The Lower Towamensing Township supervisors pressed forward this week with a hearing on short-term rental properties, also known as vacation rentals.

The township is considering an ordinance and an amendment to the zoning ordinance to include short-term rental properties.

Resident Steve Meining has been attending monthly meetings and speaking about problems he has experienced in his neighborhood with noise and rude behavior from vacation renters.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone, supervisors and the planning commission who were involved in the development of a short-term rental ordinance for having the patience to listen to my input over the course of past months,” Meining said. “My thoughts and concerns, voiced over that time period were solely aimed at protecting the health, safety and well-being of our township’s current citizens and the land that they occupy.”

The zoning ordinance limits short-term rentals to residential properties in the low-density residential district (R-1) and the village center district (V-C).

The R-1 district consists of housing developments near Spruce Hollow Road above Little Gap Road, south of Hahns Dairy Road, and between Wintergreen Road and Forest Inn Road.

The village center district lies in the area of Forest Inn Road, Fireline Road and Sand Quarry Road, as well as below the ski resort along Little Gap Road, Lower Smith Gap Road and Hahns Dairy Road near Covered Bridge Road.

About 10% to 15% of potential short-term rental properties lie within these districts.

Short-term rentals would not be permitted in the rural conservation district (R-C), which is about 80% of the township. Any current short-term rental in the R-C district would have to apply for a special exception from the zoning hearing board.

Short-term rentals are also not allowed in the resort and recreation district (R-R), medium and high density residential district (R-2), and the industrial district (I).

Mark Shay, a resident and a real estate agent, asked why short-term rentals are not being permitted in all zoning areas in the township.

“Here in Lower Towamensing, we’ve got resort and recreation, rural conservation and industrial zoning districts, all consisting of properties with lots of space, houses and allowing short-term rentals in these areas would seem less likely to impact the residents than allowing it in R1. The regulations should provide opportunity for responsible behavior everywhere,” Shay said.

“To me, it would seem fairer to allow short-term rental to be permitted in each zoning district in the township and include language about nuisance designation as they have done in Towamensing and some of the other townships. I encourage you to have the regulations, but I would hope we could do it within all of the zoning districts in the township.”

Brent Green, the chairman of the supervisors, said the township explored the idea of including all zoning districts, but having a house in a commercial district is already a nonconforming use and they didn’t want to promote the development of more houses there.

“It’s not something we didn’t want to consider,” he said. “It’s basically something we said, ‘Let’s see where this goes in ordinance and if we have to address it in other zoning districts, we certainly can,’ but we didn’t want to go out and put it everywhere.”

Shay encouraged a nuisance clause because it can give a municipality more influence on the homeowners to control who they rent to.

“If a property is cited for noise or behavior of the guests, then the owner is cited that you have created a nuisance and repetition of that citation means that you can lose your license,” he said.

Green explained that the stand-alone ordinance governing short-term rental properties includes a nuisance clause and enforcement of it.

Both the municipal ordinance and the zoning ordinance are available for the public to review.