Atlantic City is moving to allow short-term rentals again after a judge temporarily lifted the municipality’s ban in response to a lawsuit filed by landlords.
The pending change, however, does not mean city officials will stop regulating local property leases forever, City Councilman Frank Gilliam said.
“We’re taking (the law) off the books, but we need to revisit it so it’s beneficial to both ... the city and property owners,” Gilliam said Monday. “I think we made a move the first time a bit too hastily.”
City Council instituted rules in July 2011 requiring that residential leases last at least 90 days.
The governing body will vote on whether to repeal those rules during its next meeting Wednesday, about three months after the Atlantic City Coalition of Landlords filed a lawsuit targeting what court documents call the “animal house ordinances.”
The name refers to resident complaints about boisterous late-night partying blamed on summer renters in the city’s Northeast Inlet that prompted the laws in the first place.
Atlantic County Superior Court Judge William C. Todd III issued a temporary restraining order Aug. 3 against local officials enforcing those rules. The case was scheduled to go before Todd again Oct. 11, court personnel said.
“We could fight to keep it or do away with it,” said Councilman George Tibbitt. “Cooler heads (have) prevailed. We (realized) it’s not needed. There already are things in place for police and code enforcement to deal with people if they’re not behaving properly.”
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