Bethlehem City Council heard in a remote internet meeting Aug. 4 a first reading of three interrelated new ordinances to continue efforts to regulate the bed and breakfast business in Bethlehem.

The popularity of the international Airbnb business has brought corporate marketing support to homeowners everywhere to include Bethlehem. This has brought to the surface friction between homeowners who can use the company to put their property on the market and homeowners and hotel owners who view the commercialization of neighbor homes as either degrading exclusive neighborhoods or as unwanted competition.

City Council President Adam Waldron, who was physically present in the city hall rotunda meeting room while other members were connected via the internet, called the new ordinances as “being paired together in a way that makes them really difficult to untangle and separate.”

Waldron called the bed and breakfast issue, “a difficult and contentious situation.”

The proposed amendment attempts to define a “hotel” as opposed to a “short-term lodging facility” both of which being different from a facility “licensed as a regulated rental.”

Bethlehem’s Director of Planning and Zoning Darlene Heller briefed City Council on the proposed legislation.

First briefed was a zoning amendment that governs hotels and short-term lodging. “What raised the issue,” said Heller, “were those owners who bought property but have never lived there. But they [the properties] are perpetually rented out via Airbnb. The concern is they don’t seem to be monitored; no one seems to be there to take care of properties or to monitor noise.”

She said the city did some enforcement but had been challenged in court. “The advice we got was that we needed to have a zoning ordinance and zoning amendments to address short term lodging.”

Heller highlighted some changes for which the amendment would provide: the unit must be owner occupied; the owner can rent out for short term lodging one or two bedrooms, not the full house.

“Our thought is, if the owner is there,” said Heller, “there will be less of an issue for the [neighbors] who want to preserve the residential character of the neighborhood.”

She said the second agenda item, Bill 08-2020 contained revision needed to keep the housing ordinance compatible with the zoning amendment. Heller said homeowners [running bed and breakfast operations] need to register with the city, be inspected annually, and pay a fee.

Heller said the amendments take out the opportunity for the bed and breakfast facility to be operated by a manager only, but require that the property owner be part of the management as well.

She said the three proposed ordinances have been though the Bethlehem Planning Commission and the Lehigh Valley Planning commission, both of which had recommended approval.

At the conclusion of Heller’s remarks, Waldron said he has some major concerns about the proposed ordinances, but does not want to indicated that people are not welcome to stay in Bethlehem.

Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith said she sees both sides of the problem with short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. She said she knows a lot of people “who use Airbnb frequently. She said the city needs to deal with certain people who are taking advantage. “It is unfortunate that there is a whole neighborhood downtown who is suffering from inconsiderate and irresponsible behavior.”

She went on to object to the ordinance because it is written so that “the owner must be present all of the time. I would like it to be amended say that the owner must be present 70 percent or 80 percent of the time.”

She also objected to the restriction from renting the full house. “Everyone I know who has rented an Airbnb, has rented the full house.”

Crampsie Smith allows described the procedure used in some municipalities “at the shore,” where local realtors can be appointed as managers of an Airbnb so that owners do not have to be present.

Councilman Bryan Callahan also described his use of Airbnb homes in Boston. “I’ve never, ever had an owner remain in the house while we were staying there.”

Callahan said he sees no problem with an owner renting out a house while the owner is away for several weeks.

Discussion centered around what was an appropriate percentage of time that an owner could rent out a home used for short-term rental.

Heller pointed out that enforcing these ordinances is “challenging; really, really challenging. I just don’t know how we would know if an owner is there 75 percent of the time.”

Council solicitor Jack Spirk offered his opinion that a previous court case raised the issue of how difficult it is to enforce these ordinances.

Councilman William Reynolds was concerned with “what can be enforced and what will stand up in court.

Callahan said he did not want to see a person buy several homes in a neighborhood and then operate them like a hotel, but also did not want “to hamper someone going on vacation and renting their home.”

A vote of 3-3, a tie because Councilwoman Dr. Paige Van Wirt was not present), defeated Bill 07-2020, the zoning amendment on hotels and short-term lodging. Voting yes: Olga Negrón, William Reynolds, Michael Colón. Voting no: Grace Crampsie Smith, Bryan Callahan, and Adam Waldron.

In other business, council members approved a mayoral appointment of Veronica H. Moore to the Human Relations Commission.