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Residents press council on rental-registration changes; city says updates are housekeeping and tighter definitions
Summary
Linden residents questioned the scope of a replacement rental-registration ordinance (70-4), citing concerns about occupancy formulas, inspections, and whether owners' family members could be classified as tenants. City staff and the health officer said most changes are definitional adjustments intended to clarify registration and renewal timing.
During a lengthy public hearing on ordinance 70-4, which replaces Chapter 13 (rental property), residents asked the council to explain several specific changes to registration, occupancy and inspection requirements.
Multiple speakers — including Israel Hartman, Moshe Teitelbaum, Joseph Bornstein and Ed Kaminski — asked why the draft ordinance appears to treat a dwelling occupied by an owner’s spouse, children or parents as a rental and whether the city would require annual entry into private homes for inspections or detailed occupant lists.
Amy Paluso, the Board of Health officer, told the council the revision was largely housekeeping: definitions had been corrected (for example, clarifying the threshold unit count that triggers registration), a senior definition was added, and renewal timing was moved from Dec. 31 to Jan. 31 so permit renewals align with calendar-year inspections. City counsel said the city adopted the ordinance under its general police power and that similar registration/inspection programs exist in other municipalities in Union County.
Residents remained concerned about enforcement and consistency across other ordinances such as the rent-leveling rules and asked for clearer cross-references. Council adopted the ordinance after public questioning; staff offered to meet with concerned residents to review language and to clarify whether particular sections could be interpreted as including family members as tenants.
The city did not introduce new inspection protocols at the hearing beyond what is in the ordinance text and emphasized that inspections are intended to ensure rental units meet health and safety standards, not to regulate owner-occupied units.
