Ross Township, Pennsylvania Short-Term Rental Regulations: A 2026 Guide For Airbnb Hosts

Do you own a place in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, the small Monroe County township tucked into the Poconos near Saylorsburg, and you're weighing whether to put it on Airbnb or Vrbo? Well, the good news is that short-term rentals are legal here, at least once you check one thing first: which zoning district your property sits in. Ross Township only allows the use in two of its seven zoning districts. So the other five, covering just about every ordinary residential street in the township, are off the table entirely.

Mind you, the ordinance isn't a soft guideline hosts quietly ignore. The township adopted it back in July 2020, and the same rule still governs everything in 2026: where you're allowed to operate, what permit you need, and what paperwork has to sit in the file before you take a single booking. A neighbor who complains about a listing outside the approved zones has a real ordinance to point to, and the township has already shown it's willing to enforce it.

So this guide walks through what actually applies here: the zoning rule that decides whether you can host at all, the permit and the documents behind it, the tax layers stacked on top, and who at the township and the county picks up the phone. Every figure below comes from Ross Township's own zoning ordinance, Monroe County's tax ordinance, and Pennsylvania's own pages, checked as of July 2026. If you're deciding whether this particular property is worth pursuing at all, run the numbers through BNBCalc first.

Starting a Short-Term Rental Business in Ross Township

Before you run any numbers at all, though, the zoning map is the first checkpoint, because it decides whether you have a legal business to model in the first place. Ross Township's zoning ordinance defines a short-term rental in plain terms: renting out all or part of a dwelling unit for a transient use, in exchange for money, whether the home is your everyday residence or a place you only use in season. That definition covers single-family houses, duplexes and multi-family buildings alike, so owning a small rental building isn't a way around the rule.

Under the township's Table of Use Regulations, short-term rentals are a permitted use in exactly two of the township's seven zoning districts: Village Commercial/Residential (VC) and General Commercial (GC). Every other district, meaning Conservation Residential (CR), Special Conservation (SC), Rural Residential (RR), Low Density Residential (R-1) and Medium Density Residential (R-2), prohibits the use outright. Do check your property's zoning before you get attached to the idea, because that word "Residential" sitting inside the VC district's own name is a bit of a trap: it describes a mixed commercial-and-residential character, not permission for an ordinary residential street. R-1 and R-2 describe most of the township's housing stock, and if your home falls into either one, short-term rental isn't an option there, full stop.

Even inside VC or GC, the zoning code attaches conditions rather than handing over a blank permission slip. A short-term rental can't serve meals to guests, which is what keeps the use from doubling as an unlicensed bed and breakfast. Sewage disposal has to satisfy both the township and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The property can't sit on a lot that's nonconforming in minimum lot area, even where the zoning district itself allows the use. And the building has to meet the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, the same statewide building-safety standard that applies to construction everywhere in the commonwealth.

Clearing the zoning test only gets you to the starting line, though. Actually holding a short-term rental in Ross Township means getting a permit first, and that's a distinct process from the zoning question itself.

Short-Term Rental Licensing Requirements in Ross Township

That permit has a name: the zoning ordinance requires a current, valid Short-Term Rental Permit, issued under what the code calls the Ross Township Short-Term Rental Ordinance, before you can operate at all. That's a separate ordinance from the zoning code that sets the eligibility rules, and I wasn't able to find its full text published anywhere online, so a few practical details, like the permit's exact standalone fee and how long it runs before renewal, aren't things I can confirm from an official page.

What is public is the township's general zoning permit fee, which runs $100, and every zoning application, short-term rental ones included, routes through that same fee schedule. Keep in mind that Zoning Officer Garrett Wiley's office is the one that processes this, so it's worth calling ahead to confirm the current total cost and whether any additional short-term rental fee applies on top of the standard $100, rather than assuming a number this guide can't source for you.

The office itself keeps limited hours, which matters for how you plan your application: Monday and Friday from 7 to 11 a.m., and Wednesday from noon to 4 p.m. A township this size doesn't run a full-time permitting counter, so building in a little slack before your target listing date is a reasonable idea rather than an overcautious one. None of the paperwork behind the application is optional, either, and the ordinance is specific about exactly what has to sit in the file alongside it.

