Jersey City voters say ‘Yes’ to Airbnb regulations in N.J.'s most expensive local referendum

Updated Nov 05, 2019;Posted Nov 05, 2019

By Joshua Rosario | The Jersey Journal
In the most expensive municipal referendum in state history, Jersey City voters on Tuesday preserved an ordinance that regulates short-term rentals, ending a bitter fight over the future of services like Airbnb in the state’s second-largest city.

Jersey City voted overwhelmingly “yes” on Municipal Question 1 and upheld the new regulations, delivering a huge blow to Airbnb, which spent more than $3 million on the election.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who campaigned heavily in favor of a yes vote, expressed pride in his city declaring a win less than an hour after polls closed. He called Tuesday’s vote a strong statement from the Jersey City public that it wants regulations on short-term rentals like Airbnb.

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The legislation in question allows homeowners who are on-site to share their home 365 days a year but institutes an annual 60-day cap for short-term rentals if the property owner is not on-site. It prohibits short-term rentals in buildings with more than four units unless the owner is present and the building’s condo association permits it. The law also phases out existing short-term rental contracts in those buildings by Jan. 1, 2021 and prohibits renters from serving as short-term rental hosts.

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Airbnb Suffered a Big Defeat in Jersey City. Here’s What That Means.

Restrictions approved by voters on Tuesday followed concerns over rising rents. They were a rebuke of Airbnb as it prepares to go public.

By Luis Ferré-Sadurní
Published Nov. 5, 2019
Updated Nov. 6, 2019, 7:14 a.m. ET

If you are hoping to book a cheap stay just a short train ride away from the bustle of Manhattan, good luck finding an Airbnb in Jersey City.

On Tuesday, Jersey City residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of stricter regulations on short-term rentals that will almost certainly shrink the number of Airbnb listings in New Jersey’s second-largest city.

The new restrictions were a major defeat for Airbnb as it prepares to go public and the latest in a string of laws that cities around the world have passed to regulate the home-sharing industry’s explosive growth.

The Jersey City regulations gained steam following concerns that the platform’s 3,000 listings, many run by large-scale investors, were pushing often-unruly tourists into residential areas, helping shoot up housing costs and accelerate gentrification.

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