By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – “Anybody who has a ‘corona party’ in New Jersey – we will crash your party. And you will pay a big price for that,” Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted Friday morning in an effort to discourage people from partying during the coronavirus shutdown.
Although his tweet did not specifically address parties held at short-term rental properties at the shore, it could be viewed as a warning for those who rent “party” houses in Ventnor.
The Ventnor Board of Commissioners Thursday, March 26 passed a resolution echoing a provision in the governor’s Executive Order No. 108 that short-term rentals are considered non-essential businesses.
Resolution 2020-143 ceases short-term rentals in the city according to the governor’s Executive Order No. 108, which allows local governments to impose additional restrictions for online marketplaces that offer lodging, and for municipal and county parks.
The executive order notes that “municipalities may have legitimate concerns about an influx of new visitors, which may cause public health concerns as we impose social distancing measures and aim to avoid unnecessary increases in density of individuals.”
The resolution prohibits the leasing, renting or letting of properties for less than 21 days until further notice.
“It’s a common-sense resolution right now for our city because the governor put a stay-at-home order in place,” Mayor Beth Holtzman said. “We don’t need people coming here for a couple of days, plus our infrastructure of resources and staffing is not up to a summer capacity.”
Commissioner Tim Kriebel said online rental platforms are complying by issuing refunds for anyone who made a reservation up until the middle of last month.
“We are not saying you have to cease and desist, we are deeming them as nonessential businesses,” Commissioner Lance Landgraf said. “When the governor relaxes that order, they will be back in business.”
Landgraf said he read a recent news article that stated a local Airbnb owner said he was overwhelmed with requests for brief stays at his property.
“The executive order says this is about reducing density,” Kriebel said.
“We the commission take the executive order of the governor the way it should be taken – serious,” Holtzman said. “He’s not requesting, it’s an order and we will do everything we can within our city to follow it.”
Police Chief Douglas Biagi said the city is not experiencing infractions at this time and that people “understand the bigness of the issue.”
“Everyone is pretty much doing what they are supposed to be doing, but it could become a problem at some point in time,” he said. “It’s good that we have something in place to flex our muscles if we have to.”
Biagi said the resolution would be enforced on complaint from residents that an Airbnb is operating illegally, and police would “shut them down.”
“We would likely issue a non-indictable summons citing Executive Order 108 and at some point in time they could be required to come to court,” he said.
But as of today, there have been no parties and no large gatherings, Biagi said.
“Hopefully, it will stay that way.”
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