um we the executive session has concluded uh all Council meetings are now live streamed and can be viewed at the following link www.youtube.com spart wp- streams adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the public and the Press on January 5th 2024 by delivering to the press and posting on the township website a copy of the notice uh now ask for roll call councilman Herzberg here councilwoman Quinn here councilman shello I am here Deputy Mayor bledy here mayor Clark here and just let the record reflect that uh councilman bledy um is participating by phone due to illness and thank you Dean for still showing up um all right let's salute the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all oh thank you uh before I get to the proclamation I do have to read a a resolution because we had an executive session so just bear with me and then we'll we'll get to the fun stuff um open public meeting act executive session whereas at Section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL 1975 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances and whereas this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist now therefore be it resolved by the township Council of the township of Sparta County of Sussex state of New Jersey as follows the public shall be excluded from discussion of an action upon the here andafter specified subject matters the general nature of the subject matter to be discussed is as follows a litigation B Personnel C contract negotiations D miscellaneous legal advice is anticipated at this time that the above subject matter will be made public when deemed appropriate this resolution shall take effect immediately okay with that out of the way I am uh honored tonight to uh do a proclamation uh on behalf of the Donate Life it is Donate Life month and tonight um we have uh Kelly you're here right there you are I see you uh Kelly Bonaventure who's here and so before we uh I give this proclamation to her uh I'm going to read about it and you'll find out why this is such a wonderful uh month and why you know what Kelly does is so important Donate Life month whereas realizing the urgent need for organ and tissue across donors across the country the national Donate Life month observ observance promotes a greater understanding about the life-saving benefits of donation and transplantation moreover the need is increasing NJ sharing network is committed to addressing that need through increased awareness and whereas the transplantation of organs and tissue is a miracle of modern medicine made possible through the compassion of organ and tissue donors enabling surgeons to save thousands of lives every year excuse me it's a lot to read one organ donor can save eight lives and one tissue donor can restore Health to over 75 others people of all ages ethnic backgrounds and religions are touched by donation and by serious shortage of organ donors that exist currently there are 4,000 New Jersey residents and over 103,000 Americans awaiting life-saving transplant operations and whereas every capable person should support this vital effort by registering as an organ and tissue donor making their Li their family aware of their wishes and being willing to give the precious gift of Health sight and Life to people in need and whereas registering as an organ and tissue donor at a local Motor Vehicle Agency or online at www.j sharing network.org signifies our fundamental human responsibility to help others now therefore be it resolved that the township Council of the township of Sparta does hereby Proclaim April as Donate Life month and urges all citizens to consider becoming an Oran donor and join forces to boost the number of Oregan eye and tissue donors throughout the county of Sussex and state of New Jersey thank you um so you have it is organ I'm a donor uh if you're not one uh how about that a great way to celebrate is go over to the DMV and register and also through the website that we identified so with this I'm going to hand this over to you Kelly and I hope you'll say a few words if you want to thank you so much sir you can come oh thank you thank you Kelly thank you you're welcome can I just go for it take a quick picture okay thank you so much thank you so I'm Kelly Bon ventry I am the assistant director of community services at New Jersey sharing Network which is the federally designated organ procurement organ ation for the state of New Jersey I am joined here by two um fellow Spartans who I would like them to stand up and how long they've lived here and what their connection to donation is please here here years now and my connection was back in 2011 U was the love of my life we together for 10 years and um we used to joke we looked into getting married but we decided we didn't want to screw with better than husband better than wife but unfortunately she was hit by a car on traveling walking the training station bont Clair and became an or Builder and uh a good thing came out of a very bad situation and just one example um he was able to donate number of organs plus a lot of tissues from her from her body and I met one of the or re years later and heal restored as as know years prodive lifeis that was just one and it's a mirle enourage everybody consider becom an org donor check the box or the mayor said go online and hopefully never be faced with it but leave it up to world thank you Dan get him birdie Noble uh lived in my since 1968 I'm a 1964 graduate of Sparta High my husband was a 1963 graduate of Sparta High um he was in Vietnam he had agent orange so he was unable to donate his lungs uh therefore unable to donate his heart but he was a tissue donor and um we were all very proud of that um the family made the decision he had passed in the hospital [Applause] I have had the honor and privilege of calling Sparta my home for the past 30 years and have the opportunity to meet wonderful families um such as Dan and birdie birdie actually happens to be my nextd door neighbor so donation hits close to home I'm not sure if there's anybody else here that has a connection to donation um but people are waiting as as Neil said there are over 100,000 people waiting in the United States 4,000 people waiting right here in New Jersey and less than 1% of all deaths result in somebody being able to give the gift of life so over 100,000 people waiting and a very very small pool of eligible donors so we really encourage people we of course would like everybody to be a registered organ donor because it saves more lives but we realize in respect it's an individual choice and an individual decision and we just ask people to make an educated and informed decision there are so many myths and misconceptions out there about donation if you go to our website New Jersey sharing network.org all the information that you could possibly want to know and more about donation is there or I am happy to um have a conversation at any time I am passionate about this work and I am so thankful to the Town Council this is the eth year in a row that you have recognized April as Donate Life month and as Chris knows it touches my heart in a deep place and it really does mean so much um April is a special time because it is a month where we actually unite as a country it's called National Donate Life month and all opos organ procurement organizations across the country come together to raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation and to me more importantly to honor our beloved donors and to support their families um it takes a special person to be an organ donor and it takes a special family to make that decision so tonight we celebrate those lives that have been saved and we honor our donor Heroes for making that possible so thanks to the generosity of New Jersey organ donors and their families in 2023 more organs were transplanted than ever before in the sharing Network's 37e history 715 life-saving organs were transplanted that's a 7% increase over our previous year and it it just shows The Testament to New jerseyans Rising to the need and to the challenge that is our fifth year in a row that we have had more lives saved than ever before while we're happy and you know to share that amazing news we also take the time to remember and acknowledge and recognize that for every life that has been saved a life has been lost so we honor and we remember our donor Heroes at the highest level and we continue to support their families um throughout the donation process and for years to come and I really do want to thank the Town Council um the blue and green ribbons that you'll see hanging up in town we're not all wearing blue and green for by coincidence tonight um blue and green are the colors of Oregan donation so with each ribbon that we hung that was to honor ad donor hero and to share our mess message there is a card attached to each ribbon with our information about our organization and directing people to the website to learn more about donation and to consider registering to be an organ donor so thank you all so much once again we greatly greatly appreciate it your support truly does mean so much and it does help to save lives so thank you thank you thank [Applause] you if you're not an organ donor um I'd encourage you to consider being one um so thank you Kelly um we have no minutes tonight to approve so we're on to uh Mr Zep and the manager's report so you have the floor Mr Zep thank you mayor so good evening mayor council and Sparta residents as you know a few major events happened within the last week no reports were received for damage after the earthquake last Friday and the solar eclipse was observed by many even though it was a cloudy uh near New Jersey uh predicted solar totality I think a lot of us went out there and tried to get it all in but Cloud's gotten away this past Saturday the rainbarrow workshop was held here at Town Hall 14 residents attended the training and learned how rain barrels could help conserve water and reduce the volume of storm water runoff entering the local rivers and streams during rainfall events a total of 10 rain barrels were constructed to be installed at those partic ipant homes to provide water for back backyard gardens I would like to thank the environmental commission and New Jersey Watershed ambassadors for organizing this successful event in our Parks and Recreation Department the sparta annual Trout Derby is scheduled for Saturday May 18th at Station Park seniors are encouraged to join team Sparta for the fifth annual Sussex County Senior Olympics scheduled for June 26 at Maple Grange Park in Vernon Township with training starting in May if you're interested in participating please call the sparta recreation department at 973 729 2383 Camp sakaa Day Camp still has spots open for first through sixth grade campers anyone interested should call the recreation office for availability or sign up online through Community pass in our zoning construction Department our contractor Lou Environmental Services has sent out postcards to known rental property owners these cards provide information on the state mandated lead testing laws and how to order testing to be compliant in our Sparta Library this past month the sparta Library participated in the 10th Annual Statewide maker Day event their mission is to inspire and activate libraries to Showcase and highlight stem and maker culture enhancing lifelong learning it was reported that there was a good turnout of Pope John and Sparta High School robotic teams participating as well as providing stem programs and crafts for children to participate in uh there will not be a police report this evening and that Chief mccarrick is not able to join us this evening so with that this concludes my report thank you mayor council and Sparta residents I have a quick question about this Senior Olympics how does how does one Define senior 60 60 60 okay I did confirm that thank you that's great uh may I have a motion to accept the manager's report so moved may I have a second I'll second all in favor say I I I uh the manager report is approved uh we're now at the first uh public comment period however it's limited to items that are not I repeat not on the agenda so if you look at the agenda and it's something you want to talk about now's not the time um it's to address any other issues that you have that are not on the agenda so with that caveat does anyone from the public wish to speak on an item that's not on the agenda you can yeah if you would wish to speak you can come up and again it's it's something that's not on the agenda [Music] L gentlemen my name is Dr Ernest Leu I am a psychiatrist and I had my practice in spart 25 years I'm very impressed of movement about donation of organs but only one organ which cannot be donated what do you think what you cannot donate right brain therefore I decided don't wait when I would be dead and I decided to donate my brain to my Township now thank you the mental health problem is one of the major problem in our country and in our Township obviously not everybody recognizes that because it is a well-kept Secrets everybody keeps this under Rock and I know from my experience for example parents recognize that their children on the drugs at least in three four years after they intensively use these NS needless to say that some parents were supporting by money the habits of their children because they preferred that they would give them money then they would steal something if you would try to get an appointment to a psychiatrist in our surrounding you would have to wait two three months and in Newton Memorial Hospital it would be not less difficult being not very rich men as would say figer on the [Music] roof uh I decided why I would not reciprocate it to my Township where I spent live more than 30 years being a Jewish political immigrant from Russia and I decided to offer to set up a free mental health clinic this is not a very much Innovative idea but not very much used therefore I did not want to create something unusual and and I uh uh called to American Medical Association and they sent me this document if anybody would able to get it for you this is American Medical Association manual how to create mental health clinic and this is a little bit information about myself basic information which would confirm you that I'm not a and I still have a valid uh New Jersey license I would work for free but nevertheless according to this document it requires some kind of place it requires certain insurances and requires minimum stuff which would coordinate patients call and patients appointment I cannot afford it on my uh expense therefore I'm proposing a partnership with a Township uh to create it particularly it's important for lowincome people and for senior citizens who canly uh out of ability to get um mental health help I intentionally did not want to exceed my time and I give 30 seconds to the council to ask me questions um first thank you very much for um one you what you do your profession um is very important and I'm biased because my wife is a psychologist she's also a psychologist who's passed the boards to prescribe medicines so unfortunately however uh New Jersey unlike uh Illinois unlike New Mexico unlike Colorado does not allow psychologists yet who even have passed the same test that you had to take when you had to prescribe medicines does not allow that yet um so I'm very attuned to the issue of access and I appreciate your effort to provide access um to mental health because it is an issue uh she has a waiting list a mile long and those are people who could use treatment and so really applaud your uh efforts um wow and she just walked in so that's why I'm so on Q I will not give you a diagnosis don't worry yeah um but yeah so thank you for that we will look at that but I I applaud your efforts to provide and increase access to mental health care it's a it's a vital issue um and that we will look at that and consider that and if there's you know Partnerships that we can do um I'm I'm all for it so thank you and and I think now that we have your contact information maybe the County Health Department might be able to um play a role in this as well um so we desport a Township contracts with the county health department to provide services such as what you described and there might be a role to play there so we'll review it and and see if there's a fit if that helps I just would like to repeat it is not my just a good gesture for good Public Relation I mean and I would like to help people unfortunately I cannot do this uh full time during to some limitations but uh the part time I was able to help people oh well thank you thank you for your time yeah thank you very much does anyone else from the public wish to be heard on an item that is not on the agenda okay seeing uh no one we will move to the expenditures uh councilman Chella would uh could you please read the expenditures for April 9th 2024 yes uh I move that we approve expenditures in the amount of 3,380 $398 may I have a second please second okay all those in favor I I I I all right the expenditures for April 9th 2024 have been approved uh there's no introduction of an ordinance tonight however we do have uh two ordinances that are up for hearing uh will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 243 an ordinance of the township of Sparta amending section 12-8 housing code of the sparta Township Code okay and so we are now open just to public comment on this ordinance not so you're only listing to 2403 so if there's members of the public that wish to be heard on 2403 uh which is a an ordinance of the township of Sparta to amend section 128 housing code of the sparta Township Code okay see no one from the public wishing to be heard uh on 2403 I'm going to bring it back to council for discussions and comments on 243 are any members of the council wish to be heard about uh ordinance 2403 Jim just to clarify this is to bring us in to conform with the new regulations by the state yes exactly so I move that we approve ordinance 2403 as read okay I do want to address one thing I had I think um Mr H I think Technic has to be introduced in second before we can debate it um but that doesn't I have open for I have it back to council for discussion and comments okay I'm sorry yeah um before we move I think one question I had was I think it was Mr hookway raised it before which is um you know taking a look at at this housing ordinance I know we're trying to get compliant with the state what latitude do townships have if they wish to deviate from that whether to and and and that's more of a Tom Ryan question than anything else I mean the municipality does have some latitude however it would have to be done um you know to be consistent with the full body of the uh the document itself the full body of the ordinance um so depends on what changes that uh the township would want to make and so is the correct me if I'm wrong is the sort of legal issue is if you wish to deviate from it to the extent that you're inconsistent with the state statute and that inconsistency is material um you would be what's called preempted from doing that the state law would is that the legal issue that the state law governs and that a Township is preempted