Palisades Park last month became the latest Bergen County town to ban short-term rentals.
PALISADES PARK -- The borough in late August became the latest eastern Bergen County town to ban short-term rentals, barring residents from listing their homes on services like Airbnb and and Homeaway.
Palisades Park joined Cresskill and Englewood Cliffs in banning short-term rentals, while Fort Lee and Leonia are weighing bans of their own. Meanwhile, Newark and Jersey City have reached agreements to impose hotel taxes on Airbnb rentals.
Mayor James Rotundo said short-term renters threatened already scarce parking spots in his town of about 20,000. Many renters are drawn to Palisades Park and other towns with easy access to New York City.
The ban takes effect 30 days after Aug. 23, but there were at least three listings still on Airbnb as of Thursday. Two of the owners declined to comment when NJ Advance Media contacted them through the website.
Airbnb does not display the exact locations of homes on its websites, but Palisades Park residents living near listed homes said they were unaware of any short-term rental activity.
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Airbnb encourages hosts to be aware of local regulations, but can't prevent people in towns that ban short-term rentals from listing their homes on the site, a spokesman said. The company has battled controversy before. On Thursday it announced plans to address complaints from hosts and guests that they were being discriminated against.
Josh Meltzer, regional head of public policy for Airbnb, asked towns to work with the company rather than banning it.
"Instead of shortchanging their communities with drastic measures like wholesale bans on short-term rentals, we urge elected officials across New Jersey to engage in a constructive dialogue about how smart regulations can foster responsible home sharing that stimulates the local economy," he said.
Representatives from the company recently attended a work session of the Fort Lee Mayor and Council, where elected officials are also considering a ban on rentals lasting less than 30 days. Parking is also difficult in Fort Lee, where hundreds of residential units are under construction.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said the town has received complaints for the past four months about short-term renters making noise and shuttling in and out of particular addresses. It's difficult to enforce parking ordinances because the renters are from out of state, he added.
"It's a general quality of life issue," he said. "It becomes disruptive."
Sokolich said Airbnb proposed measures to address complaints, including stricter vetting of guests and more monitoring of hosts, but that Fort Lee would likely move forward with a ban.
"At the end of the day, the single most important part of our job is the safety and quality of life of our residents," he said. "These short-term one-night, two-night, four-night rentals certainly don't promote that."
Sokolich and Rotundo both said the rentals could pose a safety issue. Town officials don't know what condition the home is left in from rental to rental.
"Without having a [certificate of occupancy] every time someone moves in we don't know," Rotundo said.
Englewood Cliffs was among the first towns to ban rentals of less than six months in 2012. Mayor Mario Kranjac said town officials have no regrets and have heard no pushback from residents.
"I think it's better for the community as a whole," he said. "We're not a transient community."
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) has co-sponsored legislation that would tax short-term rentals booked through Airbnb and similar websites like hotels. However, the mayors said the issue should be handled town-by-town.
"I have never used Airbnb or any of the other services," Rotundo said. "They seem to be a very nice way for people to travel and stay in other areas. I just don't think it's right for Palisades Park."
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.