Can you Airbnb in Emerson, NJ?

What the rules say in Emerson

• No STR-specific provision exists anywhere in the code: full-code eCode360 searches for "short-term rental", "airbnb", "transient", "lodging" and "landlord" return no STR chapter, permit, night cap, or owner-occupancy rule, and no STR ordinance is pending in the 2026 new-laws ledger (checked July 2026).
• Certificate of continued occupancy (§ 290-44.1, added by Ord. No. 991 of 1991, amended through Ord. No. 1660-22): a CCO is required prior to use or occupancy of any residential building after every sale, lease, rental or transfer; the rental inspection officer must inspect every rental dwelling unit prior to any occupancy or reoccupancy; the owner must give written notice at least 20 days before any scheduled change in occupancy and pay inspection fees first. Read literally this applies to each short-term turnover, which makes rapid STR cadence effectively impracticable.
• Lead-based paint inspection at tenant turnover or every 3 years for rental dwellings (§ 290-44.1, Ord. No. 1660-22); single- or two-family seasonal rental dwellings rented under six months per year to non-renewing tenants are exempt from the lead inspection only.
• Hotels and Tourist Houses license (Ch. 166, Ord. No. 628 of 1974): no person may operate or hold themselves out as operating a hotel or "tourist house" (a building in which sleeping accommodations only are furnished for pay to transients, tourists or travelers) without an annual borough license ($400, § 166-6), a bound guest register always available to police (§ 166-7), and police inspections (§ 166-8); violations up to $500 or 90 days per day of violation (§ 166-9). A hosted or room-rental STR fits this definition on its face.
• Zoning bar on lodging uses: § 290-9 (amended by Ord. No. 1560-18) provides that any use not designated as a principal, accessory or conditional use is specifically prohibited in every zone; residential zones permit only single-family detached dwellings (§§ 290-14 to 290-17.1, two-family in RB), "dwelling" is defined to exclude hotels, motels, rooming houses and boardinghouses (§ 290-6), and no zone in the borough lists hotels, motels or tourist houses as a permitted use.
• Annual rental-unit insurance registration (Ch. 125): owners of rental units must maintain liability insurance and register a certificate of insurance with the borough annually (§§ 125-1, 125-2), with fines for non-registration (§ 125-8).
• Housing chapter context (Ch. 168): for illegal-occupancy enforcement the borough defines FAMILY as persons living as a single, nonprofit housekeeping unit "of a permanent and domestic character, as distinguished from ... transient associations" (§ 168-1), signaling the borough's posture that residential occupancy is non-transient, though this definition is not part of the zoning chapter.

Sources: Code of the Borough of Emerson, NJ (eCode360, General Code); Ch. 166 Hotels and Tourist Houses, §§ 166-1 to 166-10 (license, guest register, penalties); § 290-9 General use restriction (any use not designated is prohibited; Ord. No. 1560-18); § 290-6 Zoning definitions (DWELLING, FAMILY, HOTEL, MOTELS, ROOMING HOUSE); § 290-14 R-22.5 Single-Family Zone and Article IV zone regulations (permitted uses); § 290-44.1 Certificates of continued occupancy (pre-rental inspection, 20-day notice, lead paint); Ch. 168 Housing (§ 168-1 FAMILY definition, illegal apartments); Ch. 125 Business Insurance Registration (§§ 125-1 to 125-8, rental units); Ch. 224 Rental Property (relocation assistance for illegal-occupancy displacement only); Emerson new laws ledger through May 2026 (no STR ordinance adopted or pending). Last reviewed 2026-07.