from trying to change it if it's a significant deviation is that yeah if it's a material deviation that is inconsistent with the um uh the the code AS presented by the state yes so it really would come down to a very fact specific analysis okay thank you anyone else on have any other comments okay may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 244 uh may I have a second 2403 2403 I'm sorry 2403 let's try this again may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 2403 yeah I made that motion okay and I called it the wrong thing so that's why we got a okay so I'll second okay and may I have a roll call vote councilman herur yes councilman Quinn yes councilman shello yes Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark yes all right so uh ordinance uh 24 43 has been adopted um we now move will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 244 an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 12 of the revised ordinances of the township of Sparta to prohibit the short-term rental of residential property okay we now are open to public comment on 2404 and so uh if you want to be heard on 2404 which is amending and supplementing chapter 12 of the revised ordinance of the township of Sparta prohibit the short-term rental of residential property and so you wish to be heard on this uh please approach the microphone also realize that you have uh a 5 minute time limit um and so While others are wishing to be heard please if you can stay within the 5 minutes and it doesn't mean you need to run out the clock um so with that said whoever wants to be heard on on 2404 please approach the microphone I'll break the ice uh Steven Giles GES um I live in at tril and I'm also serving On The Board of Trustees for Lake mohw uh so very interesting in the content of the audiance uh ordinance I really have a question around enforcement one of the things we struggle with quite a lot is enforcement of some of our policies and bylaws so I'm interested in the thoughts that you have around what I understand to be the two components of this which is effectively uh the prohibiting of short-term rental that being 28 days or less but the second piece which is the prohibiting of the advertising of uh said shortterm rentals so um what thoughts have you had about that and how how will this be enforced thank you okay any other question because what we'll do is try to answer your questions um and we don't do you have any other questions that you want just get them out now and then okay no I'm that that's good that that's fine got you and so I I think um Tom are there and have we built into the ordinance an enforcement mechanism and and if so what is that mechanism and how's it going to work yeah it's section uh 10- section 10-5 of the uh the proposed ordinance and it provides for the enforcement violations and penalties and it's uh to be enforced by the police department and under the current language the police department and the health department of the township of uh Sparta um and it identifies in that section the consequences of violation but yes it uh would it would involve enforcing both the the actual U short-term rental violation if there is one uh and the publication of uh short-term rentals that's inconsistent with the proposed ordinance yeah and and I saw that within there I guess my question is more the mechanics around that do I mean do you foresee the police department looking through Airbnb and VB looking for offenders do you foresee Neighbors um raising violation complaints and mechanisms for doing that type of how the mechanics of how that enforcement would happen and well I can answer it from a legal perspective which is any legal means through which information comes to the enforcement authorities they're going to act upon and um and cite violations if they find violations but as to the Practical who's going to be doing that on a day-to-day basis I leave that to the administration would the I noticed um there's not the you know a lot of towns have their code enforcement officer or are is um would that person do we have a code enforcement officer first we do we do would that person have the authority to we certainly can amend to include the sparta code enforcement officer Andor the construction official I think it's a terrible idea to have the police involved in this to put them in a position to start going through people's houses yeah I I I think um and that would be my preference is to have a code enforcement officer in zoning as opposed to the police do this now if we are at now the hearing stage as opposed to the introduction stage I think that'd be a a ministerial uh amendment I don't think it's a substantive Amendment so if we uh move to amend to include Sparta code enforcement officer Andor construction official I I feel that we can uh do that and still proceed on the vote this evening okay well along those lines um this isn't a housing ordinance right this is a um nuisance under nuisance laws right so this is somebody um being loud at night or piling up garbage or something like that right well it's considered Municipal Police Powers Municipal Police Powers right so under those would it be appropriate for a code enforcement officer to uh get involved in things that would be police Powers yes yes that that can be done and I would offer that I think it's goes beyond police Powers because in effect it's almost you're you're you're allowing a use that's not allowable and so that usually is a Code Enforcement zoning kind of issue and so I think it's not zoning but Zing they would they would be and a lot of towns for example Middletown their code enforcement officer is the one who does this in New Jersey City it's the same thing it's their I mean they're so big that they have their own short-term rental police but that's a different issue we're not we're not Jersey City yeah now I'm I'm familiar with Middletown as well and what they're doing but yeah just interesed because I mean I think I share the the councilman's concern with regards to the police enforcing some of this and and how that really is good and the mechanics of how that would work so um some consideration to that would be much appreciated okay thank you any other member of the public wishing to be heard I'll be Qui okay hi Shirley Miller 392 Westshore Trail I was just curious does this provide for um short-term rentals that are already operating within town does are they suddenly discontinued or how does that work once once the or the ordinance is approved and once it takes effect there is no grandfathering of uh of short-term rentals okay thank you good evening uh John Chapman 169 Alpine Trail my question really relates to paragraph four of 2404 in the section where you recognize that short-term rentals result in public nuisance noise complaints that's already covered under your ordinances and would be a police matter sanitation issues overcrowding illegal parking Etc there are certain ordinances already established in Sparta uh regulations covering these but they weren't written to address the specifics that I mentioned here which is the public nuisance and sanitation and overcrowding issues have you I I looked carefully through 243 to see if there was any any intent to bring a restriction in there but now I understand it's just to comply with New Jersey requirements so I wondered how on what part of the regulations that you already have ordinances that are enforcable would be used by the code enforcement officer because many of them relate to Sewer Septic limits bedroom limits Etc they they weren't really written for the issue of short-term rental yeah this proposed ordinance only applies to that single issue and that is um a short-term rental and the issue of short-term rental rental there are already other ordinances that go to uh public dis disturbance or other types of conduct that's addressed uh in the municipal code but this pertains only to um a short-term rental of of less than 28 days I understood thank you for that clarification I was talking about the overcrowding parts of it that there is there's nothing in the existing ordinance that would enable the code enforcement officer to address overcrowding for a short-term rental that I could see yeah this does not uh this does not address occupancy right so unfortunately it means that the as written it that the ordinance would not deal with the issues that are specified by the township as being consistent with short-term rental problems that was the point I was trying to make okay thank you yeah I I think that well occupancy Tom am I correct are there regulations in place dealing with occupany meaning if someone we in the code yeah yeah so if someone had a house that exceeded the allowable occupancy that would be a separate violation independent of whether it's a short-term rental or a residential property is that right correct okay okay I did go through those if you think there do negate any of the other correct Cod standards and the enforcement of those other standards but this particular ordinance is just directed at the understand at the short-term rental I understand that part I I was just trying to make sure that you had a vehicle that the code enforcement officer could enforce rather than relying upon the police to go in and say this been a complaint we absolutely do thank you thank you John hi I'm uh my name is James Gaddy g a d d y i don't know if I need to State anything else uh do you you don't have to give your street address but and Andover Road in Sparta okay um I'm I'm here today because fundamentally oppose this ordinance I oppose this ordinance because in a capitalist Society we're free to do what we want with the majority of our possessions there's a long history of people using short-term rentals as a way to raise Capital as a way to make improvements on our property and also as a way to find temporary housing ourselves when I moved to Sparta you can only imagine during covid that there was delays on every single closing uh I used a short-term rental uh as a way to give my family a roof over their head for the two and a half weeks until the closing of my house so I don't live on one of the trails uh clearly this is a Lake Mohawk issue and I would strongly encourage you to look at it as that and not an overall Sparta issue I live in a residence it's doc perona's old house it says and over on the mailing but it's actually Sparta I can have 40 animals in my backyard but yet I couldn't Airbnb my house on a weekend to maybe help pay for my kids summer camp or something like that so I think this is broad sweeping I think that we're really looking at a Lake Mohawk issue my sister lives on the lake I firmly support this for Lake Mohawk but they have the means to do this themselves and I think expanding it across the count across the uh Township is is really far-reaching um I also what there's like 7,500 property houses in Sparta 4,000 of those are in Lake Mohawk maybe it's time to look at this differently I'm considered residential even though there was a business on my property but I can't look at this any way other than somebody in Lake Mohawk would so I would just really encourage you to think more broadly about this and the impact that it has on workingclass people who maybe want to rent their house out for a week while they go away to make a little bit of money thank you thank you any other member of the public wishing to be heard clean up Jenny derk's ta into Sparta the um ordinance Dan excuse me does I don't see in the ordinance excuse me I don't see in the ordinance any discussion of noise or um disposal is it do miss it garbage disposal no this isn't a this isn't a a housing or right this is a under police protection code right and so there are other places in the ordinance as we mentioned earlier that deal with noise and garbage and occupancy this is just a very narrow U piece of the the limit of the number of days right I okay thank you for clarifying that because it sounded differently little a minute ago um at the last meeting the chief did come up and speak to the council about concerns that he had and understanding what they were going to be called on to do and that this ordinance is uh not something that they can do they can't intervene on behalf of the property owner the landlord who now be person who now becomes a landlord when somebody's in their house so if they have someone in their house that won't leave or someone in their house that destroyed property or is not held up there under the bargain um it from what the chief said I don't want to speak for him because he's not here but from what he said last last meeting that's not something they could do that's a civil matter but if there was something on the concern of the neighborhood whether it was noise or parking um then that would be something that they could be called on is that correct yes yes that's correct okay so this is this is this is a way to the only thing that this is doing is putting a limit on the number of days a home can be rented that's correct in a residential neighborhoods rented for less than 28 days right and so right now if we didn't do anything you wouldn't be allowed according to the previous code officer I haven't spoken with the current um you wouldn't be allowed to rent your home without being in violation of the rural residential land use zoning rules in fact the previous zoning officer not the current again I can't speak for what is actual uh currently but that loaning that zoning officer went to Lake Mohawk Country Club and said you're in violation of residential of the zoning rules here in the township because you're allowing short-term rentals and that is in violation of the residential the rural residential zones and so that's how this whole thing from my understanding got started or or at least one of the things that got this started and so if we did nothing we still would be in a position where renting your home out in a residential Zone would not be allowed I think if we did nothing you still can't be loud you still can't over occupy the house and all those other nuisance we just talked about before again this very narrow lease says that um when you do rent out your house it must be for at least 28 days that's the only slice that this thing is addressing right whereas before the current the current you can read it for 28 minutes under the current conditions well there's but that's that's the question that we had last time that I was up at the microphone for a while no is I'm sorry can we does it currently allow or is it just too vague in our in our uh zoning use and I understand this isn't zoning but in zoning there is a specific definition of rural res itial zones which Encompass about 70% of the town and that is that it's anticipated not to be Josh we talked about this a few years ago and we had the issues that were being presented by residents who were concerned about businesses being in their single family residential neighborhoods um with the Sober Living homes and at that time you also saw that those that was not a proper use of a home in a residential neighborhood and it was troubling to not know for a family who was in the house next door and this may have come uh Tom are you aware of any Court decision uh where the court was asked to address the following issue whether the short-term rental of a property located in a residential zone is considered a commercial use or at least a nonresidential use I I not come across any decision that that determines that uh renting your home constitutes a commercial use and and so would the a zoning officer who is attempting to enforce uh an ordinance saying that you are using this as a commercial use in a residential Zone um without any Court Authority um does that pose any type of uh Le uh legal risk well I'm I'm not aware of that ever having been done in Sparta Township to my knowledge so I I don't know uh what enforcement officer is being referred to here and I I I don't know what the outcome was if there was any effort to enforce such a standard but yeah I'd be concerned about the enforceability of that citation now under now that we you know assuming this passes and if a um a zoning officer had Reasonable Suspicion to believe that a house was operating a short-term rental less than 28 days would they have Authority Under This ordinance to enforce it well well yes because the the New Jersey state legislature adopted a statute that uh that now authorizes municipalities to regulate what they defined as shortterm term rentals uh you know the statute allows for regulation of uh rentals under 175 consecutive days so that type of Regulation is permissible under the New Jersey state statute okay thank you I think you're we have more public comment good evening everyone how are you hi good I'm Tammy horfield um president of the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce the economic development partnership and the tourism destination marketing Organization for Sussex County and I'm here tonight to ask you to look at a few things maybe a little bit differently or actually maybe not differently but included in your ordinance um I had um spoken before and mentioned that I have some ordinances from other towns I have them with me this evening um if I leave them with roxan or it'll give you a chance to look at some things that are in those ordinances that you might look to to insert in your your ordinance as well um I know that many of you um on the Town Council have already kind of made your decisions in regard to um limiting the um short-term rentals in the rural residential areas of your town if they are less than 28 days I did a little research just for your information and there are currently 12 airbnbs in Sparta most of them are in like Mohawk and one is listed actually as a mansion so just so you're a little aware of some of the what's out there of course there's vbo and there are some who maybe aren't listed at all on those properties but understanding um that I do hope however that you will um consider oh not closing the door on this ordinance and what I mean by that is considering where there might be some other opportunities in Sparta for short-term rentals maybe not as dense and not not so much in the dense areas but in areas where there's mixed use um and also our wedding venues wedding venues are critical to us in this County and they bring a lot of visitors to our area a lot of new people and some new homeowners as well understanding your position I'm asking you to consider short-term rentals in those areas that already have commercial businesses surrounding them or in that area or where wedding venues are located it's critical for us to have some kind of lodging here in Sussex County as as you're aware Sussex County including Sparta is limited in lodging a lodging options we have a couple of high-end hotels a couple of motels some camping and only a couple active bed and breakfasts with the wedding industry growing here in Sussex County of which you have at least three venues and maybe some smaller ones as well and many more visitors on our Trails including here in Sparta and many outdoor activities Sussex County needs to find ways to provide lodging opportunities to accommodate