Short-term rental properties have proved a challenge for many rural communities in Carbon County.

As the pandemic rages on, a specific property near Beltzville Lake was the subject of complaint at a board of supervisors of Towamensing Township meeting.

Michael Harris, who lives by a recently established Airbnb near the lake, said the new rental is noisy, with tenants blasting music at all times of day.

“The issue is that we all have good times. It’s just that they come for vacation,” Harris said. “It’s the beach, and when we go to the beach, we expect that. But we didn’t buy the beach. We don’t live at the beach.”

Supervisor Guy Seifert said the property was in violation of zoning laws.

“We’re taking action on it,” Seifert said.

The township’s zoning officer, Carl Faust, added that a letter was already in the mail. Faust said when he recently went to the three-bedroom home, he found 15 people.

“They are in violation of our zoning ordinance,” Faust reiterated.

Faust also said Airbnb rentals “are not a permitted use in the township,” and that another locality, Chestnuthill Township, has adopted an ordinance and updated its zoning code to standardize short-term rentals.

Towamensing Township might look to take similar action.

“We got to deal with this issue,” Seifert said.

The property’s owner was not identified, nor were they in attendance at the board meeting on Thursday.

Tourism is one of Carbon’s cornerstone industries. Thousands flock to the county each summer, many of whom travel from out of state to float across the Lehigh, lay up on the beaches of Beltzville, or hike trails.

In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, where outdoor events are among the few recreational activities people might feel safe to partake in, that problem has increased.

Tourists are causing other issues for the area. Regulating Airbnb rentals is just one example. Illegal parking on the streets surrounding an ever-packed Beltzville, littering, and other problems have also risen.