Council Updated On Howell's Tougher Home Occupancy Rules

HOWELL, NJ — An update of how the township policy on residential occupancy limits is working came up at the Township Council meeting Tuesday night.

In what had to be a record, the Township Council meeting was under 14 minutes long and had no one commenting from the public.

But there was still a lot of business packed into the meeting, such as reports from township officials, including an update on the continuing issue of over-occupancy in township homes.

Director of Community Development and Land Use Officer Matthew Howard said his office continues to get complaints about possible over-occupancy and has been issuing summonses as appropriate.

He said his office reviews every complaint that comes in, and he said there is no need to make duplicate complaints.

He reminded residents that the goal of new occupancy rules is to make homeowners in the township compliant and give fair warning to follow the rules before a summons is issued.

Rental properties in the township have to meet posted occupancy requirements or face heftier fines under the revised ordinance adopted Feb. 21. Read a full story about the ordinance here.

Ordinance 23-4 was adopted unanimously.

According to the explanatory statement of the ordinance, it revised an existing rental property code to "define maximum occupancy, define a bedroom and increase the minimum fines for violations." The ordinance also specifies the calculation of a structure’s maximum occupancy.

The issue of over-occupancy was addressed at length by Howard at the Township Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

At that meeting, Howard referenced a Jan. 23 fire on Lanes Pond Road that destroyed a large house and required a massive response from police, fire companies and EMTs. There were no injuries in the fire. The owner of the property has now received numerous summonses from the township.

In another housing related issue, Councilman Fred Gasior said he has been receiving some complaints from residents who feel they are being solicited for sales at their home.

He reminded the public of the "do-not-knock" registry residents can sign up for, with a notice at their homes to discourage unwanted contact.

Last May, the Township Council adopted new rules to regulate soliciting for real estate sales.

Among them is that the soliciting is restricted to the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Real estate soliciting is prohibited on all Saturdays and Sundays and all federal and state holidays.

Anyone not following the new rules can be fined $500 per offense. And there is a bigger fine for those who solicit residents who are on the township's registry.

You can find the form here for the do-not-knock registry.