our guests and to support our local businesses who are providing goods and services to them in addition if Sparta is to become a film ready Community you will need to provide some kind of lodging opportunity close enough to the filming area to make it attractive and you will need to rely on other communities to provide the same for you as well I strongly believe there are advantages to having some short-term rentals in your town especially in those areas where you are already receiving visitors incidentally uh Studies have been found that individuals who use short-term rentals and hotels when traveling about 60% prefer short-term rentals short-term rentals can boost your municipality's appeal to guests or potential homeowners visiting your town if you provide lodging opportunities overnight stays have proven to result in increased spending with your local businesses including dining establishments coffee shops ice cream shops Recreation areas retail stores your museums and many other attractions and services close to these short-term rentals in closing short-term vacation rentals can bring a positive economic impact to your town with additional income from tax revenues at the same time short-term vacation rental guests can benefit from the opportunity in terms of economic benefit from guests as I have said with spending their money here in your town I ask you to consider short-term rentals in your mixed use and wedding venue areas with the appropriate ordinance and regulations in place I'm confident then Sparta can reap the benefit of all of that I do have with me tonight some of those ordinances I will leave them I guess I'll leave them with you roxan and also one of the big things that were just talked about here is compliance I think some of that language will be in some of those ordinances that might help with some of that we want safety we want it to be clean we don't want a lot of noise but there some of that is in there and I hope that will help you when you make your decisions so thank you for having me I appreciate that and for really taking a good look at this thanks thank you Tammy app it um Tom uh what is the potential risk of having carved out zones where one zone uh kind of What U Miss horfield said would allow short-term rentals but other zones would not is there any type of risk that the township runs and sort of carving out certain zones that would be more conducive to short-term rentals this only says residential and they're in there appes to residential only right yeah no no this would this ordinance would apply across the board throughout the the uh the municipality so it prohibits it prohibits short-term uh rentals throughout the municipality uh in terms of um the other ordinances that uh that Tammy is going to provide we'll certainly take a look at that I have not yet seen um uh a uh ordinance that takes a zoning View of enforcement of of uh restrictions on short-term rentals um again the the approach that has been enforced by the courts have really gone under the concept of Municipal Police Powers um which really does not give you that flexibility uh in terms of isolating an industry or isolating a a neighborhood or an area uh or characteristics such as what we're just referenced so we're happy to take a look at them um and certainly anything that's adopted this evening can ultimately be um be amended with subsequent action by the uh the council um but at at the moment I'm I'm uh I have concerns about um ordinances that follow a land use restrictive approach to short-term rentals and okay and that concern is based on using zoning as a mechanism as opposed to the police Powers correct as opposed to the Municipal Police Powers okay and um my understanding one concern with trying to do this on a sort of Zone by Zone basis um is there potential risk that someone who lives in a residential Zone uh who is not allowed to short-term rental would challenge saying that well you're allowing a short-term rental for someone who lives in a mixed Zone how come I don't have the right to do that I if if the mix Zone has the right and I don't have the right and I live in a residential Zone you're being somewhat arbitrary and well that's always the concern is you know if a uh an ordinance is arbitrary and capricious or the enforcement of the uh the standards are arbitrary and capricious so yeah that's that's always uh that's always a risk I think I don't think you could argue that that's arbitrary I think there are zones for a reason M but our zones do not present I mean unless we made changes to our our local land use code uh you know they do not spell out short-term rentals I agree but clearly in a mixed Zone you expect businesses you expect people in and out that don't live there where you wouldn't in a in a only residential neighborhood right I don't think it's arbitrary I think you would argue that they are different for a reason well along those lines in a mixed Zone a a structure built for a and and we've defined it as a single family detached dwelling is meant for a house um I couldn't even if I were in a mixed Zone if I had a house I couldn't run a convenience store out of that uh out of that house uh if that house were um were not designed for a convenience store is that I mean I would I would argue that's all of Main Street they're all houses and they're all businesses and they're all too right but those businesses that are formally houses have been constructed in such a way to allow for commercial traffic right business that moved in there did that right sure because it's now now it's functioning as a business it's not functioning as a house doesn't have the uh the as a business you have to accommodate uh traffic um you have to have um um clearly marked uh it's got to be wheelchair accessible or in some cases it's it's it's designed to function as a business we have a whole um planning board and uh construction to office to make sure that when when you set up a business that it's that it's set up accordingly and you set up a business differently than you set up a a residential dwelling um so it might have started out as a house but it's now uh if it's operating as a commercial business it's a commercial business but what does that have to do with the Zone in the area that that it's in I'm not so I'm not so concerned about the zone so I think I'll acest to you that if you're in a commercial if if you're mixed use Zone um you would have houses in proximity to commercial businesses but um for a structure I think a structure would operate differently as a as a as a residence versus a commercial unit and maybe I'm answering a question that you didn't ask um but no I I mean My overall arching point is that I just think that this is this is too broad and doesn't take into consideration that there are differences in different areas of town areas where it might work and it it might benefit the town and areas where it wouldn't benefit certain neighborhoods and it it be a problem but you know broad sweeping changes like this are the problem with a lot of government policies that don't take the time and the consideration for all the details and this affects you know people a lot of people in the town clearly this room is full so there's a lot of people being impacted and I think it warrants taking the time to look at it more clearly and maybe taking baby steps there's PL plenty of towns that have great regulations that are doing this at a doing this well and and are very happy with the policies that they have that aren't this overarching and i' I'd rather us take the time to look at those towns and and steal what other towns have done well rather than just make it easy and blanket drop a policy are Tom are you aware of a town that does it on a Zone by Zone basis I know we we ra I raised that issue with you which is exactly that point which is there are certain certain zones within Sparta where it's reasonably expected that if you live in a commercial area it's residential and Commercial it's not it should not be um it should not surprise you that there would be commercial use there and so do you know of any towns that have tried to do this on a sort of land use Zone by Zone basis as opposed to overarching I don't okay I don't know of any towns in the county but there are plenty of of towns and cities that have done that across the country some have pulled them back some have have made them more restrictive but they started doing certain areas that they wanted to restricted well again you know again if we have looked into this and we've tried to identify those those communities in New Jersey under the New Jersey uh statutes um and we just have not identified one so if there is one that you do come across we certainly can take a look at it one of the ordinances that I have I believe there is they don't specifically call it zones they may they call it something else but I like I said I'll share I just received them this week from many of the towns it took forever to get them so I haven't had a chance to really go through them as as um as much as I'd like but I will share them with you and you can thank you so I have to say too I why don't we finish the I'm sorry would you mind if we have any other public and then kick it back to us is that okay yeah sorry we kind of took over I sorry about that yeah hi good evening so my name is Edison avilas I am a chamber of commer member uh Chamber of Commerce member and I've been a member for the past uh how many years since 2018 also in the travel and Tourism Committee group members that we join in to talk about travel and tourism but I also own a business called trate travels I own six short-term rental properties in csex County uh monu Township is one of those townships in suss County that did carve out not by zone or you could consider it as a zoning where they did not initially allow the country club to do or conduct short-term rentals in that location uh as recent as September they did allow a new ordinance to uh provide the allowance of five short-term rals in the country club uh the president or then president of the country club and the members of the board of the country club in monu High Point Country Club are in support and allow short-term rental uh so far um I think we only have probably 10 short-term rentals in monu Township out of the whole uh Township area um by experience owning properties that are short-term rentals and long-term rentals I will tell you that you can't just see them as a business it's not conducive to the overall economy of a Township or the county as a whole uh I understand a lot of people have this as a commercial as a business but it really is not it uh if you want a bank or start limiting short-term rentals and more than likely you're going to have people also complain about long-term tenants or long-term rentals and that could potentially be an issue you can say that's also discriminating because then you're discriminating people that are in need as one of the people here said need of short-term accommodations um in my experience we have not had parties we have not had problems our court enforcement officer in mongu Township takes care of anything that needs to be done with regards to any complaints even the faulty ones because believe it or not they our neighbors that will make things up to sabotage other people's well-being um and but with that being said uh if you are a good manager of your property whether you're a long-term rental landlord just as a short-term rental landlord you should be able to manage it properly without any issues we've been able to do it as myself and my family that does this and again we have no issues we have security cameras ring cameras smoke uh detectors we have uh detectors inside devices that monitor occupancy or the amount of noise levels so even if someone is called on the police by fault you know a faulty complaint there's proof if they was really legit or not if there was a noise complaint or not nuisance wise or not a lot of these ordinances are already in place in a lot of our townships that govern and help to keep the peace for neighbors and everyone with regards to nuisance and noise and everything else but at the same time um you know obviously as managers and owners of our property we're the ones responsible now one way or one suggestion would be is if you are to permit this provide the license or the permit and let it go and see how it goes basically what it would be is you would see if these owners or managers are doing their job if you don't have any complaints if you don't have any problems if they are problems three strikes you're out you would you know revoke their license just like with anything a doctor's license or any type of license if they're not doing their job whether a landlord as an owner then that's one way to do it I don't agree with the total Banning of short-term rentals or any type of property rights because I consider it as a property right I think that's an infringement of property rights I do agree that the county and the township will benefit from this economically speaking um you know to my surprise if I can be very honest with you I was very surprised of your position on this as SP Sparta Township because other townships in the county whether whether Vernon or monteu and all these other and even Jefferson though that's another County but regardless of that they've been more open-minded to this and I would have thought that as SP of Township you know they would lead the way to kind of be that influential Township that you are to be able to allow this I was invited in 2020 to and over Township to talk uh by then uh Mayor Michael lens saac in 2020 and I spoke in front of the board cuz they were still trying to figure out how to support and allow this they too realize the importance of of short-term rentals we don't have accommodations uh places for people that could stay in whether airbnbs or hotels or whatever we need it in the county and in the township areas and this is one way to satisfy that need um in my experience it's been how many years that we've been doing short-term rentals in a county and we've accommodated many people people that needed a place to stay whether because they're you know their elderly parents are visiting they need a place of their own for a week or a weekend or they're visiting the area these are not people renting a campground or anything where people might think they're maybe of aert class thank I think I apologize but I'm required to enforce our five minute or fine I would appreciate you all consider this that it would be beneficial to the township thank you thank you hi Beth brck North Shore I wasn't going to say anything but um there were a couple of misstatements made tonight first of all Lake Mohawk does not have 4 th000 residents or members it's significantly less than that also what we have to look at and I know you guys have heard me say this before we have heard multiple times from all five council members that there's a housing issue for Lake Mohawk for certain a certain demographic in Sparta you've heard me complain or point out that we are looking at a possible four-story apartment building because of the housing shortage we have to consider that we have to look at new families that want to move into Sparta we also have to look at the fact that I think the gentleman said there was like 12 or somebody said 12 roughly in spart I forget who it was but you can't look at 12 or 15 homeowners that have airbnbs and prioritize them over the rest of the town and the homeowners the people that are putting in how much money and pay taxes to the town and are investing in the property sending their kids there you know raising their families here could you guys be quiet please I was respectful to you I'd expect the same back so you have to look at that we also patronize the building the businesses here so we do that also if you're looking at some of the rentals that were brought up specifically to Lake mwk I know it is not just a Lake Mohawk problem there's I think 20 lakes and Lake communities in Sparta you're exposed in the members of those communities to a great big liability problem you have people that are taking the boats out not just in Lake Mohawk but in senica Lake and some of the others they're taking the boats out they're exposing the homeowners and the local communities to a liability there you've got people that are saying okay well gee I can't get into Tomahawk Lake so now I'm going to go and I'm going to use this Lake but it's a private Lake why are the residents the people that pay taxes and live here and some some of us have been here for over 40 years why are we now being told well gee these guys want to come and they want to do this and they're going to do whatever they want and we have to be here to pick up the pieces let's look at the bed and breakfast let's look at the empty gas station that's on the corner by the post office use that for something else let's work with the owner of the brick house and see if we can Rectify whatever issue shut them down and and stop them from using their business there's opportunities there are people that want to come in and address the lack of places in Sparta to stay but instead we're focusing on 10 12 15 people that have airbnbs and say okay well you know let's them have them let's have them come in and do whatever they want let's look at a solution for the entire town not just a handful of people at the expense of the entire Township thank you hi I'm a landlord in Sparta just state your name and address for the record thank you Mary 19 e Shore Trail um I've had longterm tenants for the past year so this is not a short-term rental um I am registered as a landlord and I'm currently going through the process of a permitting land use with Sparta to be become a short-term rental I was surprised at what a lengthy application process it was and I've engaged a lawyer to help me through it because it was you know an 85 page application with a with quite a lot of requirements um I do want to say that I've done absolutely everything to be above board I've registered as a landlord I pay an additional fee to like Mohawk Country Club I pay for additional Insurance to allow for short-term rentals my house has been vac since December and I'd like to be able to rent it in the future I think that um we all know that circumstances in life change where when I purchased the house I was in a very different life circumstance than I am today and I don't want to get rid of it and my I'm hoping that I can return to it um I think also that if you look at all of the guests you know for the last year it was all of 2023 it was a long-term rental who was someone in a town nearby who lost their to a house fire and needed a place to stay while their house was being rebuilt they really did need a short-term rental most of my other guests have been usually around six weeks it's usually grandparents who are coming to visit their their new grandkids for an extended period of time I had a film they weren't shooting in the house but the actress and her mom Mom needed to stay for about six weeks while they were filming nearby and that was a a bigger um New Jersey Film Production and a part of the tax credit and