Seaside Heights, NJ blocks prom-age renters as motel owners cry discrimination

🏨 Seaside Heights bans young adults from renting motel rooms during prom season.

🏨 Local motel owners are fighting back in court, calling the age restriction discriminatory.

🏨 Officials say the rules are about public safety.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS — Get a room? For young adults looking to celebrate during prom season down the Jersey Shore, it's a move that could earn them a huge fine.

Now, local motels and hotels are fighting to get their business back.

On Tuesday, those owners told New Jersey appellate judges that it was discriminatory for Seaside Heights to ban 18- to 20-year-olds from renting rooms during prom season, the New Jersey Monitor reported. The ban runs from April 15 through June 30, ending just in time for the start of the Fourth of July holiday.

Get our free mobile app

The operators of the Sunrise Motel and Hershey Motel jointly filed a lawsuit against Seaside Heights in Superior Court in Ocean County. Their lawsuit had previously been dismissed by a lower court.

Motel owners say age restriction unfairly targets young adults

The motel and hotel operators are represented by Christopher Ryan O’Shea, an attorney based in Toms River. He's been fighting the ordinance since it was first passed more than two years ago.

"In this modern age, you can go fight a war for the United States, but the borough in Seaside Heights right now is saying you can't rent a short-term rental within its borough," O'Shea said to the council at a July 19, 2023 meeting.

Borough links rule to cannabis, crowd control and public safety

The town argues that legalized weed in New Jersey has led to “an uncontrollable hazard" of teenagers at the Jersey Shore, according to the Monitor report.

However, the idea to ban rentals for young adults was floated years before New Jersey made cannabis legal; New Jersey 101.5 reported that borough Business Administrator Christopher Vaz was pushing for the policy as early as May 2018.

Town tries to move past party reputation

Seaside Heights has been trying to shed its identity as a shore town for partying teens with debatable success. In 2023, the infamous club Karma was torn down to make way for condos. The Bamboo Bar met with a similar fate. There's also been a recent focus on art, including a new studio and murals on the boardwalk.

Despite the efforts of local officials, Seaside Heights is still notoriously chaotic. Last year, there were 73 arrests, including 21 juveniles, over the Memorial Day Weekend. Those arrests and three stabbings led to police shutting down the boardwalk.

NEED A DRESS?: Prom dress drive returns to Ocean County library branches

In response, the borough passed new rules to close the boardwalk at 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Officials also instituted a bag ban on anything larger than 8 inches by 6 inches by 8 inches. The goal: keep Seaside Heights under control for families.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom