Short-term rentals in Kearny have been illegal since the adoption of ordinance 2017-61 in 2017 — and revisions made in ordinance 2026-07 earlier this year.
There are some pushing for it all to be repealed and some who pushed for the passage of the ordinance.
There are several things people may be unaware of that should be discussed.
First and foremost, there are zones in every town — either residential or commercial. One cannot open a commercial business in a residential zone without a variance from the zoning board of adjustment.
This process involves notification to neighbors within 200 feet of a property line. Every change in use comes with restrictions and requirements; in the case of adding residential units, you must provide 1.8 parking spaces per unit.
In the case of a store or office, you must provide 1.6 parking spaces per 1,000 square-feet of space in the building. Having said this, you should see short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods are illegal without the two ordinances mentioned above. The argument that notice of the change was done in a short time frame, and without notice, is simply not true.
People opening (or operating) a short-term rental failed to do Their due diligence and set themselves up for failure from day one — ignorance of law is not a defense to breaking law.
Some of the people at recent council meetings suggest on the part of the owners of the short-term rental units were suggesting:
Requiring one parking space for every two bedrooms,
Notification to the 10 closest neighbors by introducing themselves and giving them a phone number to call if there is an issue
Paying a fee to the town
Inspection of property
As you can now see, these laws already exist and are at a much more stringent level. At a meeting last month, one owner said his household all lived in a unit of the building, but suggestions recently appear to show that not to be true.
Also mentioned at a previous meeting was that each short-term rental is required by different apps to have parking. Research on various sites including Expedia, Vrbo and Air B&B show that not to be true. Another comment at that meeting was there have only been two complaints about short-term rentals in nine years. That is patently false; there have been at least four people at council meetings complaining as well as many social media complaints.
Perhaps the attorney who lives in Florida and visits about once a month to check out his apartment rental is unaware of what goes on every day in Kearny. I am not sure if he was checking criminal complaints or construction code enforcement complaints — or basing his words on how many people spoke at that meeting.
Instead and in fact, there are approximately 200 short-term rentals in Kearny, according to the people at that meeting. There are 32,000 residents over the age of 18 according to the latest census. There are approximately 10,000 housing units (a single family and apartment units) here. There are about 11,000 property-tax accounts.
Translated, that means that less than 2% of the population is pushing for something that will cost the other 98% in tax dollars.
Kearny belongs to the Meadowlands Tax Sharing District.
This program consists of 14 towns in the areas encompassing the Meadowlands. Ten of the towns have hotels and motels, and four do not. Each time a guest checks in to a hotel in these towns, they pay a fee that is then distributed to the towns without hotels.
Kearny receives $8.2 million dollars annually. It collects about $41 million in property taxes, and the tax sharing is an additional 20%. Should we allow and charge a fee for short-term rentals, we would lose the full $8.2 million infusion.
We would then need to cut our budget 20% or raise taxes 20%.
So, that’s 98% of the population paying 20% more in taxes for less than 2% to make money by operating an “illegal business” in a residential area.
Even if the 2017-61 and 2026-07 that eliminate short term rentals were repealed, they would still be illegal in residential zones. The vast majority of Kearny is zoned to R1 and R2. There are some businesses in residential zones, but they are grandfathered in from past use dating back 50+ years.
Kearny Avenue, a portion of Elm Street, Bergen, Passaic and Midland avenues, are the only truly commercial zones outside the industrial area in South Kearny that I know of.
The deli by Washington School, for instance, is in an R1 because it was Les’ Sweet Shop back in the 1950s.
The meat store on Liberty and Windsor is allowed in an R1 because it was Bill’s Sweetshop back in the 1960s.
They state they are law-abiding residents and good neighbors, so let them prove it by going for the zoning variance, which would be a first step.
Melanie A. Ryan
Kearny Deputy Mayor
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