um that's primarily the kind of and you know every so often and you know two years ago I was having like a lot of weddings and things like that it's I think what everyone needs to realize I'm still following all the rules I don't allow more than four guests in my house it's a two-bedroom house that is the rules of accommodation um everyone needs to be registered in advance no parties are allowed that's also an Airbnb rule no events of any kind there's a lot of rules in place it's not that anyone is doing whatever they want they still have to follow the rules and what I would recommend is just a permitting process that keeps it safe and in check for everyone and I'm all for that I want to do the right thing but I also do want to continue renting this house in this way and to be able to return to it thank you just one question for you um of the shortterm rentals that you've done uh if you could break that down uh on percentages how many of them are more than 28 days and how many are less than 28 days I don't have best estimate sure I don't have the exact numbers but I would say more than 50% are more than more than 28 days right now so half your rentals are are 2 days or more iess actually maybe I should clarify is it per rental or if you averaged all the rentals out over like you know if you have a year-long rental and a weekl long rental just based on the rental say the majority of people who decide to rent your property do so uh for 28 days or more or do the majority do it for 28 days or less I would say about 5050 okay so yeah um just so you know that that that under this ordinance if if you intend to rent your property for 28 days or more you're allowed to do so um so you would still be allowed to do so uh for 20 for those people who are interested in your property for 28 days or more so any else Mark before you go do you want to speak because you've been sitting back there so patiently sry I didn't sit yeah that's all right sorry Mar he was waiting that's right uh Perry Bon is uh for um I have a business in a an airb being also have a business in town and my business um actually needs uh places to stay uh we try to make sure people you know as far as safety and things like that we want to keep them in the Community they're um my the days that they're occupied of the house it's it's like 60 to 90 days if I went over a year that's how many people were in my house that many days that's it there's 360 days in a year so most of the time this house is empty and that means I could have a a person here that's a yearly and he's having I'm having problems with him you can have a bigger issue and this the house I did buy we did have bigger issues and that was one of the reasons why we had to change things around the guy we had the police there every other weekend I even got the police reports and I even talk to the police afterwards they're like no we're never there anymore because the house is empty half the more than half the time it's really only occupied 10 to 15% of a year so it's I don't know what the problem is you could have a personal year round and they're making problem the house next to it is falling apart the town couldn't do anything about it and it was just terrible that the the situation was terrible I have to knock the house down they're asking me today if I'm I'm trying to it's taking me two months to get a permit to knock it down I'm going to I asked them today well you they want to know if I'm going to rebuild it I'm like it depends on this meeting really does like why would I put another million and a half dollars into a house make it the state of the Y house for for what I'm not GNA you know I'm going to put another problem person in there I had a problem person in there my I could control Airbnb people because there's so many rules and regulations it's through it's more regulations than you guys and they we we could I have a business in town I want my this town to be the best I mean when I came here 10 years ago the wedding calls nobody was put money into wedding calls now everybody's redoing the wedding calls there was an article about me putting making such as County better with for uh wedding huls and this town I mean this county is the highest for uh wedding because everybody gets married at the you the wedding calls now so they're always going to town hall they're paying the fees and things like that so there's numerous things things why we want this and I'm not trying to be selfish or anything like that hey I have a business but I chose this town and it was a very good town I mean I bought another place too I mean as far as a wedding call and everybody it's better for everybody that we have places for these people to stay um I I really want to know how many complaints do you have like do you go did you go to the police department and see how many complaints were against airb and bees or I'm sure there's more complaints about other companies cuz I went I went to the police department and there was no before there was now there's none and I owned it for almost two years now and there was there was police there every weekend and now there's no police there so do you have anything documented on that I don't know if you do or not um support local businesses laundry I have a girl that oversees the Airbnb she's a single mom she'll be hurt if this if this thing goes away you know and then I can't put a person in there for a year and the guy's in trouble how am I going to get him out I'll never get the guy out so that's going to be a problem um we support everything spotter does I even made a website or just things are do in Sparta and in susus county and it's really popular and people like it I don't have any negatives of where I am you know like it says I don't know if it's a like Mo I'm not saying it's a lake Mok issue or whatever but it's up to you but I don't know it seems like you're using one area to for you know just to centralize in that one area it's not the right thing or it's not for the most of the people it's not only 12 people you're affecting I'm sure there's more people than that but those 12 people I mean bring business into the company now I I'm not going to spend a million and a half dollars on another house and it's going to be all local businesses I use plus I'm making I probably have one of the nicest houses in sparter it's a state-of-the-art house this thing is beautiful it was a piece of garbage before and the town couldn't do anything about it I made it so much nicer and the neighbors are happy I brought their values up I can't see how this is a negative I just it just I can't believe it you know um up to date code state of art I mean I don't know I don't know what else to say I just think it's ridiculous that you could even go this way then be the first meeting I thought you guys were going to listen to us and then I it's like hopefully you guys didn't make up your mind already you know and I'm involved in the Chamber of Commerce and things like that so I want this town and this County to do well and like it says you're this town is really known for weddings I'm sure I don't know if you know that or not but this is a Premiere people come here from all over the place they don't know anything about susex County until they get here and they're going to all the local restaurants and looking using all the local vendors and things like that so I know I just hope you reconsider it and maybe make modifications and listen to Tammy and look at some other order you know other towns that have things that you could kind of you know so you're not as strict for just one group thank you all right thank you thank you hi Mark Scott n p Parkway I want to keep Spart a place that we can have weddings I don't think people are going to come here for weddings when there's uh 54 ft truck coming every 37 seconds 247 365 but that's besides the point um I have a home in a resort area um where there are 800 short-term rentals allow in the town in different sectors and there are just as Neil was mentioning there are different parts of the town where which are more accommodating for short-term rentals allowing one of the big issues in that town is that allowing short-term rentals reduces the housing stock for long-term renters people that work there that live that want to live there that want to put their kids in school in that county and in that town that that housing stuff is reduced one of the other great things about but one one of the big things about having a short-term rental in that town and I have a short-term rental in this town is that 30% of the of the revenue goes to tax for the town and I would think that I read the ordinance I didn't see anything about any lodging taxes or anything for Sparta and Summit County Colorado 7% goes to the town for the Accommodations Tax sales and use taxes 5.6% the County taxes 8% The Summit County Improvement Authority gets 7.5% the Sumit County Housing Authority gets 1 and a half% this this is a tremendous tax opportunity for the town of Sparta so if you do pass a shortterm rental ordinance I think you should consider taxing the uh Revenue thank you thank you good evening Joanne Skelly um sport New Jersey I just want to let you know it's not a Lake Mohawk problem I live on a lake a local Lake and the reason I found out about the Airbnb is because 8 to 10 adult men are down in our beach using our canoes no one knew about this I have 10 grandchildren five or under 12 um I don't want strangers coming in I'm 70 my husband's 78 and we have enough problems with Tom Hawk during the summer without all these airbnbs and right now there might be 12 I believe there's more these owners don't live in Sussex County they don't live anywhere near Sussex County they New York they Bergen County they don't care what's going on and they all say there's rules and there's regulations yes there is but they're always broken I just came back from a Caribbean trip um it's a small exclusive Island they have problems with Airbnb so there's problems everywhere and it's not going to stop it's only going to get worse if we allow these to go on and I think that you should pass it I urge you to pass it tonight and maybe look into mixed use that might be okay but residential use is no business allowed and there should be any airbnbs 28 days or more in a residential area but I do think maybe mixed use would be a good thing um and they talk about hotels there's 15 minutes Newton hotels Rockway many hotels my son got married in a a venue here in Florida um and he had a bus that went to um one of the ones in Rocka and I know no Hotel wants to come here I think you they've been courted by fared before and I don't believe airb vs are the answer and I they do take away long-term rentals and I think they should be banned the residential but I'm all for you passing this tonight and not having them because I don't need strangers and there has been incidents in town and many incidents out of town but thank you for coming this far I appreciate it thank you thank you thank you you hi Charlie Miller again West sh Trail I just want to make one comment if you do decide to relook at this in some way um for or against I would highly recommend that you look into a policy and I think the lady before me um alluded to it on not allowing absentee ownership and I do know that there are cities and towns that have not permitted that if they have allowed even in a mixed use Zone um I I can tell you I've and I know I wrote a letter actually to the council quite a while ago I have a daughter that lives in Nashville I followed the Airbnb Story down there very closely that is one of the new ordinances that they put in was not to allow absentee ownership I spent a lot of time in Starbucks working many Airbnb owners seem to spend a lot of time working in Starbucks as well so I hear a lot of conversations um so just something to consider if you do revisit it thank you hi everyone my name is Bianca um I am a homeowner in Sparta in the Lake Mohawk Community I also grew up in Sparta so there are locals as well who do own short-term mentals here um and this is my second time speaking I do want to touch on a few points so just bear with me um Lake Mohawk was built in the 1920s as a second summer home community so a lot of you guys forget to remember that that that's where that Community was built as second homes most of those homeowners are absente owners you can hear me so calm down um the only bread and breakfast that Sparta did have the building went into foreclosure on Sparta half and I think a lot of people here are closed-minded and don't see the bigger picture um and I do think it's up to us and the council like to support you know um to support the community um so I'm here to uh express my concerns regarding the proposed ordinance that would restrict short-term rentals to a minimum of 28 days and propose a more balanced approach um firstly I understand the need to address issues such as public nuisance noise complaints sanitation concerns however um an outright ban or the 28 day um ordinance um may not be most effective solution um I propose regulating the existing short-term rental properties in our Township while implementing measures to address these concerns um according to the sparta Township website there are a total of 7,423 housing units in our community currently there's only about 12 13 maybe 15 um of those that are short-term rentals um this indicates that short-term rentals are not a widespread problem in our Township and do not warrant an extreme measure like a ban or the 28 day term like you guys are talking um rather they should be regulated to ensure that they operate responsibly um as short-term rental hosts we have the ability to Monitor and select the guests who stay in our homes I think Edison mentioned like long-term landlord or short-term landlord it's up to you to manage who comes into your house um platforms like Airbnb provide us with a review system allowing us to vet potential guests based on their previous ratings and reviews from other hosts um my husband and I we only allow guests to have great reviews if they don't we don't accept them to stay at our property um this ensures that we have respectful individuals in our properties all times um additionally Airbnb is proactive in protecting host and their homes they offer 24-hour support and have policies in place to address any issues that may arise during guest day uh this proactive approach reduces the need to involve local authorities and help maintain Integrity in our community in addition I would also like to highlight um the use of innovative technology like Edison mention um one is called minu device and it's um commonly used in short rentals um and it detects noise and crowding in the property sending homeowners a direct alert when certain levels have been reached this helps keep our Airbnb safe and our neighbors Happy by preventing parties damages and complaints um the device also monitors outdoor spaces as well as inside the home um again this all alleviates the need to call local authorities or um bothering your neighbors and you could immediately rectify the situation before yourself without involving the police um more short-term rentals host like myself like myself collect occupancy taxes on each reservation this occupancy tax then gets sent to the local government in Sparta it's about 10% I think right under 10% um say we have about say we each make about 65,000 a year in our income 10% of that um over 15 short-term rentals that's almost $100,000 in additional revenue generated for our town through occupancy taxes alone this sum directly supports essential services and infrastructure in our community in conclusion I urge the council to consider the economic benefits that short-term rentals bring to our community instead of implementing drastic measures let's work together to find balanced solutions that address concerns while preserving serving the valuable source of revenue for our town thank you can I interrupt real quick um do we have a mechanism for collecting taxes for short-term rentals no there's no statutory scheme that's i n that I know of I mean unless it comes in through the inl of tax that comes in but that's what I thought thank you they're not or we don't get the taxes they colle they might collect it but spart doesn't get it that's correct I understand but right now we have no means of collection in that thank you go ahead oh um Kathy evanow and scutters Road um my question is regarding the ordinance in itself the the verbiage um section 10.2 talks about prohibited uses and it states it shall be unlawful for an owner or occupant of a dwelling um and it continues of course but the word occupant is where my focus is tonight in previous discussions of this ordinance um with Mr Ryan with uh Chief mccarrick who is here previously um it was stated that the at least I understood it to be stated that the occupants wouldn't fall on any sort of um um violation or um punishment this section seems to now include the occupant being in violation can you speak to that was there an an adjustment or um okay so that's my first question and then regarding section 10.5 regarding the enforcement and violation section it goes on and section B to say any person who violates um so again that to me speaks to both the owner and the occupant again um and then my the the Crux of my question is really if I'm an occupant what is the violation What is the um punishment because in letter B it mentions chapter 1 section 1.5 and that doesn't seem to be a part of this ordinance so as a [Music] consumer uh of these Services I would like to understand to what penalty I would receive if I was unaware of this ordinance and had rented in a short-term manner that is inconsistent with this ordinance what punishment or penalty would I expect based on the way this ordinance is written I I'm looking at what you're referring to and I I don't believe there are any penalties imposed on on someone who is renting a shortterm rental so maybe that's my interpretation finish okay if he referred to it shall be unlawful for an owner or occupant of a dwelling unit to receive or obtain consideration so in other words if there was an owner who had a property manager who was receiving compensation for a short-term rental I mean that person would be in violation of that provision but if you are a guest it does not apply to someone who's paying to stay there okay the word occupant is my focus there because when I read that I feel like the individual who would be renting would be the occupant of the dwelling during that rental period is that correct I assume it's also possible that if I rent something for a year I can turn around and sublet a room in my house for a couple days and so would be an occupant but also a receiving compensation for that sure but that's not my question it's really focused on the occupation meaning the person renting my my question is is that my is my interpretation of the word occupant in this section meaning the one who the one who is renting if they're receiving comp only consider occupant is receiving compensation not not paying the compensation but receiving receiving or obtain consideration for the rent so I guess the wording is just