Taking On An Age Old Problem in Seaside Heights
Seaside Heights Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz took to Facebook Monday to address a decades-old issue that has helped contribute to the poor image the town often suffers.
Vaz, whose father Anthony is the mayor, wrote that he will be proposing to end once and for all the “craziness that occurs this time of year with prom and graduation parties in motels/hotels and apartments.” What he was referring to is the rental of rooms and apartments to large groups of minors who engage in underage drinking (and more) and often get out of control and cause problems for other visitors and residents.
The younger Vaz wants to go after those who own and operate the motels/hotels and apartments and make them responsible because as he added “history has proven year after year that babysitting the minors and trying to control the chaos is not the solution.”
I have known Chris since he was a young kid as I grew up in Seaside Heights and more than any other individual I believe he has been responsible for many of the positive things that have happened in the borough in recent years. He is right when he says the problems in Seaside Heights will not fix themselves but unfortunately the borough is also largely to blame for years of ignoring issues like this which are not new but rather very old.
Vaz said among the ordinances he will propose to Mayor & Council are ones that prohibit the rental of rooms to anyone under the age of 21 and strict enforcement of occupancy limits. Driving by some motels this weekend it’s obvious that some greedy owners are only concerned about grabbing the most money possible with little concern or regard for anything else.
In fairness at this time of year you will find similar problems in other beach towns in New Jersey but Seaside Heights is one that is often under the microscope and I applaud Vaz for addressing and not ignoring something that needs to be fixed. Hopefully those with the power to implement the changes will be as open-minded as him and admit the time has come to do something about a problem that has existed for far too long.