Required Documents for Ross Township Short-Term Rentals

Six pieces of documentation go into that packet, and the township checks each one before your permit gets approved:

• Owner contact information. Your name, address, phone number and email, plus a 24-hour phone number if nobody local manages the property on your behalf.
• Manager or local contact information. The name, address and 24-hour phone number of whoever manages the property or serves as your on-call local contact, assuming that isn't you.
• Bedroom count and guest cap. The number of bedrooms in the unit and the maximum number of overnight occupants you're proposing to allow.
• Unit breakdown for multi-family buildings. How many dwelling units the building contains, and how many of them you intend to use as short-term rentals.
• A parking diagram or photo. Showing where on-site parking spaces sit and the maximum number of vehicles you'll allow for overnight guests.
• Proof of both tax registrations. A current Monroe County Hotel Room Excise Tax Certificate and a current Pennsylvania Sales Tax License.

That last item catches people off guard the most, since it means registering for two separate tax accounts, one county and one state, before the township will even look at your zoning application. Make sure you register for both early, because neither one happens instantly, and a missing certificate is exactly the kind of thing that stalls a permit for weeks rather than days.

Ross Township Short-Term Rental Taxes

Assuming you get the permit and are able to start hosting, there's still real money owed on every stay, and it comes from two different governments charging two different rates.

Tax	Rate	Collected by
Pennsylvania State Hotel Occupancy Tax	6%	The operator, unless a booking agent remits it on their behalf
Monroe County Hotel Room Rental Excise Tax	3%	Monroe County Treasurer

Stack the two and a guest's stay in Ross Township carries 9% in lodging tax, on top of the nightly rate, before anything the township itself might someday add, which it currently doesn't.

The state's 6% Hotel Occupancy Tax applies statewide under 61 Pa. Code Chapter 38, and Airbnb, Vrbo and other major booking platforms generally collect it and pay it in for you automatically under Act 109 of 2018, which made "booking agents" responsible for the tax on both the room charge and their own service fee. If you book any stays yourself, outside a collecting platform, you'll still need a Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax License from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

Monroe County's 3% Hotel Room Rental Excise Tax is a separate local layer, and it applies broadly: the ordinance defines "Hotel" to include any structure that holds itself out as providing overnight lodging for pay, which reaches an ordinary short-term rental home just as easily as a motel. Returns go to the County Treasurer by the 25th of the month following each calendar quarter, so by January 25, April 25, July 25 and October 25 for the prior quarter. Miss that window and interest runs at 18% a year on top of a 10% penalty, which adds up faster than most hosts expect on a quarterly cycle. I couldn't confirm from any official page whether Airbnb or Vrbo currently pay this county tax in for you the same automatic way they handle the state's, so check that directly with the platform rather than assuming it's covered. Either way, that Hotel Room Excise Tax Certificate has to exist and be current before the township will even accept your permit application, so registering with the county comes first regardless of who ends up filing the quarterly return.

Your rental income is also ordinary taxable income at the federal and state level, on top of both these excise taxes, so it's worth setting expectations with a tax preparer before your first season rather than after.

Pennsylvania Wide Short-Term Rental Rules

All of that sits on top of a state framework that explains why Pennsylvania regulates short-term rentals so unevenly from one township to the next: there's no statewide preemption law, and nothing in state law caps or standardizes what a township like Ross may do. The state's own Joint State Government Commission confirmed as much in a March 2025 staff study, describing the regulatory picture as "a patchwork of primarily county and municipal zoning ordinances and regulations" where even the definition of a short-term rental varies by municipality, which is exactly what you saw play out in Ross Township's own ordinance above.

Since there's no statewide framework filling that gap, Pennsylvania also has no statewide short-term-rental license or registry of its own. The one thing you might still have to sign up for is the general Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax License covered above, and even that's only required if you don't book exclusively through a platform that already collects and pays in the state's 6% tax for you. If you want the complete picture beyond what's specific to Ross Township, our Pennsylvania short-term rental guide walks through that full state framework.