unclear to me so thank you for clarifying that you know the the rentee would not um receive any penalty um and then in terms of the penalty itself what is chapter 1 section 1.5 that's referenced here I'm sorry where you what are you so section one 10-5 letter B it calls out um any person who violates or neglects to comply with any provisions um and goes on to reference uh chapter 1 section 1.5 yes that refers to uh fines that can be imposed that are set forth within the the sporta municipal code okay those are a a schedule of fines is that right correct yep yeah okay it would maybe be helpful to clarify that what this is I think that's all I have thank you you just say your name and where you live thank Charles Log Cabin Terrace Sparta mayor council um my wife and I run a short-term rental we all want the best for Sparta we want the best ratables we want to have quality homes we want to have everything to be organized run correctly play by the rules this um situation here there's an untapped area that you guys are not receiving the taxes that we collect Airbnb collects the taxes on our guest behalf this could be used to utilize proper uh maintenance to the roadway there's like was stated before it's a fact that our place is rented maybe 65 days a year so most of the time it's either myself my wife going up there to do maintenance around the house or it's empty so there's the use of extra garbage or extra sanitation or septic is not really a truthful situation the fact is that we keep the house very clean and very neat and we don't want parties and we don't want any loud noises and we state that right off right away that's not what we want we want quality people people that are coming from memorials people that are coming for for weddings people that are coming for funerals very short term guest sometimes flying in from Colorado to have a funeral that's unexpected they need something for a few days we want quality dwellings we want it's part of to have a robust Community a robust ta B tax base we also have local uh businesses that are in Andover and Newton and Sparta that contact Airbnb and they send in people from overseas that come and they're mostly in Andover or they're at Thor Labs the entire day they come they crash they grabb a pizza and they're back at Thor Labs so it's not like they're looking to have a big party and they're going to um be in you know have this crazy time we don't want a crazy time either we want to be able to use our place want to be respectful of the community want you guys to make your tax revenues we want to have ratables coming into the township and we want to have a safe environment for the people that come and stay whether it's 2 days 3 days or 28 days I don't think it should be restricted upon you know this section of town and that section of town that's going to open up a lawsuit for sure not for me just a general sweeping kind of like this section over here can do it but this section cannot do it that's not very of a wise situation so um the fact is that we want quality tenants we want quality people and we want to have a nice robust Community where ratables are coming in people are investing in and there's probably honestly there's probably more than 14 homes that are in disrepair in the township if the argument is that there's non dwellings for people to live in then there's got to be about 10 or 12 or 15 homes around the town that are dilapidated that are shot that haven't lived in a number of years how about we get those to be fixed up local contractors to build them and renovate them and those could be on the market and be sold so people could bring their families here and spend even more money so I think it's a it's a wise situation it was stated many times before that the things that Airbnb and vbo do in order to have a safe environment without parties and without a problem so I you know I just I thank you for hearing me out and uh I hope this the right decision is made thank you any member of the public uh still wishing to be heard on uh ordinance uh 2404 good evening I'm Joan Ferman 336 Westshore Trail I've been listening a lot to this and I really didn't intend to say anything but there was a lot of talk about weddings and uh we do have weddings and we do and we want to continue them my daughter was married at Lake Mohawk Country Club but you know what we didn't have a problem we took a shuttle bus and we went to one of the other hotels they were very accommodating um but if there is a need for something like that rather than having it scattered all over town where we have absolutely no control I think we need to take a longer term approach to this and begin to look at as what Beth was saying um possibility of um developing some more ins or looking at the gas station or things where it can be in a controlled environment and we know what's going on and where people are staying and I think that's the biggest concern of the citizens uh of Sparta thank you thank you if there's no one else from the public wishing to be heard I will uh take it back uh to council um it may make sense to uh we have Mr councilman blued is participating by phone so I will uh if it's all right with my fellow Council people I will go to him first um councilman blumetti do you wish to be heard on ordinance 2404 yeah thanks mayor um just just a few comments I really appreciate all the perspectives from the public it's it's extremely valuable you know it's um obviously short-term rentals provide different benefits to the town you know I I agree on that um I'm not certain of what the scale is and we don't really have the data to show that yet about you know for instance how many short-term rental lights were there in 2022 or 2023 in Sparta and the other side of the course is there you know there's I've heard from a lot of people about risks and potential negative impacts on the residential character and quality of life in neighborhoods you know there was mentioned a few times about long-term rentals and there there's studies that show that the availability and affordability of long-term rentals are impacted by having short-term rentals um you know could it affect the desirability of future inss or bnbs to come here you know it might so um I'm trying to lay this all out and you know it goes back to you know is is there a way I think Mr Ryan answered this before to have this apply only to residential zones versus multi-use zones where it's not solely residential and I think that's that's kind of where my my my desire ideal desire would be there is is not to have it broad uh I think what I heard though is that doing it by a land used approach or a zoning approach versus the police municipal Powers approach if you use land use there's there could be some enforcement challenges it could be subjective um I don't know I mean there there is a master plan that is is is being looked at and it's going to be worked on in the near future is there an opportunity there for the master plan subcommittee and that group to explore this more on a zoning area um it doesn't help us in the short term though so um just kind of sharing my perspective uh no specific questions but you know I kind of hear both sides of this and I I hear that the needs are there thanks thank you councilman buetti and then I'll start to my far left uh councilwoman Quinn do you wish to be heard on this Ordinance do you I think she missed oh okay Julie killan 338 Westshore Trail I moved to Sparta years ago I choose to stay here because I'm in a community that's safe and doesn't allow short-term rentals or people coming in and out I think you need to really hear the homeowners and protect us I don't think it's fair I pay a lot of money a lot of money in taxes to live in a residential area I didn't buy in a commercial area I don't want to live in a commercial area and I think a lot of us feel the same way so I hope you take that into consideration thank [Applause] you okay thank you so first and foremost uh thank you to everyone who came out and thank you to everyone also who first brought this issue to us um I really appreciate the fact that we heard from so many people I do want to clarify a couple of things when I brought this here back in September I did not do it because people from Lake Mohawk brought this to me I brought this because it was becoming increasingly evident and clear that this problem was well beyond the reach of just one Community Sparta Township has a lot of it's very different in the landscape than it is than other communities are for example um someone mentioned Jefferson I have their ordinance right here um and also over by Lake a pacan and whatnot all of that is State it's open it's anybody can go there anybody could put a boat in the water anybody so there's different characteristics and and and you really have to I think look at what is best for the fiber of the community that we live in here um so I I want to thank everyone for that I have a clarifying question though to my knowledge we are not collecting any kind of registration right now for any kind of rental is that accurate so whether it's a long-term a shortterm whatever it might be is any of any okay so I think that's the first issue that we need to address outside of all of this is that we need to have some process that's in place I think there is a state statute that is in place that we need to follow quickly um and make sure that we get this system behind all of this regardless of what it is because we need to know um as a Township where the rentals are and whatnot I do appreciate both sides of the argument on this I absolutely support bed and breakfast for the the local businesses and whatnot um I understand um also from a safety perspective um I would like nothing more than to keep people close to the venue where they are because the last thing we want is for someone to come to a wedding venue and then be on the streets afterwards so I really appreciate that as well um with that said and again to my point earlier this is not a problem just in Lake Mohawk this is a problem all over we have multiple private communities all around and while people are referring to one type of a short-term rental whether it's Airbnb or vbro or whatever it might be all of their processes are different their vetting is different I personally have a real problem and I hear the residents when they are saying to me with tears in their eyes we have grandchildren we have children they are here people are coming in from all over the place there's no vetting and I I understand the superficiality of three thumbs up or four stars on a vbro app but I have a hard time trusting the safety of our residents to system like that I I just I'm I I am struggling with that and I and I that is not a risk personally that I believe in I would like nothing more and and to be really honest my intention for this and and my understanding of what this was going to be was to prohibit short-term rentals in residential areas and keep them in others we do have zones right now that allow for airbnbs that allow for motels that allow for different things like that I have absolutely no problem with that I have no problem looking at businesses that have a property that is within maybe 1,000 ft or500 feet or something like that I don't know that we could do that but I I appreciate what's going on my concern for the residents is all about safety and with that said although I appreciate the argument and I I would like to see these other ordinances Tammy that you just got this week I have also been doing a lot of research um to me the issue that I have right now with this primarily being in residential zones is the fact that it really just benefits a very very select few and the risk is for the masses and to me I just cannot justify that so I'm I would like to see this in residential zones only and and open to zones where it makes sense well I think to that point this obviously does not look at this granularly it's just an over sweeping rule change and I think we need to have ways but everybody should be vetted every property we should know where every every property is um they mentioned that there's a there's a device that can monitor to the I think that could be a requirement I think there's ways that we can do this incorporating what you're saying um because it's not just a residential area somebody has 40 acres and they want to put a a little house that they're going to rent out doesn't affect anyone but the places where there's you know beaches where you know if if we have rentals where 10 guys are leaving the rental and going to the beach and and using people's kayaks that should be addressed we shouldn't allow things that we wouldn't want otherwise right that's not a rental thing that's that's a behavior thing that we wouldn't want there either so I think we have to look at this and we have to see where it makes sense it might not just be a zoning thing we might have to look at it in different areas of Sparta here it makes sense and here it doesn't you know I just think Banning it alt together without taking the due diligence to to go through it and do it right I don't think is the right answer but I do think there's ways that we can allow it and still protect the residents and that's that's what we should do that's my view cman chello um you have a couple things to say um first um I'll read it right again thank everybody for showing up um it's just nice to know that the community cares about these things these are hard problem s um and if nobody showed up I'd be I'd be concerned as well just because I don't I don't want to be like an enq uh novel and talk to empty chairs so thank you for uh expressing your concerns here uh and your and your support for different uh positions policy positions um the uh I have a couple of issues with the um with the existence of these uh these um this organization I guess it just seems like an artificial construct from Silicon Valley to be able to enable someone to operate a hotel out of a house uh same thing with an Uber or a lift I I don't want to speak against specific properties but you know somebody figur out a way to get around taxi laws and turn everybody's car into a taxi um that just strikes me as a problem uh operating a a hotel deao hotel out of a out of a residence um you know we have Hotel regulations for for reasons you know they're they're designed to accommodate walk up customers uh they're they're designed to accommodate people with dis abilities um when a fire happens in a in a strange house if you're in a hotel your exits are clearly marked and your fire your fire your your exit strategy is clearly marked uh if I wake up in a strange house I'm not so sure that that's the case um I am a was a renter was a landlord myself for probably three decades I I think I had 13 tenants in all and any given point in time 12 were wonderful people and there was always that one we're like I wish I wish I had a 13th one but um in any case most renters are are wonderful people that I've that I've come across and it's not um I don't look at it as a that problem um so much that I think this is just a um uh something that you know the neighbors of this house didn't ask for when they when they came in and suddenly somebody's running a hotel out of their house or the deao hotel um and I also agree with um when you when you have short tentals for the purpose of renting for a night or two or three you as people mentioned you do take that house that unit out of your housing pool and thus exacerbating our our um uh our housing shortage here in Sparta which which there is if you ever try to buy a house in Sparta you know you can't your house and if you want to sell a house it sells in a in a matter of 48 minutes because because it's a very attractive area and housing is is hard to come by over here um so I am sensitive to the fact that we are taking houses out of the out of the housing pool um on the other hand um there are we we we've all talked about there is a need for short-term rentals uh or or short-term housing uh for a night or two or three visiting somebody weddings we've all talked about such a great need here and it's hard for me to wrap my head around if there is such a glaring uh need for um for someone to stay overnight for a couple of nights why aren't there the accommodations that the community would probably want to attract like a a small hotel or a boutique hotel in the right Zone uh or Bed and Breakfast in the right place and we do have uh housing or zoning laws that zone specific areas for smaller hotels and bed and breakfast and if that's the place that we want to attract you know I had a boss that said you know see the problem solve the problem if that's the problem then you know putting up a barrier to having a uh the business that we want here a small boutique bed and breakfast um by having to compete with you know with someone trying to run a better breakf a hotel out of their house I think you're not you're not attract you're not making easy to attract the things that we want um so um um again I I think I would like this uh look at the and on our our planning board is taking steps right now to start to look at our master plan uh and again right now we do have zones that allow for bed and breakfast and smaller hotels and and our planning board I believe is looking through those um that are master plan as well to make sure that those those zones are those areas are accommodated properly with those types of uses um however one other thing I I think is important to bring up um I know it's it's April the summer season is upon us and and um a lot of people said that my short-term rental unit is only occupied for a couple of months of the year and those couple of month period is probably coming up um I am sensitive to the fact that this is probably being sprung on somebody who might have already taken uh um reservations for their house um I would like to see this um phased in after after the of this calendar year and and to give that sort of grace period uh because I think it's at some point hard to swallow for someone who has has a model for this year and now has to turn business away um that they didn't expect but if we if we were to phase in to start this uh this um uh provision at the end of the calendar year for the for the next calendar year I think that would be a prudent move um so I would I would um I'm inclined to make a motion to do that but I want to first make get everybody's comments on the board first and that's all I have I just I just want to comment on one thing you said Dan sure and and I I know you've talked about this before and I I know it's something that you believe in when you're talking about you know different access to to personal homes but you said if you're in this home that you don't know and there's a fire and you don't know how to get out but that goes along the lines of trying to protect people from themselves right and I just don't think we should be in the business and I think that's where government makes a mistake we should not be policing people from their own actions and you know when we talk about property rights I think there's a there an overarching ability for government to encroach in that too and I think we're doing it