What to know about Bellefonte’s proposed short-term rental ordinance before public hearing
Bellefonte residents will have the opportunity Wednesday to share their input on a proposed amendment to the borough code that will add short-term rental regulations.
The Bellefonte Borough council will hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at Lambert Hall, 303 Forge Road, Bellefonte.
Short-term housing rentals, like those listed on Airbnb and Vrbo, have become increasingly popular for event weekends in Centre County and help generate revenue for tourism. Gina Thompson, HARB, zoning and planning administrator for the borough, said short-term rentals have popped up around the borough over time, but because it’s a new type of zoning — a commercial use of a house — it has not been regulated.
The council has been working on such an amendment for several years.
“We don’t have an ordinance for it because it’s such a fairly new concept in terms of zoning. So, you know, that’s sort of the rationale behind drafting a short-term rental ordinance just because they do exist in the borough, and we need to have some regulations for them,” Thompson said.
The proposed ordinance defines short-term rental as, “Any dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is offered for rent as a living facility in increments of 29 consecutive nights or less.”
Several short-term rentals were permitted in residential districts over the past few years because there was no ordinance to state how to regulate them. They were permitted as rental housing and not a commercial use, Thompson said. But the borough’s solicitor later said these shouldn’t be permitted because it’s a commercial use, which isn’t allowed in the residential zoning districts.
The proposed ordinance will not allow any more short-term rentals in R-1 and R-2 residential zoning districts. However, short-term rentals that have already been permitted prior to the enactment of the ordinance can continue, the ordinance states.
“The ordinance really is attempting to kind of acknowledge and accept that there are these pre-existing short-term rentals in our residential districts and it wouldn’t be legal or fair to say, ‘OK, well now you can’t exist, so now you’re just done with your business.’ But also saying ‘OK, well, you have been operating a short-term rental legally in the borough, so here is an opportunity to continue to do that, but there are some regulations,” Thompson said.
Short-term rental properties operating in the R-1 and R-2 residential districts can be rented out for a maximum of 60 nights per year; those in the commercial districts can operate year round, the ordinance states. Short-term rentals can be owner occupied or non-owner occupied, it states.
If a short-term rental exists in the borough and it has an active rental permit, Thompson said when the ordinance is adopted, that short-term rental can apply for a short-term rental zoning permit.
The proposed ordinance also includes rules for things such as parking, — each short-term rental is permitted a maximum of two on-street parking spaces, and the maximum number of parking spaces both on and off-street cannot exceed the number of bedrooms on the property — signage, insurance requirements and a designated person in charge.
If a property owner who rents or advertises the rental without first obtaining a short-term rental permit or without renewing it will be in violation and could be subject to a fine if not remedied within 30 days of receiving notice from the borough, according to the proposed ordinance.
The full proposed ordinance is available online at bellefonte.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/STR-ORDINANCE-DRAFT-Proposed-Final-Draft-9-13-2022.pdf.
The council will not vote on the proposed ordinance during the public hearing; the next council meeting is Dec. 5.
