There were several factors we weighed as we laid out this draft. Our guiding principles for the amendment were to ensure the safety of visitors at short term rentals, avoid encouraging the national trend of properties being purchased to be used exclusively as a short term rentals, maintain the quality of our neighborhoods, recognize the desire of some residents to provide home sharing for various reasons and focus on life safety for guests, owners and surrounding properties.
The entire draft ordinance is attached but here is a brief overview of parameters that would apply to Airbnbs:
-Property owners may rent their primary residence to others up to 5 times in a calendar for a total of 24 days
-Rentals shall be at least 3 days but no more than 14 days
-Applies to detached single family dwellings
-Designated off street parking is required
-All rental properties must be registered with and inspected by the fire department
-Requires a posting of fire and emergency routes, smoke detectors and other fire prevention equipment and minimum liability insurance
-Registration must include a responsible party to contact if owner is not available
This is extremely nuanced policy that we believe balances the desire for Airbnbs, safety, and neighborhood continuity. If you have any specific questions or comments, feel free to reach out to Joan, Rob and me. As always, we are happy to listen to your thoughts and share ours. We have to consider many factors (several of which came directly from our inspectors and first responders) but do so with great diligence. Our goal is to deliver an ordinance that works best for Collingswood as a whole.
You can watch the stream of all our commission meetings on the Borough’s YouTube channel here.