here in in Florida and I think we do have a responsibility to protect the residents from situations they they did not choose to be in because they bought in a residential area but that doesn't mean we can't do both of this and I just don't want to Cloud the the thing with you know potential liability or potential you know accidents because people chose you know maybe I have a perspective because I use it all the time when I travel and I don't abuse people's houses I certainly don't abuse the neighborhoods that I rent in now you know I know that's not the case for everyone but I I use them all the time in a very respectful way they're very helpful for me um so I can see the good that they provide um and I like I said I just think there's a way that we can do both and and and thanks for that and I'll go on to rec saying I've never used one ever or lift or Uber I just fundamentally in my in my core don't believe in in but anyway that's just me I'm weird um can I speak on something else that you said to Dan so um one of the things that I found really interesting while doing an awful lot of research on all of this and talking to a lot of people were a lot I started looking into Data statistics impact Community impact and all kinds of things like that and one of the things that was glaring was this is one of those things where many years ago nobody thought about putting any ordinances in or safeguards because whoever thought that the guy living next door to would be renting his house on a dayto day or this business model didn't exist to your point like uber and Lyft and everything else construct um so the the trends in this and and some of the other things that I find also a little bit concerning is the fact that there is this trend in places where short-term rentals are not just allowed but also very enticing um and what what starts happening is you get someone before mentioned um absentee ownership um I forget who said that but somebody mentioned that earlier um and so the issue is statistically speaking people start buying up these homes or company starts buying up these homes and next thing you know it actually it damages the fabric of your community so what happens is one of the things that sets spart of Township apart so much to me anyway I'm from a smaller town in Essex County originally but I've lived here over 30 years my husband's 60 and one of the things that sets it apart is the fabric of the community because it's very very you know people have been here 20 years 30 years 40 years 50 years they've raised five kids Here and Now their kids are back they're having grandchildren and whatnot but this kind of thing if left uncheck statistics say it starts to actually pull apart that fabric because houses are sitting there with no one in them if they're not rented all the time and next thing you know companies are owning them and not people are owning them and who's coming in and out and it it takes away statistically speaking from that that fabric so um I just wanted to to build on what you said Dan because I think that component of it again you expect these things at the Jersey Shore you expect these things where there's you know more public open things for for everyone but I think if we look at the the landscape and look at how to craft this we should be able to protect the residents and uh produce the the necessary means to host all these other things we're talking about that we know we need bed and breakfast and that those kind of models but protect the residents and protect the fabric of the community at the same time and and I think the really good thing is I don't think you've heard anybody argue that it shouldn't be checked right even the people that that are here that own them that are arguing for them agree that there should be checks and I think that's something that we should look at doing we talked about the wedding venues here um there is absolutely need for somebody to go to wedding and then stay overnight like very close by if not within walking distance I I completely get that to me but that's a that should be a land use um problem that they look they look at places where you absolutely need a bed and breakfast or a small hotel or something a couple of room Hotel uh and place them there and then we put the right policies in place to encourage that organically it's easier said than done it's easier said than done yeah absolutely otherwise we'd have them right because we all talked about the need we're not getting them now I I that's weird to me I don't understand why there's such a need and yet we don't have it that's it defies the econ Market forces I I don't get it um public comment period I'm sorry yeah I'm I'm sorry sir the time to speak for public comment has passed um another one at the end but uh I what I will say I guess on the last one um first of all I I thank everyone for coming out and I mean that sincerely both the pro and the con um I will you know push back in the sense that there was a statement made about you know this was just sort of thrown together and lack of due diligence um speaking for the person who had to try to figure a lot of this out a lot of the issues that you raised I I I raised um and and tried to figure out whether we could accommodate um as I've said before if it were up to me Neil Clark I would allow short-term rentals why because I think it benefits the town I think it benefits tourism I think we have a lodging problem but it's not up to me it's not up to me I didn't I I didn't get elected in this position to do what Neil Clark want I got elected to do what I think the consensus of the people want and a lot of time there's a conflict between what I want as a person and what the town wants and when that happens and this is exactly one issue that has done that and I see Mark here from Proto forums I see Perry here and they do a tremendous service for this town no doubt um they are business owners who provide a benefit and I understand that it's troubling to me um that they're now looking at this and um seeing that well you know I'm I'm subject to this just as the person person who has a house in a predominantly residential community and so I rais that could we do this on a sort of Zone by Zone basis and the answer I received is no that's that's uh we couldn't because what will happen is the person who lives in a residential area who wants to short-term rent can say well how come you're allowing um the people in a mix Zone to do it but I I can't do it I have a r of alienation just like that person does and so that's why you had to do a kind of blanket approach that's my understanding and I understand thank you for providing those different ordinances um I think that the fact that those exist doesn't mean they're not subject to potential legal Challenge and they may and that that may get resolved by the courts um and so taking that into consideration it was a balancing act there was something that needed to be balanced I also share the concerns uh raised by um a few people uh including councilman blatty and and councilman Chell and and and councilman Quinn we do have a long-term availability of housing problem right and there are studies that do show that the more you allow short-term riddles the more you crowd out the availability of long-term housing um that's just and so we have to balance that right we have to um you know we have to get part of what you do in this job is not wait for a problem to reach a crisis and then try to come up with solution you anticipate down the road what a given decision could have and so that was something that I took in consideration um and also the fact that we do need short-term rentals of a certain duration so I want to put to bed right now this is not a ban overall this is a durational limit on how long you can rent a property and so why did we come up with 28 days okay well part of it was that there was a need for people who they have a renovation on their house and can't live there renovation takes two months this would allow them to do that and there's in fact I've spoke to someone who does do this who's a property owner who allows their house to be rented for you know one to three months while someone so that's a this would allow that it would allow also what uh the gentle woman said about that you know 50% of her time of renting it is for 28 days or more it allows that and so this is really a balancing and and when you do that no one's happy right that's just the way it is and I get it the people who want an outright ban they're not probably that all that happy about this the people who want the short they're not happy either and so you're sitting up here realizing that you've made a lot of people unhappy but that's the job the job is is is trying to come up the best you can with what you think is a a fair policy um you know so like I said I think this does that I think there are some tweaks that need to be done I think uh councilman cheero uh the idea of a grace period is is a good one my question is Tom if we do you think the adding if we were to amend tonight to allow a grace period would is that such a significant change to the ordinance that um we would have to reintroduce the ordinance I'm sorry to put you on the spot but that's I I yeah I think that could get challenged yeah I think we would need to republish the the uh ordinance with that revision to it the proposed ordinance with that revision to it okay so that you think that's more of a significant change than simply because I know we another change we talked about was simply adding you know the code enforcement as I see that as ministerial okay so if we were to do that um make a a grace period um would we have to introduce it at the next meeting or will go right to we just need to uh uh you know publish the revised uh proposal so we're sending back one cycle not two correct thank you so are we saying we're not going to entertain looking at the ordinances that Tammy brought we're just moving forward well the and the other thing that that does is um if we have a grace period of a couple of months I guess um it allows us to to hijack it at some point get in the middle and if we find a better solution through other model ordinances um a cooling off period one are my thoughts well I guess I mean the thing is the the grace period is basically tan himount to not having a short-term rental for that particular gra per until the period that we determine if it's the end of the calendar year or something else so there will be short- ter mentals allowed de facto until that um that effective date takes place again uh accommodating somebody who has already taken or orders or or made a com or has a business model set up for this year um that would not be disrupted then and again it would also allow us a couple of months if something you know some other solution were to come along that we could resend it if we wanted to well I think um in light of that I think that maybe what the thing to do is to you know if you want to um entertain that motion to amend to have a grace period and um if you would include in that also the um enforcement part and then we can take a vote on that to amend what's the enforcement part uh we're simply amending uh the provision under what section two it's section uh 10-5 acept paragraph a to add to include Sparta code enforcement officer and to remove the police out of it we can't remove the police you can do that keep it there CO's going to handle most of it but why can't we I think there's got to be some means of like an acute issue right um weekend that's already in we already have laws Fair [Music] um so that way if there's an acute issue for um noise um obviously you need the police to come in on a Sunday night at 3:00 in the morning um if there's an acute issue of oh my God we just discovered a I shouldn't say that we just discovered a um apologize um a short-term rental exists on a Sunday at 3 o'clock in the morning that probably does not necess necessitate an acute issue where the police has to get involved the police should not be involved in administration issues I can I can I'm okay with that I'm also not interested in paying the zoning officer double time to come in on Sunday at 3:00 in the morning for we need a process that is clear we need a process for vetting we need a process for rental on file that's that's I think the first order of business and more to the point I think that needs to be you know we need to line there's a there's definitely a sensitive a time sensitive issue with this ordinance taking into consideration the time of year that it is we need to make sure that we have would have processes in place and we also need to set you know um notifications and things and I don't know if that's a separate conversation but it's one that we should have sooner rather than later Jim you should have it with Tom Ryan I'm assuming and really figure out what is the process going to be for us to start capturing all this stuff what's it going to take um because we need to be more effective in handling that too um I I I still go back to a question of it says here you know to prohibit the shortterm rental of residential property residential property so how can I have residential property in a commercial zone or residential mixed use so you're saying the residential property means the actual physical building four wall walls in a roof it's it under Section 10-1 right it defines a dwelling unit and this applies to dwelling units a dwelling unit means any single family detached dwelling regardless of where it's located but so still it says residential property so you're saying if it's residential commercial residential for example because it's got residential in it commercial couldn't be used like no mixed uses could be used I I'm trying to figure out how we can this only applies to a dwelling unit which is defined as a single family detached dwelling so it's a single family which is no matter what zone it's in that's it regardless of where it is so obviously to update this to get it to say that this is forbidden in a particular zone is going to take a lot more we can't we can't move forward with that clearly candidly I'm I certainly am more than happy to take a look at these ordinances and investigate the circumstances of them but I'm not convinced right now that we can use land use law to regulate renting or not renting in including short-term short-term rental but if it's Public Safety related for example what's the difference because Public Safety comes under that Municipal Police power right uh so it's it's not under the land use law but with with our police Powers we don't say well you can make noise in certain zones as opposed to uh other zones we enforce it across across the town it's the Municipal Police powers are enforcable throughout the jurisdiction and just to clarify One More Time by doing nothing here by doing absolutely nothing because we can't rely on land use law right now if we do absolutely nothing tonight then any kind of rental at all is permitted and one day two days 4 days six days nothing's limited yes I I don't believe it it uh is in forcible if someone is cited right now without uh this this ordinance based upon an argument that it's operating a a business in a residential Zone I I don't believe that would be enforcable so we have to pick all or nothing that's what I'm seeing right now again happy to take a look at these uh other circumstances I have not found uh any ordinances AC across the state of New Jersey anyway that um that would uh give us a a reliable model to do that but you know I I'll certainly look at it okay so we I think yeah um sorry guys yeah I think we need a motion to amend uh for the grace period alone because I think there would be people who say that I don't want the grace period because that's tmount to doing nothing um but I do want the uh the code enforcement to be added um you know because the the IDE the way it's written now it just has the enforcement through our health department and our police and and I share uh councilman herzberg's concern that I don't want our police dealing with complaints about it's I think my neighbor is using a short-term rental you're not complaining about noise you're not complaining about trash you're not complaining about parking all you're complaining about is I think he's you know he or she is operating uh that's not a proper use of our police force in my opinion um I agree we should bifurcate those um so I will make a motion to amend section 10.5 a to uh remove the reference to the police department and add the reference to the code enforcement officer uh as organizations to authorize to enforce the provisions of the article all right do I have a second to that motion sorry sorry you repeat that you something clear sorry about that I'll get closer to the microphone uh so I make a motion that we amend section 10.5 paragraph a to remove uh police department the reference to police department and add instead a reference to the code enforcement officer as uh organizations that are authorized to enforce the provisions of this article okay so to be clear you said remove the police department and add the other one not include all three correct you only have two the health department and the code enforcement officer okay I have a a second to that motion well I will second the motion U of councilman Cher to remove the police department uh from 105a and to add the code enforcement officer have a second and so we can we have a roll call vote uh on the amendment by councilman Chell to delete the police department and to add uh the code enforcement officer are hereby authorized to enforce the provisions of this article just for clarity we are not tbling this to address the issues we're just moving forward we're we're going to amend it and um I I think that we're GNA we'll have a vote and we'll see if there's a motion to table then we can entertain that someone wants to I move that we table this just for one more meeting until we get some additional information and we can come back to the public with the safeguards that we need with the support that the businesses need and we can really just go one more time through this to try to accommodate the needs that we know we have with the public safety that we know we want and see if we can't pull from some of these other things to put something in place that we can really get behind I I am you know I feel a certain kind of way about this but not about banning it everywhere I got to be honest with you I I and and it makes me think somebody mentioned I forget I have it in my notes Here somebody mentioned um the bed and breakfast that's on um Sparta Avenue there right and then I think residential property so that's a residential property so then if somebody bought that according to this if we said no then you couldn't even use that so I'm concerned about that I have some concerns that I think I would I'd like us to I would like us to table this to get the additional things look into what we can maybe do and and reintroduce this at the next meeting and I want to I want to thank everyone because I was driving this forward with the time sensus because I was very concerned about all the residents fears about safety and