The Airbnb Battle in Jersey City

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported on the success of a referendum to restrict Airbnb ownership in Jersey City: "Airbnb Suffered a Big Defeat in Jersey City. Here's What It Means."

Photo: Jared Kofsky|Jersey Digs

In 2018, it was reported that Jersey City had the greatest number of Airbnb rentals in the State of New Jersey: 2,769, in a city of 265,000. The appeal, of course, was the ability to stay in close proximity to the west side of Manhattan without having to pay the price of a New York City hotel room. There were benefits to Jersey City from the phenomenon. In October 2018, Jersey Digs reported: "Under the new budget deal that went into effect this month, short-term rentals will need to collect the state's 6.625% sales tax and a 5% hotel occupancy fee, and Airbnb-type properties in Jersey City and Newark will also need to pay a 6% hotel occupancy tax, per local ordinances."

This year, with close to 3,000 Airbnb listings in Jersey City, many, according to the New York Times, run by large-scale investors, concerns about Airbnb rentals "pushing often-unruly tourists into residential areas" and "helping shoot up housing costs and accelerate gentrification" inspired legislation to restrict Airbnb rentals. Airbnb collected enough signatures to trigger a referendum on the legislation, and this past Tuesday, the ordinance was voted in, with about 70 percent of the vote. 

The New York Times describes the regulations imposed in Jersey City in this way:

The new restrictions allow homeowners to rent out portions of their homes as long as they're present during a guest's stay.

But they prohibit renters from listing their apartment and bar owners from renting a property on a short-term basis most of the year if they don't live on-site, effectively banning large-scale Airbnb operators who had converted hundreds of condos and townhouses into makeshift hotels.

It would, however, hurt residents who were making extra cash by renting out a second home for days at a time through Airbnb.

A comment from a real estate attorney who lives in Jersey City echoes complaints heard here in Hudson about short-term rentals: "Airbnb, for every unit that is rented out to the budget traveler, that's one less unit available to a working family."

Meanwhile, here in Hudson, the moratorium on registering any new short-term rentals is still ripening on the aldermen's desks, and the Legal Committee is still working on drafting regulations that will impose restrictions on Airbnb operators in our city of 6,200.
COPYRIGHT 2019 CAROLE OSTERINK