Is Bethlehem going too far to restrict Airbnb rentals? Council and some residents aren’t sure - lehighvalleylive.com

For 30 years, Kate McVey’s lived in her four-bedroom home steps from Moravian College’s campus, taking great pride in her Bethlehem home.

With room to spare, McVey’s discovered that renting a single room on Airbnb helps her keep her home updated and her bills paid.

“I’d like to think I am a good neighbor,” McVey told Bethlehem’s City Council last week.

Her guests have spanned all ages, exposing her to wonderful people in town for a job interview or a special event, she said. Folks often Uber from the airport or bus station and don’t take up a parking spot on Lorain Avenue where parking can be at a premium, McVey said.

McVey was one of three Airbnb hosts who spoke at a city council hearing Tuesday on a proposed zoning ordinance to share their concerns about a proposal to more tightly regulate the city’s short-term rental market. Bethlehem’s trying to rein in the practice of investors snatching up properties in the Historic District solely for renting them on home sharing sites like VRBO, Airbnb and HomeAway.

But residents and some members of council expressed concerns that the restrictions might go too far and inhibit legitimate home-sharing efforts, which the city says it doesn’t want to discourage.

“This is a tourist city,” Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith said.

The quality of life for residents is paramount, but it is a shame a “few bad apples” are ruining the process, Crampsie Smith said.

Council members floated modifying the ordinance, but city Director of Planning and Zoning Darlene Heller warned any tweaks would reset the clock and require a lengthy, new advertising and public hearing process. Council took no action on the ordinance Tuesday night, just held the required public hearing.

Under the proposed changes, a homeowner must be living in their property, present for all rentals and renting no more than two rooms. A home could not be rented for more than 30 consecutive nights under the proposal and the city requires annual licensing and inspections. The proposed zoning change also requires two off-street parking spaces per home and a third space if two rooms are rented. This does not apply to homes in the central business district, per the proposal.

This means a Lehigh University professor couldn’t rent their home on VRBO while abroad doing summer research and a West Bethlehem resident can’t flee during Musikfest and collect some coin from a 'Fest fan. McVey expressed concerns about the parking restrictions, but was told they wouldn’t apply to her property.

Councilman Bryan Callahan opposes investors offering up city properties on home-sharing websites, but he has no problem with a resident renting their house for a month while they are on vacation, he said.

The city currently has 20 short-term lodging facilities that are properly licensed and inspected. But a few online searches turn up plenty operating outside the bounds of the regulation.

Councilman J. William Reynolds called this a balancing act between protecting neighborhoods and individual property rights. Much of it depends on how a judge interprets the regulations, he said. It will be very difficult to prove someone is renting their owner-occupied home when they are away, Reynolds said.

With four children under 5, council President Adam Waldron said if an Airbnb isn’t an option, his family isn’t going there. The key is finding a balance, because a hotel may not be the solution for every family or situation and some operate rentals the city should be happy to have, he said.

Historic District resident Barbara Diamond, who opposes whole house short-term rentals, applauded the city’s efforts to strengthen its regulations. But she said she sees a professor or other resident trying to rent their house for a short period as a very different situation than a commercial investor.

She hopes the updated rules will allow the city to shut down the illegal Airbnbs operating in the Historic District, which draw resident complaints for drunk visitors, parking battles and late-night parties.

Resident Wendy Martel said it sounds like the city is dealing with two very different problems: commercial investors gobbling up homes for short-term rentals versus legitimate home sharing. She rents out a floor of her home on Airbnb and she’s had wonderful guests who shop and eat downtown. But under this proposed change now she can’t spend the night at someone’s house if she has a guest.

Bethlehem first sought to regulate short-term rentals in 2017 and passed an ordinance requiring them to be owner-occupied, licensed and inspected and set limits on the length of rentals. But the city’s efforts to enforce the new law failed in court when a Northampton County judge indicated it didn’t pass legal muster.

A recent state Supreme Court decision reopened the door to short-term rental regulations, so the city is floating zoning amendments and updates to the original ordinance to more clearly spell out where the city allows home-sharing and define what’s permitted. The city is also laying out what makes a property a hotel -- a building with one or more rental units renting to transient visitors -- that’s not a short-term rental or bed-and-breakfast.

Earlier this year, Bethlehem City Council unanimously passed a resolution declaring the two changes pending ordinances, which means any new uses from Jan. 21 on would be subject to the new zoning. Council scheduled a public hearing on the new zoning rules for March 3.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. If there’s anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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Is Bethlehem going too far to restrict Airbnb rentals? Council and some residents aren’t sure - lehighvalleylive.com
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