Ocean Considers Hiring Code Officials for Rentals
By GARRETT STASSE
A lack of oversight and poor code enforcement is ruining their neighborhoods, some Ocean Township residents say, and they want changes.
Resident after resident excoriated what they called lax rules enforcement when it comes to rental properties. They said landlords were renting without certificates of occupancy and code officials were ignoring or missing blatant violations.
They also ripped council for allegedly caving in last year when a group of landlords sued to overturn an ordinance to limit rentals to one per year.
Were being driven from our homes. Thats the bottom line Im desperate. I dont think I can stay in town another year.
-Sidney Lekach
The ordinance was a copy of one created by Long Branch and Ocean Township to stop owners from renting to college students in the fall and winter and to summer tenants.
The Township Attorney, Martin Arbus, disputed how some residents were interpreting the ruling. It wasnt a clear victory for Long Branch, he said, and in fact only set the stage for another suit should the city enforce the ordinance. Long Branch may have won a major battle but the war might continue.
Landlords were not harmed as long as the city didnt enforce the ordinance, and to win, the plaintiffs would have had to prove harm. Also, landlords could apply for exemptions from the ordinance should it become law, and it would be up to the city to grant them. Landlords would likely sue if they dont get them, Arbus said.
This was really the initial battle, not the entire war, he said. The plaintiffs may sit back and wait for Long Branch to enforce the ordinance, file for exemptions. If theyre denied theyll head to Superior Court. He cautioned against reinstating the townships ordinance because there are numerous unanswered legal questions.
A lot of people want the township to reinstate the ordinance but I think we have to look at the big picture, which is the final determination, he said.
That didnt assuage frustration among more than 50 people in the room.
Sidney Lekach, Larchwood Avenue, has been outspoken on the tenant issue in his neighborhood because of the noise, property conditions and tenant behavior.
I call this blockbusting. (Landlords) are depriving the working class and the middle class of homes We have to be proactive and go after them. This should not be a friendly place for drug addicts and drunks, he said.
Lekach, a 35-year resident, urged council to sue landlords and parents of unruly Monmouth University students or find some way to control the situation because its forcing people to sell out.
Were being driven from our homes. Thats the bottom line Im desperate. I dont think I can stay in town another year.
Lesley Dorsett, Lockwood Place, said a student rental in her neighborhood made her neighborhood unfit to live in. A students pit bull got loose, and when her daughter returned it, discovered the house was a frat house, complete with Greek symbols.
Then there was the garage. Tenants filled it with garbage instead of putting it out. She called the township to complain and said an inspector told her he saw nothing. She then called the Monmouth Regional Health Commission who saw it. The landlord showed up the next day, she said.
She wants to raise a family here. You cannot raise a family here, she said.
Deputy Mayor J. David Hiers said on Friday that council discussed the complaints and suggestions and is considering several options, including starting a complaints hotline and possibly hiring part-time code officials.
Why should we spend our taxes for lawyer fees when Long Branch is doing it? If Long Branch wins well introduce the ordinance, he said.
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