Jim Thorpe Borough Council on Thursday night unanimously upheld its zoning officer’s denial of a short-term rental permit application for a home in Glen Onoko Estates.

Brian Sargent had hoped his 1112 Broadview Drive property would be grandfathered in as an existing nonconforming use in a residential district after the borough adopted a short-term rental ordinance in 2021. His application was denied, however, after he did not register his property as an existing STR within 90 days of the ordinance taking effect.

Joe Shigo, who lives around four properties away from the home in question, said the borough’s decision was welcome news for residents.

“A lot of times on weekends, people come there and they have no respect for community,” Shigo said. “They come in and think because they are on vacation, they can do whatever they want. They bring in four wheelers and when they are told to stop, they give you the finger or worse. We don’t need this here. It degrades your community.”

Sargent’s attorney, Neal Ettinger, argued that the Municipalities Planning Code puts the onus on the borough, not the property owner, to register existing nonconforming properties after an ordinance adoption.

“We believe once you have a nonconforming use, the borough can’t restrict that nonconforming use even after adopting a short-term rental ordinance that prohibits that type of use in that particular zoning district,” Ettinger said Thursday. “(Sargent) thought he was already grandfathered in and did not have to register with the borough.”

Attorney Julie Wagner Burkart, representing the Glen Onoko Estates Homeowners Association, said the appeal heard Thursday, “did nothing short of undermine and sidestep the lawful enactment of a short-term rental ordinance by the borough.”

“I understood this to be an appeal of a denial of a short-term rental permit application,” Burkart said. “Now the applicant is posturing for a challenge of an ordinance when they failed to do in a timely manner after it was adopted.”

Burkart said Sargent never established that the property was legally operating as a nonconforming use before the ordinance was adopted in 2021.

“The R-1 residential district does not permit short-term rentals and the application was submitted and denied,” she added. “It is as simple as that.”