PETERSBURG – During public comment at Upper Township Committee’s June 13 meeting, several residents expressed their growing concern and frustration about a new, “alarming” issue of online short-term rentals of residential properties snowballing in their Beesley’s Point neighborhood.
One resident noted, “Weekend rentals of neighborhood houses on Bayaire Road, for example, through Airbnb and VRBO, are creating situations that are destroying our quality of life. We see underage ‘tenants’ – on one weekend, there were 17 juveniles in a three-bedroom house – carting in kegs and cases of beer and other liquor boxes.”
Mayor Curtis Corson replied, “We’re being proactive for sure. Our municipal zoning officer has the problem on his radar, and he’s made visits to assess and investigate violations. The township is looking at other model regulations to see what more we can do through municipal ordinance.
“Some speakers tonight have suggested we use, as a model, Egg Harbor Township or even Atlantic City. However, we’re thinking that possibly regulation as is undertaken in Toms River could be our model since Upper needs to be careful that any new regulation does not negatively impact Strathmere, where weekly beach rentals are the norm, and Toms River is in a similar situation,” concluded Corson.