everything like that but I think it is better for us to take a minute take a breath look at this in more detail now that Tammy has more information and do it once and do it right rather than going back and forth and all that kind of stuff I agree there was a motion made and seconded so we should we need to vote on that first yeah we I think we'll I think what we should do is vote on that and then we can vote on the motion to Table after that cuz what will be then be tabled will be the amend the motion the ordinance as amended right correct so well let's take one step at a time yeah that's assuming if that yeah so uh may we have a roll call vote on the um the mo 244 as amended to to amend the motion to amend the ordinance section 10.5 paragraph a councilman Herzberg you you guys just said two different things so let's be clear we are voting on the amendment not the ordinance as amended we're voting on The the motion to amend the ordinance the amendment only the act of amending it yes councilwoman Quinn yes councilman shello yes Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark yes so 2404 is uh amended oh I move that we table this and that we have a deadline of that we come back back to our next meeting with an additional proposal second okay may we have a roll call vote on the motion to table councilman Herzberg yes councilwoman Quinn yes councilman Sherell yes Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark no so the uh we the motion to table has seeded um so there'll be no further discussions and we'll we'll take up um you know the the issues that have been identified um and just for the record the reason why I voted no is that I I think we've addressed the issue about trying to break this up into certain zones and I think we determined that that is fraught with legal risk um and so I'm happy to look at it again um but I think that was why I think it's um we're going to be right back in the place where we were today so in any event um the motion has succeeded to table and um we will move on we are now up to our second public comment period this is limited to the resolutions so um if you look at the resolutions uh in paragraph n those are what you're permitted during this public comment period to speak about um so the time has passed to speak about the ordinances um so again I hope that you will confine your comments to the resolutions uh and also abide by the five minute rule thank you good evening mayor and councel my name is Robert mcbrier MC capital b r i a r I'm an attorney with the law firm of skank price Smith and King and I represent perona realy Corp my client and I are here this evening in support of resolution 9-3 briefly as you're aware perona has made a formal request seeking to purchase a small portion of Township property adjacent to Barn facility the carve out is needed to accommodate a small area of impervious coverage used as part of the rear driveway and a small open Woodshed which is used to store firewood the carveout represents the minimum reasonably required to maintain the existing conditions and will be merged with the existing lot been working with Tom's office to provide a mutually agreeable form of contract uh which is the subject of tonight's resolution and we hope that you approve it in its current form I'm here with Mark abolio as well and we are both uh here to answer uh questions if any and I'll defer to the council as to whether to address uh any questions now or at the time that that resolution is being considered thank you thank you thank you and just I I think we will carve out your the the resolution pertaining to perona just to provide that opportunity that uh you asked us to so thank you um is there anyone else from the public wishing to be heard on the resolutions Jenny Derek tapen Sparta is there going to be um I understand you're just introducing the budget this evening is there going to be an opportunity for a fuller um explanation of the budget or maybe a presentation at another time yes public hearing do we know when that is I guess that was my question public hearing will be [Music] May 14th thank you we did have a no actually no it wasn't a Saturday h no it was it was a week night I believe because I got pizza for everybody yeah but I think are are we not having another workshop and we will have another Well we talked about having what hasn't been scheduled yet but yeah I think we hasn't been announced yet yeah we haven't been but we're trying to see if we can do another Workshop yeah sure anyone else wishing to be heard on the resolutions I do apologize mayor for my second approach to the microphone the whole meeting reminds me a little bit as a family therapy session when two groups are fighting with each other and they cannot find uh reasonable compromise being out of real State I think I found some kind of solution I'm not sure how is it legal I think the key word in the old discussion is safety that uh strangers who would come to our Township are suspicious that they could violate our peace and they could misbehave obviously people don't start misbehave out of Blue Moon unless it would be like yesterday and and and doctor I apologize for interrupting you but I think you're addressing an issue that has already but there will be an opportunity to do that there is another public comment period um at the end where you can address whatever you want to address here your your public comment period is confined to the resolutions I'm sorry to be pedantic about it but that's the rules and it's my job to follow them so I apologize for interrupting you but um if you could tie this to a resolution um that would be helpful uhe I'm not familiar with your ritual but my resolution idea to start to screen uh certain record of people who wants to stay here for short term maybe it could guarantee for significant number of perent that they would not violate peace and they would not be a criminal I would be delighted to give you better idea how to achieve it thank you all right thank you uh anyone else from the public wishing to be heard on a resolution Kathy EV cow SC Road um on regarding 9 or 93 um it doesn't mention the sale cost of the property and it references it the contract can you reiterate how much the property is being sold for thank you yeah that was that resolution was introduced a few months ago I can't remember what I can probably find it if I the the property itself actually is it's a sliver of land that is landlocked um right now the township owns the lot so this lot will be adjoined to their their existing property and assumed into the lot and then we will be able to increase the assessed value of their property so that we'll actually get ta tax dollars out of a vacant piece of property okay but that wasn't my question I understand all of that Sam thank you for reminding me about that the question is how much is the Town selling it for on the contract that this resolution is approving from my my best recollection taking off where Sam left off was we already had passed an ordinance uh authorizing the sale of the property and I I remember it was I'm gonna say $1,400 something like that thank you he knows there there you go and the ordinance was passed with conditions on the contract all right and those conditions were worked out uh between the offices and they they met uh the the council's uh um you know satisfaction once the those those conditions were were were settled out and those conditions were over uh the appraisal fee that perono agreed to pay for and it was that um the the condition of the property had to remain in in its natural state that it is in right now that they didn't have the ability to expand on it uh they agreed to those uh uh terms and now the contract has been finalized with those terms and a resolution tonight is now formalizing that agreement and then the allowing the contract to be signed by the mayor what I think you said jam and let me make sure I understand um the contract itself mentions that it cannot be the property cannot be approved improved upon after the sale correct how are we to enforce that when it's not our property anymore well deed restriction it's a deed restri okay perfect so it will be memorialized thank you any other member of the public wishing to be heard on the resolutions okay seeing none um I would I think I would like to carve out uh the following resolutions that we will handle under a separate vote uh they are resolutions three 5 6 and a um is there any other resolutions that my fellow Council people would like to have C out four left yeah okay hearing none uh so the motion is to approve the following resolutions resolution 1 2 4 and 7 so may I have a a motion to approve resolutions 1 two4 and 7 I move that we approve resolutions 9-1 9-2 9-4 and 9-7 uh may I have a second I will second the motion to uh approve resolutions 91 92 94 97 uh all in favor say I I I all opposed say no okay resolutions um one 124 and seven have passed um now I would like to make a motion to approve resolution 9-3 may I have a motion to approve 9- three so moved uh may I have a second second okay uh and so before we take a roll call um again I think we've uh thank you Council for for appearing here today um does any member of up here have questions for uh regarding this resolution okay again I think that uh th those have been addressed there is a deed restriction uh about no Improvement um and uh also uh that we are simply taking a a sliver of land and and giving it uh and selling it um to uh the owners and operators of perona so may I have a uh all those in favor of approving 9-3 say I I dooll please okay uh may I have a we can still do a roll call um sorry Dean I apologize I I will do the roll call for Resolutions uh so may have a roll call I'm sorry councilman Herzberg yes councilman Quinn yes councilman Shero yes Deputy Mayor blumetti no mayor Clark yes yeah mayor May before we move on um I meant to ask a question about resolution 9-3 I won't change won't change my my vote I did read it um and I'm sorry 9 Das 9-2 I'm sorry sorry um I did read it and I'm uh I'm comfortable with my vote but I just had a question about um the um origin um if if somebody can take this down one more level like what did this how how is this going to be implemented or yeah I had a um a recollection that we addressed this when um Chief mccarrick was here yes um and it's forget I'm sorry yeah and I think it's it's actually a state the the state developed the program in conjunction with ultimately Atlantic Health okay not and they will not be on every single call that was the other question just so in case he's just to shine light on that they don't come to every single call it's only on a Case by case need basis and it's a new program so yeah the doc should ride along yeah and um and I I I think um also it's it's conforming with existing practice of our police force is uh trained on you know mental health issues and it's it's you know that when particularly like a domestic dispute or something like that um where the necessity is to have mental health care uh experts along or within uh advising on that that this is what that res this resolution does thank you sure okay so we will move on May I have a motion uh to approve uh resolution 9-5 so moved uh may I have a second I will second it okay and before we do a roll call um Jim or Sam what's the purpose for having a grace period for the solid waste utility service charge um our my my tax collector Diane had advised that this has been a practice that they've done whenever there was been a fee change uh to the utilities like this and it it's just giving uh uh the residents uh a little more leeway um on on getting in the practice of paying the increased fee for the solid waste utility and it it's just a a courtesy that the town extends uh for that first quarter okay so it gives the the homeowner an extra amount of time and wants to pay the fee now that the fee has gone up is that right yes it is okay exactly with the CH with the rate change and it being you know the abil ability to make sure that they have the means to pay the extra amount got it okay thank you I think that answers uh my question uh may we have a roll call vote on uh resolution 9-5 councilman Herzberg yes Council four right I'm sorry what we're doing I'm sorry five like sorry five sorry yes councilman Quinn councilman cherell yes I'm sorry Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark yes uh resolution 95 has passed um may I have a uh motion to approve resolution 9-6 I move that we approve resolution 9-6 uh may I have a second none I will make the motion to Second resolution 9-6 um again if someone uh what's the purpose of 9-6 this is uh the township uh used to uh own and maintain uh three 10,000g underground water tanks as fire protection up in the Glen noes development that's up off of Glenn Road there um Through The Years those tanks have have basically leaked and they no longer sustain water so um what almost two months ago uh the DPW removed those tanks from the property and uh now that we no longer need to occupy the property the property is owned by the Glen n Glen NES homeowners association uh with Tom's guidance I wanted to make sure that we closed uh our occupancy of that property um by terminating the easements and all that good stuff so um uh the president of the HOA uh um signed the agreement with the town so we are no longer uh liable for the area and it's just the proper way to vacate the that area and uh yes I have other areas that I intend to do the same with uh for the fire protection tanks thank you I I just you know when we have a termination of a covenant not to Sue and release I think it's important that we tell people why we're doing that and and thank you for that explanation uh so we may have a roll call vote on uh resolution 9-6 councilman Herzberg yes councilman Quinn yes councilman Sherell yes Deputy Mayor ledy yes mayor Clark yes uh 9-6 has passed um may I have a motion to approve 9-8 introduction of Municipal budget title only and mo we approve resolution 9-8 uh may I have a second please hearing none I will I will second the motion 9-8 but before we have a roll call vote uh just a point of clarification uh this is not the adoption of the budgeted am I right correct okay and um the public will have a chance to uh opine on the budget at a at a public session is that right correct okay and we are entertaining the uh possibility of having another Workshop is that right that's correct okay um so with those caveats um I will take a roll call vote on resolution 9-8 have a question please sure and this this does not preclude us from uh the chance to modify the budget the draft budget if we see it fit right it does not it does not preclude you from making amendments to the budget is that does that answer your question uh councilman bu yeah okay sure um so yes may we have a roll call vote on resolution 9-8 Council Herzberg yes councilwoman Quinn yes councilman cherell yes Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark yes uh resolution 9-8 has passed uh We've now moved on to council liaison updates um and I will switch it up and start to my far right and move uh across to my left okay being on your far right um I have a couple of updates to make um the uh Revolution NJ 250 committee um we did set up a email common email address and I think just yesterday we had a web page set up we will be publishing that or publicizing that uh shortly uh as well as trying to collect some family histories from the that we talked about last meeting um we did meet with the State Historical commission to get some more parameters around the uh Revolution NJ 250 celebrations in 2026 um they provided us with some some guidance that we're going to employ at our next uh uh meeting which I believe is the first week of May I want to say May 4th but I'll have to look it up but it's the first week of May we'll have that published as well um I have no updates for the Board of Ed or County Commissioners um the business development committee uh meets tomorrow um I will not be attending I have a conflict with a an ld24 state legislators meeting at that time uh the environmental commission met on the 28th um uh I did not attend that meeting unfortunately had something came up uh the culture and arts committee met on April 2nd uh I also did not attend uh so I don't have any updates something came up personally um and um that's all I have for my committee updates thank you thank you um if councilwoman Quinn doesn't mind I will defer to her on the rec committee if that's okay sure um with the uh Lake Mohawk we are uh intend to have a meeting is it next week I believe yeah we're going to have another we're trying to have these meetings once a month uh with uh Lake Mohawk uh to address you know any kind of issues that where there's overlap between an issue that like Mohawk is experiencing and and that we have so we'll um at the next meeting uh I will be you know either I or councilwoman Quinn will update you on on what ha transpired at that meeting um we did have our second meeting of the uh Sparta film ready subcommittee of the cultural Affairs committee um we are at the stage of the process where we're trying to decide uh and it's it's a hard problem to have um what parts of Sparta do we want to feature in our application um anyone who lives here knows that list could be in the thousands right um but we're probably limited to about 25 um thankfully we also have the sort of you know um some experts who can kind of guide us on what um Studios and and things would look to and we're trying to you know have a um have a broad approach you know so it's not just going to be the beautiful picture of of the lake and maybe on top of Sparta Mountain um it's other areas because you have to think about if you want to film a a gritty Urban scene um you can actually do that in Sparta if you go to certain places behind where the dumpsters are or something like that so uh it's an interesting process um so um again and then on April 23rd uh is the required Workshop that uh anyone who has you have to attend if want to submit your application um another part that we are doing and something that we'll learn about at the workshop is another thing they want to have in the application is you know what re you know what what resources do you have that that are reasonable people doing entertainment production would would want and we have a lot of that like you know dry cleaners um uh Caterers Etc what we will be looking at is whether we can carve out or specifically acknowledge certain businesses so a studio would come in and theyd say we want to film in Sparta and we say well if you're filming in Sparta please know that Jay-Z cleaners is uh is is one of the preferred cleaners here they're offering a discount I don't know if we can do that that's something that but um I don't know if we can or not but it may not be we can't do that but it also means that it may not matter because they'll it'll be up to the particular entertainment production company to decide who they want to get their business from um so but we we can ask the question um so that is is happening um also I will let you know that there is currently um production uh they're at the they