Bethlehem, PA, Looks to Reinforce Restrictions on STRs

7/8/2026

The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, City Council this week held a hearing on a package of zoning ordinance amendments. Among them were measures that would reinforce restrictions on short-term rentals in the city. Cathy Fletcher, the city's director of planning and zoning, reports that one area the new amendments address is transient rentals where stays shorter than 30 days are allowed. Fletcher said adoption of the amendments works to ensure that STRs such as Airbnbs are only permitted where hotels are presently permitted. Fletcher notes that the city currently treats STRs as hotels instead of family residences, which is permitted by Pennsylvania zoning case law. That approach, though, has not been clearly codified in Bethlehem's zoning ordinance.

WFMZ-TV 69 (PA) (07/07/26) Kat Schneider