From what Councilman Mike Pellegrino has seen and heard, the neighborhood is changing and he wants to make sure Shrewsbury has a plan in place before that change is complete.

At a recent council meeting, Pellegrino said he’s received a couple of complaints from residents who have reported seeing multiple families living in rented single-family homes in the borough. Now, he’s asking the town to review its rental rules and regulations on file to see if they need to be augmented or simply better enforced.

“At one point we were primarily a home owner-occupied town. We’re going away from that,” Pellegrino, saying there has been an increase in homes being rented in Shrewsbury, said. “Before we become a transient town, I’d like to get it taken care of.”

Apparently, the borough has rules on the books regarding rentals, though it’s unclear if those rules are part of a local ordinance or are part of state law regarding rental properties in New Jersey. Information like the number of tenants, their names and ages, as well as relevant utility information, must be filed with the borough by landlords seeking to rent their properties.

Just how well those rules are enforced, however, is mostly unknown. Councilman Tom Menapace said even the state rules concerning rental properties in Shrewsbury were likely unknown to most of the board.

Pellegrino admitted that his concern over the perceived rise in rentals was mostly an anecdotal one, but did say that there have been enough observations of potential violations to at least warrant the conversation.

What he’d like to see is up for debate. If the town has stringent rental ordinances on the books, he’d like to see them better enforced. If the borough has been lax in developing rules for rentals, he’d like the council to consider doing something about it. The issue will likely be discussed in greater detail at the borough’s next council meeting.