finished the pilot uh script for something that will be filmed it's currently thank you to uh Steve scow who has opened up his industry restaurant uh for a filming there uh for a pilot the idea is to uh get the pilot approved uh once the pilot is approved that could also open up uh additional episodes so um as that uh process goes forward I'll I'll I'll update people but that's where we are with um the film ready and I'll have more to add after April 23rd after I've attended Ed the workshop and that is all the council updates I have uh councilman Herzberg I have none councilwoman Quinn uh so the uh Rec Recreation uh members of the council will be receiving the updated Excel spreadsheet um that lists everything what you're going to see is everything has been assigned these values but you can go into the spreadsheet and sort the data no matter how you want so you'll see what it has been ranked and then you can sort and and search accordingly this is the preliminary um projects list from for some of the wreck uh projects and initiatives for this year and some that are planned as well uh so that's that we have been promising that for quite some time um Josh and I are going to follow up to get information from the sports groups and incorporate that information and data back into the rec advisory committee so that um additional things can be formulated and brought forward as well as we're looking to the Future the senior program trip I really want to give a big shout out um the senior coordinator is doing a really great job um the seniors have so many great great things going on they had a 911 memorial trip they've had a senior party program they have monthly lunches and now new crafting events um in addition to different different programs that they're running so we're very very fortunate and we have a great group of seniors that are extremely active uh springb Shore is available the bunny breakfast was great you mentioned the Trout Derby still waiting on to hear about the Jake law grant that we should know that in the summertime um so uh some of the things that we talked about there also partnering possibly or supporting the municipal Alliance resource team that I'll talk about in just a little while you've heard me be giving updates at all the different meetings and basically they're changing their messaging to be more positive and engaging to pull people into a different direction their new motto um the new motto for the team is live your best life so um we have the logos all finished and the statement almost done but we're trying to work with them some of the things we're thinking of moving forward it is a no phone night or family fun night tree climbing Adventures self-defense class and Senior celebrations there is actually a um a senior healthy bingo that um Center for prevention and counseling runs is very interactive and the seniors got a lot of really great information out of it so we're looking at supporting that through the municipal Alliance for our senior population um with that also uh we uh became aware of a new member or a new applicant a potential new applicant who did put in a volunteer form so with that said I would like to nominate Christina Bole to serve on the Parks and Recreation sub uh committee with us the application is in here they talked about at the meeting as you know Neil on the 19th um so I'd like to nominate her for I make a motion to put her on the committee a second thank you all is there a vacancy I guess there was right so what is this a vacancy that they're filling or is this just an added member okay so all was in favor of putting Miss Bole on to the rec committee say I I so welcome Miss Bole um sure you'll be a great addition um great you just have to keep notes as well as councilwoman Quinn does so good luck with that um anything else and then uh I did copy I had in here also about Jean um we reserved a position for her as you know Neil for her to uh nominate somebody from the sports groups um that she thought would be a thing but now we have this going on so we'll follow up Jean knows she's waiting to hear back from people she picked I don't know who she picked it was her choice but I don't have that nomination to bring forward so that is what is going on with the um the wck and thank you for appointing Christina we're looking forward to working with her the municipal Alliance is going to be sponsoring Trout Derby that's very very exciting we're super psyched about that it is on the 18th um also we're looking into a lot right now we have social media campaign we're we're right now researching and evaluating two different options we're still working to confirm speakers in the schools we will be hosting a mental Aid first uh mental health first aid class and that will be made available to members in the community more information will come on that we're partnering with the center for prevention on there um so that is what's going on with the municipal Alliance salute I want to really thank every everybody and I want to thank Vanessa in particular Vanessa Serrano for all her work we have 25 new banners for our 2014 Hometown hero initiative it's awesomely exciting Jim our goal is to roll out a polls and um the pins on the side so we're we're working toward that goal so we're really excited we hope to have those in by Memorial day of this year so um thank you special thanks to Vanessa Council connect is scheduled for May 18th and that is from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. with Dean and Neil April 18th or may I have April 18th yeah I think you said May I'm sorry oh sorry April 18th sorry April 18th 6 7:30 Dean and Neil and that's at the library um also with regard to the senior wreck the senior advisory committee every year as you guys know they nominate um and bring forth the name of someone for the sparta older out outstanding older American award the seniors did meet and they have nominated Maryann Francisco from the uh historical society as this year's so what we have to do is we need to um approve we need to I I'll make the nomination if we can approve this uh then we can get back to them and confirm so we have to prove it here that that's what how we've always done it oh that's right we did yeah I don't know I I mean I I I want to do it so that they can plan so um on behalf of the senior advisory committee I nominate Maryann Francisco to receive the sparta outstanding older American award for 2024 second thank you Dean all in favor I I I very it's supposed to be a surprise don't tell her hopefully she's not watching this I know I have to I but I have I know we compete with a lot of important things to watch on television it has to happen okay so um that's everything that's that's it for that so th those are all the liaison reports okay thank you very much um we are now on to unfinished a new business I'll start to my left this time did we have any unfinished or new business uh councilwoman Quinn so so I do have some things I want to point out to everyone um something that I pray to God no one needs but if you do you should know it's available so there is a program that is available and you can get information from it from the susex county health website so if there is a catastrophic illness with one of your children and the medical bills are exorbitant um you can get help and that information is available on the sesex county health website so I wanted to make sure that I was sharing that with everybody so that they were aware if you know of anyone who who God forbid needs that please refer them to this website um because there is help Avail that is available so please make sure you do that also we received a letter from uh Jeff parrot the county clerk with concerns regarding vacant buildings and squatters so if anyone sees anything this is one of those see something say something please be mindful that this is an issue in Sussex County and surrounding municipalities so please pay close attention and if you do see please report it accordingly um I want to I want I would like to move forward with putting together a resolution that captures and outlines in details how we are going to alert the community when we have open positions on different committees so that we do it in an even way where it's balanced where it's not just on someone's Facebook post here or something here or someone's text message it's really important that we get to the whole community and in my opinion we're failing at that so what I'd like to see us do is come to the next meeting with a resolution that outlines where we're going to put this stuff how we're going to get it to the general population in the community and how we're going to make sure that we are making these um openings available that everyone's aware of them and that they can that they know how to sign up for them so that I guess is an action item for the next meeting Jim maybe we could talk about that sure but that's new business for me I think it's very important and it's high time that we everybody has their own apparent idea but we're to me we're not hitting the mark so we need to tighten it up no no no fault we just need to to do that that's it for me Council oh no I'm sorry do we have a drone ordinance does anyone know does anyone know if we have a drone ordinance I've gotten two residents swearing that there are are drones and they don't know what to do like they're just aliens don't worry well not the alien drones like a regular drone that is flying please don't shoot it does require licenses on a certain level size growth you have to be a license operator can it be on private property like around window level I know that the operators have to be licensed all right like uh our PD just uh has purchased a drone that they use um you have to be have a have a licensed operator to operate it okay um I'm not familiar with us having an ordinance on drones actually a good point so if I have a drone that's underneath the licensable requirement that's small I go out and rent it for a day can I fly it into your house and see what you're doing in your living room I think there are inv invasion of privacy complaints that could be the regulations that exist are based on height so I think if it's under a certain height in in somebody else's property it's violation I can fly it over your property as long as I'm then you're an fa FAA right statutory so here's what I'll tell you this may sound like it's not not something that's important but I'll tell you right now when it happens to you it is okay so this has happened more times this is like the third or fourth time I've heard about it where people are like getting in their bedroom and next thing you know they see a light and it sounds ridiculous it's obviously not a UFO it is an actual drone that's someone is flying to look at their house I just saw a a special um that said that burglars are actually using drones to track what's going on in your yard when you're coming when you're going the layout what it looks like in your backyard how it looks like for you to get to your garage over so I just think I would maybe you could just talk with the chief and see if there's something there or if there's something that we need to do or something from the state that we need to implement or something so that people get the hint that drones are great but on your own property or in a public place not in someone's window it's you know or whatever okay now it's really it I promise that's it okay councilman Herzberg any unfinished or I have none okay um I have one item of new business um I need to make an appointment uh as the mayor's design to the planning board uh we had a resignation um this uh afternoon uh by um Nick pompilio who was my design um he in in light of the recent decision um involving an application uh he is tendered his resignation so that leaves an opening for the mayor's design and so um I am going to appoint um Joan Ferman uh Joan has a masters of Business Administration from Duke University um she was the director of strategic planning marketing and business development for a bunch of healthc care plans um she's also sat on state boards uh who had the responsibility um for determining uh outpatient facilities uh she has she helped create statutory regulations um and guarding facility expansion for some of these healthc care entities um she's also served as a legal expert in several legal cases so uh Joan comes with a lot of professional experience uh um and so I I think she will make a valuable um uh addition to the planning board so with that I I don't think that's subject to a vote it's just my appointee but I wanted to inform people of the resignation and then the appointment of Joan um with that said and and and um we do have an opening for a um alternate position on planning board um that so I I I agree with uh councilman Quinn um that you know there should be a way that it gets publicized and and and and and broadly published um so with with with that in mind I um I will make it know that there is a position open so you can go on the town website U on the online submitt form and you can put in your application for uh planning board so with that that is all the unfinished new business that I have um councilman Cher um I have well I'll I'll maybe just make one quick comment I'd like to thank the doctor here for coming and and entertaining us and raising awareness that mental health is um is an important issue and we should all uh be mindful of um our family and friends and um if you see something say something sort of thing um thank you that's all I have okay we're now at the final um public comment period um so this is a grab bag of public comment so if you have any final public comment you'd like to make um please do hi Joanne scall spida I just want to thank you for the hero Banner program um my two sons one's a marine one's Army is currently banner and now I'm proud to say that my grandson who is in the Navy is going to have his Banner put up and he's being deployed he was deployed Saturday um unknown well we kind of know where he's going and not a good area um and I ask for his prayer for his safety um Nick Anderson um he's a 2020 graduate of sport he went right into the US Navy he's um stationed in Norfolk on the USS Wasp um and one thing I don't know if I could talk um I looked real quickly through all the airbnbs in sporta and that one listed that sound thing and Airbnb regulations say you have to list that so someone um unless I missed it and only a handful have security cameras and the Airbnb on my street caters to a party group because they have eight seat poker table a hot tub pool table ping pong table in the garage um so it's a party is not something I would rent I'm not going to go with eight person poker table it's going to be eight adults at least at that poker table so I urge you to um at your next meeting to um adopt that ordinance and let it go into effect immediately I don't need a summer we put up the summer with um Tom Hawk we don't need um strangers in our neighborhood any more than we already have in the summer and another thought I had about school bus stops how of a school bus stop is right in front of an Airbnb that's really quick and that would you have to worry about this it might not happen but it could happen and if it does and we allow airbnbs in residential areas who's to blame that's all I have to say but I thank you all for everything you do for our town I love our town I've been resident for 33 years I plan to stay here at least I hope to stay here as long as I'm able but thank you again have a good night thank you and and to your grandson um our thoughts and prayers are with them I hope you know he's safe and thank you for obviously now you're into two to three generations of of OBS service so you're doing something right so my uncle's bured over battle the Bulge so I have a long history and I'm proud of it you should be you should be and and we're proud to have people like you and and your family here thank you um anyone else for public comment I get five minutes right you don't have to take five minutes and and be I thought you mind of the hour I just really wanted to say thank you I've never been to one of these meetings before and uh um sorry uh Quinn yesin Miss Miss Quinn thank you uh to see democracy at work here tonight and to see you guys listen to folks stop looking at me like that time to see folks in the audience um you know be able to voice their opinions and to see you really think about it it there there's a lot on both sides I understand that you have people who are trying to make a profit off of this but don't lose sight of people who are just homeowners trying to get by right and again if I lived in a I didn't mean to pick on Lake Mohawk but if I lived in an area that was very Compact and I had to live next to one of these I might think very differently so I just really thank you for taking the time thank you you're welcome thank you for coming out anyone else for public comment just quickly um spilled water all over myself St so I'm fighting myself um but I just wanted to say thank you um I will send you and I I could give her copy but there's going to be more I hope tomorrow so I'd like to email them if I can so that you can they can be emailed to all of you rather than a hard copy yes is that okay with you email is preferred okay all right thank you very much Tim Tim you know what even if you get give us what you have I have a pretty good bulk right now send us the next one so we can start reading through because I think we all appreciate this the sensitive you know the time sensitivity around this so if we could start reading the sooner better sooner better than later that great and I still hope that you'll research the car Val for mixed juice CU I I saw that in one of them and I don't remember which one it was but you'll see it yes I'd encourage you to look at that and really see if there's something else I'm also going to reach out to the New Jersey travel industry Association because they also have um some legal counsel and um uh just have them focus on New Jersey New Jersey they only do New Jersey okay they only do New Jersey so I don't know if that'll be helpful to us or not but I can certainly ask them great all right thanks any other member of the public wishing to be heard in public comment right see none may I have a motion to adjourn moved second I'll second uh all those in favor say I I I we are adjourned thank you all right Dean you're free to hang up and take some cold medicine to go to bed and get better oh I'm door aren we going back I know but I stole Yours by accident oh I went over to help roxan and I left mine on a table I sign and then all of a sudden she called she goes Chris you left your up and I go I'm staring there have a good night she goes what do you can't be staring at it cuz I'm looking at it so I look at the bag I go oh my God I I said oh no please tell him so I'm sorry I spole your bunny expensive too I hope not than are we going back into executive session oh that's I just problem um I can you can ping Dean back okay well we we justed we' just announced we adjourned oh so we can't go back left all right well okay CH I can tell you um that uh I talked to David Z there's