Hardyston plans hearing on short-term rentals

By Anna Ross
HARDYSTON — The Hardyston Township Council will hold a public hearing on Aug. 22 on an ordinance to mandate short-term rentals be set for a minimum of 60 days.
Township Manager Marianne Smith said on July 25 the town has received several complaints regarding rentals that have different renters every week. Smith further stated these types of “transient” housing arrangements become “competition for legitimate businesses such as hotels that pay income taxes.”
Family members and friends staying with no exchange of money would not be subject to the ordinance. The Golf Villas at Crystal Springs would be an exception to the ordinance. Smith said other towns are considering following the Council’s lead.
Numerous Crystal Springs outdoor events have prompted Council to propose making changes to clarify the requirements for any entity desiring to hold outdoor events within the Township.
The council also agreed the existing ordinance needs to be enforced.
This amendment would reduce the head count allowed at outdoor events from 500 to 250 people, 1-3 days in duration, no more than three times per year. Any additional occurrences or requirements would need to have site plan considerations. The councils’ overall concerns include parking, fire lane disturbances, and soil restoration once tents are taken down. The council asked Township Attorney Fred Semrau to write a letter to Crystal Springs Resorts making them aware of the proposed ordinance amendment as well as an enforcement of the existing ordinance to allow them time to make appropriate plans with Council for fall outdoor events. Public hearing will be held in September.
Jackie Espinoza, area manager from JCP&L, stopped by at the Hardyston Town Council to ask for town support for the Reliability Plus Program. This four-year infrastructure plan includes 4,000 enhancements. Espinoza cited the lessons learned from the March outages in several local towns prompted this plan. She stated the plan would concentrate on improvements to sub stations, tree and vegetation management, and additional trip savors on secondary lines.
Mayor Carl Miller told Council member Leslie Hamilton “not to complain about power outages then” when she expressed concern about possible extra costs to customers. According to the Press Release, JCP&L estimates the “initial increase on the monthly bill for an average residential customer would be about 25 cents.”
During public session, the few residents in attendance highlighted township issues including lack of fire hydrant testing, repairs needed to the DPW building, forming committees to get public input and vehicular speeding on Wheatsworth Road. Hardyston Police Chief Bret Alemy was asked for input regarding the speed limit concerns raised by residents. He explained that over 10 years ago he had the speed limit reduced from 50 mph to 25 mph, but that combined with additional police presence “does not seem to be enough” to prevent the speeding.
He encouraged Council to clean the peripherals to widen roads and increase signage, preferably with reflective signs. He cited an example of recently pulling over someone local to the area and her not knowing the required speed limit.
“We are all on the same page and will do our best,” Miller said.
Council asked Semrau to send a letter to the Hardyston Middle School so they may remind the teachers and parents alike to abide by the speed limit and also send letter to Ballyowen, a Crystal Springs Resort, to remind golfers and wedding attendees of the limit. The school and associated sports makes the area heavily populated with cars and Ballyowen is a popular destination as it is often rated as a top Public Golf Course in New Jersey.
As Miller asked to adjourn the meeting, Deputy Mayor Santo Verrilli wanted to discuss and get input on retail stores selling marijuana. He expressed concern that the town needed to seek ordinance now to prevent stores from selling marijuana since there is current legislation pending in the state.
Semrau and others believed it to be premature to discuss but agreed to speak more about it in the upcoming meetings.