot of money on the line. They’re making money and we don’t need to put up with that. I represent six generations of innkeepers and we all lived on our properties. We managed. 42nd, 43rd, 44th street. It was zoned commercial. We didn’t bother police or the fire department. Our men we’re around. When you had a problem you get on the phone. And you call somebody.
Got a problem here. You’re being unruly? You had three or four really big Italian guys that worked in construction. Very gentlemanly and very calmly. We say, do we have a problem? No we don’t have a problem finished.
Today was the first time in months I actually saw little kids riding a bike. We don’t have any little kids anymore.
When we call the police, they don’t answer to the complaints. What about all the complaints that were lost from 2015 to 2023. Missing from the OPRA request for eight years. Where did they go?
Sera: I’m pretty understanding. But I’m not going to let you come up here and call us or any of us liars.
Sera: Ed, it seems like your comments are very personal towards me. Ed: Nope. But you need to grow a set.
Andrea Sullivan of Ocean Ave : STRs are wreaking havoc. Tour buses rumbling down the street. You know what a diesel bus sounds like? I’ve taken all kinds of heat. I’ve been threatened because I’m speaking the truth and representing my neighbors. I’m battling on behalf of my community. So if I don’t shut up, I’m going to get it. Cause we’re going to sue you if you don’t shut up and apologize and recant everything you said.
Sera: When it comes to the seven day minimum, it’s not totally off the table. It’s just not where we are now. I’m not in favor of seven days, I’m in favor of 15 in off-season.
Sera: I don’t think the city has done a good enough job. Short-term rental owners didn’t even know regulations that were already in existence.
You have a fire department that provides rental inspections, but not once have we heard from the fire chief. Or fire inspector / official Jack Murray.
Public Comment
Highly unethical behavior. A councilperson was talking about residents of 20th street. We asked him to recuse himself because he had a real estate license. He mocked us. That’s wrong. Andrea is being harassed.
Paul Amalfitano of the Brigantine Chamber of Commerce. No consensus amongst the membership.
Anne H Phillips; Sera acknowledged that short-term rental industry is ‘not the best thing for our economy or our tax base.’
Buses coming down the street at 2am. Where did that bus come from? Mexico or New York?
SERA: If there’s an issue and problem, I know that the Police Chief will do everything in his power to hold those officers accountable. We have an outstanding system.
I would not wish this on anybody.
SERA: Brigantine City Manager Tiger Platt. He is honorable. He’s a man who believes in doing great. It’s not about getting ahead It’s not about winning. It’s about doing the right thing. And that is exactly the kind of people that I want to be surrounded with. So when he tells me that he’s going to help you. There is no doubt in my mind that he will do everything in his power to make sure that your issue is resolved. I have faith in him. I never worried. And that is why he is sitting in the position he’s at.
Bad rentals don’t start off that way. They start off as somebody’s home and then they get converted. There are enhancements done to these properties, to make them more marketable or higher priced. A lot of that stuff is not done under code.
Short-term rentals don’t help the year-round community. It hurts residents and small business.
Losing full-time residency. Young families not moving to Brigantine. Retirees avoiding Brigantine due to weak STR ordinance. Commercialization of residential zones.
When I moved here there were three drug stores. There will soon be just one. There were two gas stations, now just one. There were two grocery stores, now just one.
If renters come in for longer stays, they use the island. If they’re only here for two days, they don’t.
Now we have a sky high prices and a regular family can’t afford it.
Condemning Seagull Motel Brigantine. New Owner & Developer Interest.
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Please make sure all know that Sera’s 15 day minimum is for off-season. Not high season in summer. We don’t care about off season at 15 days.
We want 7 days for summer season. After listening to everything last night it is CLEAR why he decided on 2 days. It is for the small businesses and some STR owners.
I want the small business owners to flourish and the STR folks who manage their homes properly.
However, I take umbrage to the fact the mayor is not being 100 percent transparent as to why he is recommending a 2 night minimum.
He states that the STR owners need to change their behavior in how they manage their homes.
With respect the mayor, he needs to modify his behavior and be 100 percent transparent.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed the current new ordinance works.
This is only for 3 bedroom homes and bigger yes?
Brigantine Planning Board, picked by Mayor Sera, needs to be investigated. No wonder they refuse to ZOOM the Planning Board meetings. Keeping taxpayers in dark.
Disgusting that Police chief laughs at residents. Can’t find 8 years of complaints?
Young families not moving to Brigantine. School enrollment getting so small, might have to send kids to Atlantic City schools.
Stop building houses with more than 4 bedrooms. PUT AN ORDINANCE in place IMMEDIATELY
SAYING IT AGAIN
URGENT
I do not live in Brigantine, but have visited. Like in other shore towns across America I enjoy walking along beach, fishing, eating or shopping. I usually spend 50 – $100 per day (as does my girlfriend). When I see the houses i think how luckily people are to own a house near the sea. Please do not pull up the ladder on people who cannot afford to buy your house. Renting houses has existed since the dawn of America and property rights are an important part of our country. Don’t let a few bad apples poison the American dream
The problem with STRs that no one wants to talk about is WHY the local govts are turning a blind eye to the need for stronger regulations and oversight. Tax revenue. The housing market has been destroyed by STRs simply by changing the valuations of properties. Thanks to STRs, real estate is now valued based on its revenue potential. Revenue generated as STRs. This not only drives up the ‘fair market values,’ it means higher property tax revenue calculated based on the higher property values. The cities and state are financially benefiting from STRs as much as the companies buying them up and operating them. There needs to be a strict limit to how many days a year a property can be rented as an STR. Or there needs to be a limit on how many properties may operate as STRs. There also needs to be strict adherence to zoning laws. That doesn’t mean modify the zoning, it means what was residential, can not be operated as a commercial property. STRs operate commercially, even when privately owned. They do not follow the hotel laws or requirements. They often are under reported as income by individual owners or partnerships. And the ones owned by businesses have the income the business owners gain, hidden within the businesses to avoid financial reporting requirements in situations such as family courts when determining child support orders, alimonies, etc. The problem with planning boards is that they’re made up of the same developers invested in the STR market, and law makers… although required to report their financials and investments per the SEC, are not required to be open to the public about their interests in such markets. Privacy protections laws. The whole STR market, in my opinion… is one massive corrupt RICO violation that hurts the average yearly tenant, jeopardizes the safety of local residents, and maliciously forces those evicted or had their leases terminated by a private owner in order to sell to someone looking to profit off of STRs, into severe hardship and homelessness. THIS HAS TO STOP!! There’s a reason STRs have been banned in major cities across the country. As they started west and swept east, they’re forcing a steep increase in families being displaced, which strains public assistances and resources, deprives non-profits of their abilities to help those already in need, and makes affording ANYTHING by someone on a fixed income IMPOSSIBLE. Greed is fueling the fire and the state and local govts are allowing it in order to increase the property tax revenues, and it’s going to destroy what’s left of our towns and states. Those engaging in these practices should be ashamed of themselves. Especially any former or current landlords putting families or low income renters in the streets just to jump on the bandwagon. It’s not just Brigantine. It’s EVERYWHERE. And it must be stopped, or you will soon realize everything I’m saying here and now, was right. I hope someone takes this seriously and does more to demand stronger regulations and oversight. People like me are out here suffering with no hope in sight because of the STR takeover (aka the Airbnb Effect). Stop this madness, keep fighting for stronger regulations, or ban them all together. Whatever you do, don’t let these corrupt money hungry con artists win. Please!