The sharing economy is here to stay no matter what anyone says. Our kids will take self-drive uber cars to work and play, and stay at Air BnB shared accommodations on business trips and holidays. The fact that Ridgewood isn’t a destination probably means it never takes off here anyway, but luddites rule in NJ and Ridgewood. Tesla’s online sales model was banned because it messes with car dealers, uber is a threat to cabbies, and Air BnB threatens hotels. Why aren’t we asking what is wrong with the conventional wisdom on these issues instead of the immediate reaction to block change?
I thought the Facebook comments about renting a house for a golf tournament or Super Bowl type event were also illuminating.
The reason NYC or Los Angeles are against Air B&B is because it kills hotel tax revenues. They lose millions yet even they cant actually ban short term rentals. There is no way this law holds up but it will cost some homeowner and all of us taxpayers to work it through the system.
These knee jerk reactions to public comment has to be tempered. The mess with that parking near Whole Foods is a similar situation (from the past council). It is great to listen to the public and to try to find solutions but elected officials cannot just react. They are elected to be a deliberative body that analyzes both sides of an issue and finds solutions. These mistakes are costly in time and tax payer money.
I have had many airbnb visitors, all very decent professionals, staying for various reasons, TI Pros working 1-2 or 3 month contracts, people that had construction going on because of a fire-damaged to their home and were sick of staying a hotel, CEO”s come in for 3 days , but mostly guests visiting family members for a few days coming to see newborns of there kids having kids from the UK.,Israel, Denmark, Japan.
I have never had a problem with anyone of these guests. And this has helped me out tremendously since I lost a love one that contributed to my loving home financially, a home I don’t wish to lose…..
So to the ignorant person that has threatened to call the IRS on your neighbor, you are a despicable neighbor that “ASSUMES” we don’t pay our taxes , with no proof what so ever !!!! So please call them and rear your ugly head out to all of us. Think of us when your having your $500 spa day and stuff your face with tartare. and getting your manicure and hair colored, god it’s been so long for me Maybe you should try getting a job so you wouldn’t have so much time on your hands to judge everyone around you. Make no mistake about, YOU ARE the person people talk about in town behind your back, and rightfully so you play the role so eloquently, ponder that the next time your gossiping, we all see right through those people, they are the black sheep in our community’s !!!!!!!
Unlike the bloviators here, I actually spent the time to do some research regarding my concerns about liability coverage and Air bnb provides coverage. I doubt the ban will stand and if it does, you’ll have neighbors spying on each other and calling the cops when a stranger parks in a driveway or goes into a house. Kind of echoes some activities from 80 odd years ago… maybe we’ll have to carry our “resident” papers too…
Ridgewood NJ, Bottom line, there’s now an ordinance that prohibits such short term rentals. Those wishing to snub their noses at it and continue (or start) running such operations risk being fined $1000 per day if found guilty in municipal court.
ORDINANCE NO. 3570 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 117 OF THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD ENTITLED “BUSINESSES AND OCCUPATIONS” AT ARTICLE I, SECTION 1A, AND TO CREATE A NEW ARTICLE IX ENTITLED “SHORT TERM RENTALS”. AMEND: ARTICLE I Section 117-1A ADVERTISE OR ADVERTISING: Any form of solicitation, promotion, and communication for marketing, used to solicit, encourage, persuade, or manipulate viewers, readers, or listeners into contacting for goods and/or services in violation of this Ordinance, as same may be viewed through various media including, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, flyers, handbills, pamphlets, commercials, radio, direct mail, internet websites, or text or other electronic messages for the purpose of establishing occupancies or uses of rental property, for Consideration, which are prohibited by this Ordinance. HOUSKEEPING UNIT: Constitutes a family-type situation, ,involving one-or-more persons, living together that exhibit the kind of stability, permanency and functional lifestyle equivalent to that of a traditional family unit, as further described in the applicable reported and unreported decisions of the New Jersey Superior Court. OCCUPANT: Any individual inhabiting, using, living, gathering, entertaining, being entertained as a guest, or sleeping in a dwelling or a portion thereof, or having other permission or possessory rights or interest in the dwelling. OWNER: Any person(s) or entity(ies), association, limited liability company, corporation, or partnership, or any combination, who legally use, possess, own, lease, sub-lease or license (including an operator, principal, shareholder, director, agent, or employee, individually or collectively) that has charge, care, control ,or participates in the expenses and/or profit of a Dwelling Unit pursuant to a written or unwritten agreement, rental, lease, license, use, occupancy agreement or any other agreement. NEW ARTICLE ARTICLE IX: SHORT TERM RENTALS SECTION 117-56 – PERMITTED USE The residential occupancy of an otherwise lawful and lawfully occupied dwelling for a period of thirty (30) days or less by a person who is a member of the Housekeeping Unit