Ship Bottom Rental Ordinance: Necessary or Overreach?

What Is Being Proposed And Why It Matters

Ship Bottom is considering a major change to how short term rentals operate in the borough. Ordinance 2025 09C was introduced conveniently on November 25, two days before Thanksgiving, and is set for a public hearing and potential vote on December 30 at 6:30 p.m. The borough says the goal is to preserve the family friendly character of the community and improve enforcement when issues arise. However, many rental owners believe the proposal goes far beyond what is necessary and may create more problems than it solves.

For more than fifty years, Ship Bottom has operated under a very simple and effective system. Owners complete the required fire inspection for rental use and maintain responsibility for their tenants and their homes themselves or together with real estate professionals. The borough has not provided specific data or examples to show that this long standing approach has failed.

What the ordinance would require

The proposal would create a new licensing system for every short term rental property. It would require:

• a one time rental license fee for $500
• a rental application fee of $325 the first year and $225 each year after
• an annual inspection costing $100
• re inspection fees of $85 if the property fails

This puts the first year cost at $925 and future years at $325 if inspections continue to pass.

Owners would also be required to provide personal information for all renters including names, ages, and exact dates of stay. To who? The town fails to say. Owners and renters must remain reachable twenty four hours a day to respond to complaints from the borough.

Significant enforcement penalties

If an owner receives three separate convictions for rental noncompliance, the borough would prohibit renting that property for two full years. This has a direct impact on market value, risk, and income potential. It also affects resale appeal. Buyers/investors who want the option to rent may look to Surf City, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Township, Beach Haven, or Harvey Cedars instead. If Ship Bottom becomes the most restrictive place to own, its competitive position on the island will fall. A rule intended to punish a small number of problem rentals could end up reducing buyer demand and discouraging responsible ownership. As a result, Ship Bottom could potentially kill the golden goose.

Differences from what exists now

The current rules are straightforward. Owners get a fire inspection and ensure tenants follow local expectations. The borough intervenes only if there is a legitimate issue. There are no yearly licenses, no repeating municipal applications, and no requirement to report every personal detail of guests staying in your home.

This ordinance takes a simple system that has worked for decades and replaces it with a more expensive, intrusive, and slower structure that gives the borough continuous oversight and the power to suspend rental use at any time. As an owner of property on the island and a full-time agent, this sounds terrifying.

Application approval and denial. Why uncertainty becomes a real cost

The ordinance gives the borough ten days to approve or deny an application. If denied, the owner then has ten days to appeal and the borough has up to thirty days to make a decision. This means a single denial could create up to six weeks of uncertainty.

Owners preparing for bookings cannot afford to wait weeks not knowing if they are even permitted to continue renting. The ordinance also does not explain what would cause an application to be denied. Without clear criteria, owners are being asked to trust a system that does not define how it will judge them.

No plan for execution

The ordinance lays out everything owners must do. It lays out what owners must pay and how they must report to the borough. What it does not explain is how the borough plans to staff and manage the enormous workload this will create.

Real estate sales already require inspections that can take time to schedule. Adding hundreds/thousands of yearly rental inspections, constant complaint follow ups, new appeals, and license tracking without additional staffing or structure raises major concerns. If the borough cannot process applications or conduct inspections on time, owners are the ones who suffer delays and financial risk.

Why the borough says it is needed

The borough has referenced increases in complaints involving trash, noise, parking, and recycling. They say the growth of larger investment style properties requires more oversight so Ship Bottom can avoid becoming like other shore towns that struggle with problem rentals. But everyone who works and lives on LBI understands that summer is always the busiest, most hectic, and most important time for local business. On top of that, Ship Bottom is the very first town you enter on the island, which has always made it the most popular spot for daytrippers. That naturally increases public parking congestion and has nothing to do with rental homes or how owners conduct themselves. A seasonal uptick in activity is not new and not unique to Ship Bottom. Pointing to more complaints, without presenting real data showing that conditions are worsening or unmanageable, feels less like thoughtful planning and more like a convenient justification for collecting new fees.

Why many owners say it goes too far

Property owners are not disputing the importance of accountability. They are disputing the scale of this change and the lack of evidence behind it. Here are the primary concerns:

• There is no publicly shared data showing a town wide rental problem

• Responsible owners are being treated the same as repeat offenders

• Costs go up significantly for owners but without added stability or benefit

• Long delays in approvals could hurt the entire rental season

• A new three percent tax would push renters to choose other towns

• Property values could be harmed if renting becomes uncertain, restricted, or simply troublesome

• The borough has not shown it can administer a system this large

• This law would impose on property rights

• This law could overall decrease resale value, equity, and owner’s financial positions

There is also the very real possibility that owners will look for ways around the rules and ownership restrictions if the system becomes too expensive or too unpredictable. If renting goes underground or moves entirely outside borough oversight, enforcement becomes harder, not easier.

Tourism and rentals are a core part of Ship Bottom’s identity and local economy. With that benefit comes the responsibility for the borough to manage summer activity. Greater volume during peak weeks is not a failure, it is what keeps local restaurants, shops, and services thriving.

What this means moving forward

There is room to strengthen certain tools for dealing with repeat problem rentals. No one argues against safety or good behavior. But this is a complete rebuild of the rental framework centered on higher fees, heavier monitoring, and broader enforcement.

It is critical for the borough to show real data and clear justification before making a change that will affect property values, rental demand, and resident participation in the local economy. Ship Bottom should be focused on improving what already works, not replacing the foundation entirely.

The public hearing on December 30 will be the most important opportunity for homeowners, renters, and local business owners to ask questions and express concerns before any vote. It is also worth noting that the borough has chosen to schedule this meeting during one of the quietest times of the year on the island, when many people are traveling, focused on holidays, and simply unavailable. That timing makes participation more difficult for the very community that will be affected and is entirely purposeful. Written comments can still be submitted in advance to the borough administrator or municipal clerk for council review.