Some municipalities are regulating or considering rules for short-term rentals. Here's what we know

Growing complaints are prompting new restrictions and regulations for short-term home and apartment rentals.

Residents have complained about noise, parties, campfires, litter and cars parked in the street by short-term tenants in Erie County neighborhoods.

Millcreek and Summit townships recently adopted regulations defining where short-term rentals are permitted and imposing a laundry list of requirements for owners of properties leased for 30 or fewer days. Erie City Council is expected to consider regulations once a new city planner is hired.

The regulations are meant to safeguard residential neighborhoods, said Summit Township Supervisor Jack Lee, who oversees land development and zoning in the township. Summit supervisors last month adopted an ordinance limiting short-term rentals to mixed residential/commercial, commercial and retail districts in the township, primarily along Routes 97 and 99.

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"I live in a nice residential neighborhood that has zoning that says the neighborhood is residential," Lee said. "You can't open a business and have six or eight employees parking in the street every day and standing in the road smoking and staring at neighbors while they wait to take trucks out.

"And you shouldn't have people coming and going to rentals. I want neighbors in my neighborhood, not strangers and visitors all the time at places that basically are operated as businesses by developers, investors, businesspeople and others who don’t mind stepping on toes as long as it's good for them," Lee said.

The number of properties offered for short-term rental in Summit Township has grown in recent years, and while there have been no issues with most of those properties, the number of neighbor complaints has also grown, Lee said.

"We've had a heckuva lot of people upset about Airbnbs. We've had a lot of opposition from neighbors," Lee said.

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Some permits required

Airbnb.com provides online marketing of properties offered for short-term rental. Its website typically lists dozens of Erie area homes, apartments and campers.

Most municipalities have no zoning regulations for short-term rentals. Summit Township collected and reviewed ordinances recently enacted by other municipalities before adopting its own regulations June 6.

Besides specifying where short-term rentals are allowed, the new regulations require property owners to obtain an annual permit for short-term rentals and to provide 24/7 contact information for someone available to address issues with the properties or tenants.

The ordinance also limits the number of tenants allowed, requires fire alarms, smoke detectors and parking on the properties, and limits noise audible at property boundaries after 10 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends.

The new regulations will not apply to properties rented short-term before the ordinance was adopted, Lee said.

Similarly, Erie's Zoning Board decided in 2017 that a property owner has the right to lease a property short-term because the city zoning code doesn't prohibit it. But the board reversed that decision in 2019 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled — in the Slice of Life v. Hamilton Township Zoning Hearing Board case in Monroe County — that short-term rentals are not allowed unless specifically permitted by a municipality.

Municipalities now are deciding if they will permit — and where they will permit — short-term rentals.

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Millcreek Township

Millcreek Township zoning regulations updated this spring allow short-term rentals, referred to as limited lodging, primarily along portions of West Sixth Street and West Lake Road, Peninsula Drive, West 12th and West 26th streets, and near the Millcreek Mall along Interchange and Zuck roads.

"Limited lodging is a new permitted use in mixed-use districts, in the Presque Isle Gateway district and in a small area abutting the gateway," said Matt Puz, Millcreek zoning and development officer. Mixed-use districts permit both residential and commercial uses.

"Those districts, especially the gateway district, are geared more toward tourists and attractions, and limited lodging is a compatible use," Puz said.

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No action in other muncipalities

Other municipalities have taken no action on short-term rentals because of the state Supreme Court ruling that short-term rentals are prohibited unless specifically permitted by a municipality.

"We're hanging our hats on the Slice of Life case," Harborcreek Township Supervisor Dean Pepicello said. Pepicello oversees zoning in the township. "Short-term rentals have not been allowed and are not now allowed in Harborcreek given our significant neighborhood presence."

Told that the Erie Times-News has seen online short-term rental listings with addresses in Harborcreek Township, Pepicello said: "That doesn't surprise me. But if we find that a property owner is in violation of what we allow as it stands today, we would move to enforce that.

"Harborcreek Township could also take action in the future to allow (short-term rentals) in certain areas. But we have not done that to date," Pepicello said.

Erie taking a closer look

Erie City Council will look at short-term rental regulations once a new city planner is in place. Kathy Wyrosdick recently resigned from the post to accept a private-sector job.

"I think we need to look at short-term rental regulations in the region," Council President Liz Allen said. "Go over our zoning line by line, and then consider what we want to do when we have a new city planner to guide us," Allen said. "Whatever we finally decide on, we will need to communicate to the public."

Residents have justified concerns about short-term rentals in their neighborhoods, Allen said, including safety and security issues, especially since a January shooting death at a short-term rental at 3904 McClelland Ave. in Erie. An Erie man, 30, was killed at the home on Jan. 27 during a suspected home invasion robbery. According to investigators, four men staying at the house had come to Erie from Arizona to sell fentanyl.

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The benefits of short-term rentals

Still, even municipalities prohibiting or restricting short-term rentals recognize that there have been no issues with most properties and that the rentals can benefit communities as well as property owners.

"Short-term rentals provide a community benefit by expanding the number and type of lodging facilities available and assist owners of short term-rentals by providing revenue which may be used for maintenance, upgrades and deferred costs," according to the Summit Township ordinance.

Visitors to Erie also benefit, Allen said.

"Erie is a tourist town. When I talk to people visiting, they like to stay in a quiet neighborhood," Allen said. "I'm optimistic that we can find short-term rental solutions that work for everybody."

The issue is where short-term rentals should and should not be permitted, Glenwood resident Theodore Ely told the Erie Times-News in April.

"We're not against short-term rentals per se. This is about where they put them," Ely said.

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @ETNmyers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Some Erie area municipalities regulate short-term rentals, others don't