of the Owner, without Consideration, such as house guests, is permitted. SECTION 117-57 – PROHIBITIONS: No person shall undertake, maintain, authorize, aid, facilitate, solicit and advertise any rental activity that violates any part or provisions of this Article. SECTION 117-57 -SHORT TERM RENTAL PROPERTY: Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Village Code, it shall be unlawful for any person, including but not limited to, and owner, lessor, sub lessor with any possessory interest in any dwelling, to receive compensation of any kind for the use, occupancy, or rental of any dwelling for a period of thirty (30) days or less. SECTION 117-59 – ENFORCEMENT: The provisions of this Article shall be enforced by the Village Zoning Officer, Fire Department, Police Department and any other Village Official or employee so designated by the Village Manager who all shall be authorized to issue summons or other appropriate civil violations or complaints for any violations of the terms and provisions of this Article. SECTION 117-60 – FINES AND PENALITES: Any person who is found or adjudicated to have violated any provisions of this Article shall be liable for a fine not to exceed one thousand ($1000.00) Dollars. Each day of any such violation after receiving written notice of same shall be a new and separate violation. SEVERABILTY: If any portion of this Ordinance is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not affect or invalidate the remainder of this Ordinance but shall be confined in its effect to the provision directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. Except as hereby amended, all other sections of the Code of the Village of Ridgewood shall remain in full force and effect. This Ordinance shall take effect upon final passage and publication according to law. Ridgewood News-4116350 Fee: $71.30 December 16, 2016
To whomever posted -Anonymous January 12, 2017 at 8:05 pm- that put my AirBNB listing up with my address-which incidentally is kept totally confidential until AFTER the guest passes a 5-point security check. But Thank You for noticing that I am a hard-working professional who is willing to share her beautiful home with others. As an immigrant to this country, I founded a national association to help women. I help them achieve their national credential in order to find jobs, and get better ones, then I help them continue their education with one-on-one mentoring (some of the cars that are “in and out of there all the time”.)…so I guess I just like helping people. My guests park on my property and I have had no complaints from neighbors. AirBnb has helped me pay for taxes, repairs on my home, upgrade plumbing etc., so that the value is maintained. And who are the guests that stay with me? I have three different grandparents that come to visit their grandchildren, nurses that work long shifts at Valley Hospital, a son who lives in California that comes regularly to visit his mother in a nursing home, a self-employed marketing consultant who comes here for business, and then I have had two different couples who have stayed here while they bought a home in the area-they wanted to see what it was like living in Ridgewood–without this experience, they may not have chosen to live here! The sharing economy is an international model that can be found in small cities all over the world that only enhances the diversity and value of the community.
Given the cool reception Airbnb has received in New York State, tech companies might want to consider relocating across the river.
That’s the argument advanced by the New Jersey Tech Council, a 20-year old industry group that will on Tuesday release an open letter to the “New York tech community” urging it to consider the Garden State.
“I would like to formally invite you to start, grow, and build your business in the Garden State,” writes NJ Tech Council president and CEO James Barrood in a letter that cites Mayor Bill de Blasio’s failed effort to temporarily cap Uber’s growth and Airbnb’s troubles in Albany as evidence of a tendency on the part of New York officials to “shield legacy industries from the disruptive forces of technology.”
Ridgewood NJ , The NYT reported yesterday that major websites were inaccessible to people across many parts of the United States on Friday after a company that manages crucial parts of the internet’s infrastructure said it was under attack.
Waves of cyber attacks brought down many popular websites Friday, leaving millions of users without access and the Department of Homeland Security investigating the precise cause.
Users reported problems reaching several websites, including Twitter, Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Reddit, Etsy, SoundCloud and The New York Times.This just a little over a month after the US Internet Giveaway to the U.N. and days after the Obama administration attempted to take Julian Assange founder of WikiLeaks off the internet.
This just a little over a month after the US Internet giveaway to the U.N. and days after the Obama administration attempted to take Julian Assange founder of WikiLeaks off the internet.
The attack, which is believed to be a coordinated effort, targeted a single Domain Name Server provider called Dyn. Dyn’s servers monitor and reroute internet traffic. The attack started just around 7am and is known as a distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS. No information is obtained with DDoS attacks, they create major frustration. The DDoS attack affected Dyn’s infrastructure that supports internet connections, meaning the attack did not affect websites themselves. Instead, it blocked or slowed users from gaining access to sites.
