Imagine this scenario: You live in New York City, and you have been among the horde of visitors to the Poconos for years. You’re about to retire, and you decide to buy your retirement home in a quiet neighborhood of Penn Forest Township, Carbon County.

It’s peaceful, bucolic, just the way you expected it would be. You can hear the crickets. You can watch the grass grow. All’s right with the world, until you realize that just down the road is another home that looks like a single-family home but it’s not, because a procession of different people come and go every week or so. Yes, it’s what’s known as a short-term rental property.

Most of the time, it’s not a problem, but sometimes it is.

You’re jarred awake about 2 a.m. by loud music coming from the property. You peek out your window, and you see eight or nine people cavorting on the lawn, drinking, shouting as if it were the middle of the day. One of them drifts off to the side of the property and urinates.

What’s going on? You didn’t sign up for this.

While the specific scenario just described is fictional, variations of it have been experienced by some township residents, as well as those living in nearby Kidder Township.

In August, some residents brought their complaints before the Penn Forest Township Board of Supervisors. One resident said all was well until gymnasts showed up for a summer camp being run out of a neighboring property.

Both townships have short-term rental ordinances in place; Penn Forest Township’s has been in effect since the fall of 2021. The ordinance lists rules which rental owners must follow, and owners must have an annual $250 license to operate these places.

The ordinance is in effect “to prevent the continued burden on township and community services and negative impacts on residential neighborhoods posed by short-term rentals.”

At the time, Supervisor Scott Lignore praised the township’s action, noting that until the ordinance was passed it was the “Wild West,” no rules, no regulations.

While many township residents viewed the ordinance as a positive move, the issue of enforcement remains a sticking point. In the nearly two years that the ordinance has been in effect, no violators have been cited. The township does not have a police force, nor does it have a code enforcement officer.

At Penn Forest’s August meeting, Supervisor Christian Bartulovich said the township is adding a code enforcement officer who will review violations submitted through the township’s website. He said, however, that the township cannot respond to weekend complaints without its own police force.

Short-term rental companies, such as Airbnb and VRBO, claim they take complaints of negative incidents seriously. An Airbnb spokesman said the company has canceled contracts with renters of these homes if they do not meet standards and if complaints persist. “Negative incidents don’t reflect the overwhelming number of satisfied hosts and guests in 81,000 cities and 191 countries,” the spokesman said.

Property-owners have a constitutionally protected right to the enjoyment of their property. The courts have long recognized that municipalities have the right to establish residential zoning districts to shield areas for residents to enjoy without increased traffic and noise. It’s called maintaining the residential character of a neighborhood.

With short-term rentals, these “homes” actually operate more like “hotels,” and hotels occupy a different zoning district.

After all is said and done, the question boils down to this: Is there a real problem with these properties, or is it a matter of one or two bad apples, as the owners of these properties maintain?

Township officials must walk a fine line in determining how to keep these problems from getting out of hand. Some residents want these rentals banned completely. Well, you know that this is big business and brings an economic shot in the arm to areas such as eastern Carbon County and the rest of the Poconos, so this is not a logical option. Such a move would surely raise constitutional questions, too.

The best solution is to enforce existing laws, but, at the same time, it is imperative for both township officials and the owners of these establishments to communicate effectively so they can co-exist to the satisfaction of the township’s residents.

FUN FACTS: Between day-trippers and those staying longer, nearly 28 million visitors come to the Poconos each year, according to the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau; this translates to $3.3 billion in annual revenue that is responsible for helping to create 35,200 jobs; this also translates into collection of $520 million in various federal, state and local taxes.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.