According to the NYT , the attack appears to have relied on hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices like cameras, baby monitors and home routers that have been infected — without their owners’ knowledge — with software that allows hackers to command them to flood a target with overwhelming traffic.
WikiLeaks believes its supporters were responsible and it urged its supporters to ‘stop taking down the US internet’, saying ‘Mr Assange is still alive and WikiLeaks is still publishing’.
It then tweeted: ‘The Obama administration should not have attempted to misuse its instruments of state to stop criticism of its ruling party candidate.’
The Ridgewood Blog remained largely unaffected which was a great relief to both the staff and our IT department . Giving past attempts to take down the site by some politicians , local and otherwise and foreign governments ,founder James Foytlin aka PJ blogger said ,”it’s nice to be left out of the fray” . Other staff members postulated that perhaps a more open posture to Wikileaks had left the (Ridgewood)blog unscathed.
Ridgewood NJ, tonights Village Council agenda features ; parking,Kings pond, lighting in public parks ,Airbnb,tree preservation and updates to the “Open Space Master plan”.
THE RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE COUNCIL’S PUBLIC WORKSHOP AGENDA
OCTOBER 5, 2016
1. 7:30 pm – Call to Order – Mayor
2. Statement of Compliance with Open Public Meeting Act
Mayor: “Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a posting on the bulletin board in Village Hall, by mail to the Ridgewood News, The Record, and by submission to all persons entitled to same as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time of this meeting.”
3. Roll Call – Village Clerk
4. Flag Salute/Moment of Silence
5. Public Comments (Not to Exceed 5 Minutes per Person – 30 Minutes in Total)
6. Public Hearing – Bergen County Open Space Grant – Kings/Gypsy Pond
7. Presentation
TAP Grant Opportunity8. Discussion
Ridgewood Water
Award Contract – Ridgewood Press
Award Contract – Professional Engineering Services – Various Improvements to Booster/Transfer Stations
Award Contract – Professional Services for the Feasibility Study for Removing PFCs at the Carr Treatment Facility
Award Contract – Control Valves at Various Locations
Award Contract – EUS – SCADA Software, Hardware & Support b. Parking
Tiered Parking Meter Prices and Parking Permit Pricing
Parking Reallocation at Parking Lots
NJ Transit Parking Garagec. Budget
Update of Open Space Master Plan – Survey
Kings/Gypsy Pond Grant
Award Contract – Rebid of Furnishing and Delivering of Polymer – Water Pollution Control Facility
Award Partial Contract – Street Paving
Renew Lease on Chestnut Street Lot Garbage Pad
Update of Health Department Retail License Fees
d. Policy
Stigma-Free Task Force Advisory Committee
Tree Preservation Ordinance
Amend Chapter 190 – Land Use – Zoning Regulations for Religious Land Use and Zoning Regulations for Houses of Worship and Public Utilities Different in Nature with Different Standards
Encroachment Agreement for Titos Burritos
Lighting Policy in Parks
Regulations for Airbnb
Best Practices Inventory and Resolutions to Affirm Current Procedures
Human Resources Manual
e. Operations
Traffic Calming Proposal – Bogert Avenue and Cambridge Road
Sherman Road and Stanley Place Safety Improvements
County Shared Services Road Resurfacing
9. Review of October 12, 2016 Regular Public Meeting Agenda
10. Manager’s Report
11. Council Reports
12. Public Comments (Not to Exceed 5 Minutes per Person)
13. Resolution to go into Closed Session
14. Closed Session
a. Personnel – Police Department
b. Contractual – Shared Services Agreement – Washington Township
New Jersey vacation rentals booked through online services such as Airbnb would be subject to the same state and local occupancy taxes as hotel and motel rooms under a bill introduced in state Assembly. John C. Ensslin, The Record Read more
A NSW woman had her home turned into a makeshift brothel after listing her property on accommodation sharing website Airbnb.
The woman, who had regularly rented out her home without incident, was contacted by the alleged prostitute through Airbnb but the transaction was made in cash outside of the website.
Booked for two nights, suspicions were raised about the ‘guest’ within hours of her arrival after a steady stream of men were seen by neighbours entering the home.
The Lismore host told local newspaper The Northern Star she had thought the woman was a legitimate tourist who was using her home while visiting the area.
Airbnb have strict terms and conditions that insist users perform the entire transaction on their platform to help avoid situations such as this.
Despite that, an Airbnb’s Australian General Manager Sam McDonagh told The Daily Telegraph they had been in contact with the host and offered her assistance after the incident.
“This was not an Airbnb reservation. More than 40 million guests have stayed with Airbnb, and problems for guests and hosts are incredibly rare,” he said.
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