Three bills that would change this picture are pending in Harrisburg as of this writing: House Bill 2303 would add a full "Transient Lodging" chapter to state law with tiered operator categories and a countywide registry, House Bill 1256 is a separate "Short Term Rental Compliance Act," and Senate Bill 1105 addresses hotel tax reporting in counties outside Philadelphia and Allegheny. None of them has passed yet, though, and none is close enough to a vote to plan around, so don't build a business plan on a bill still sitting in committee.

Does Ross Township Strictly Enforce STR Rules?

And Ross Township is a solid example of just how much a single township's own ordinance can matter inside that patchwork, because the township has already shown it enforces its rule rather than just having written it. In October 2020, Times News Online reported on a five-bedroom vacation rental on High Point Drive in Saylorsburg that was operating outside either permitted zone. Neighbors complained about fireworks, four-wheelers and loud music at all hours, and the dispute pulled in both the township's supervisors and its legal counsel, not just the zoning officer.

Watch out for that pattern specifically, since it's what triggered township involvement: not a routine inspection, but a neighbor's complaint about noise and traffic that escalated once the property turned out to be in the wrong zone entirely. From what I can tell, that's consistent with how a township this size operates generally. The main office is staffed only a few hours across three days a week, and the zoning officer keeps a similarly limited schedule, so this isn't a government with the staff to canvass every listing on Airbnb looking for violations. A listing that stays quiet and sits inside VC or GC is unlikely to draw attention on its own. A listing that generates neighbor complaints, wherever it sits, is a different story, and the 2020 case shows the township is genuinely willing to follow through once that happens.

How to Start a Short-Term Rental Business in Ross Township

Which is exactly why it's worth doing this in order rather than skipping straight to listing your calendar and hoping nobody notices.

1. Confirm your zoning district first. Check whether your property sits in Village Commercial/Residential or General Commercial before you spend a dollar on anything else, since every other district is a dead end regardless of what else you do right.
2. Read the ordinance's supplemental standards. No meals for guests, sewage disposal cleared with both the township and the PA DEP, and confirm your lot isn't nonconforming in minimum lot area.
3. Register for both tax accounts. Get your Pennsylvania Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax registration through myPATH and your Monroe County Hotel Room Rental Excise Tax Certificate before you apply for the zoning permit, since the application needs proof of both.
4. Assemble the full permit packet. Owner and manager contact details, bedroom count and guest cap, a unit breakdown if it's a multi-family building, and a parking diagram or photo.
5. Apply for the Short-Term Rental Permit and the standard $100 zoning permit. Call the Zoning Officer first to confirm current fees and how long approval is likely to take.
6. Sort out parking and construction compliance before your first guest arrives. Off-street parking has to match what you told the township, and the building itself has to meet the PA Uniform Construction Code.
7. File hotel tax returns on schedule. State returns follow your assigned filing frequency with the PA Department of Revenue, and county returns are due to the Monroe County Treasurer by January 25, April 25, July 25 and October 25.
8. Make sure you keep a local contact reachable 24 hours a day. That's a standing condition of the permit, not a one-time box to check on the application form.

Who to Contact in Ross Township about Short-Term Rental Regulations and Zoning?

Whichever step trips you up, a handful of small offices handle nearly everything between them, and in a township this size, a phone call beats searching online every time.

Zoning, permits and short-term rental applications

Ross Township Zoning Officer, Garrett Wiley, handles zoning permits, short-term rental applications, and questions about which district your property falls into.

• Email: [email protected]
• Hours: Monday and Friday, 7 to 11 a.m.; Wednesday, noon to 4 p.m.

Township administration and general questions

• Address: 250 Anchorage Road, Saylorsburg, PA 18353
• Mailing address: PO Box 309, Saylorsburg, PA 18353
• Phone: 570-402-1804
• Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 2 to 4 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to noon

Building code and sewage compliance

• Building Officer: Base Engineering Inc, 610-437-0979, [email protected]
• Sewage Enforcement Officer: Ryan F. Engler, [email protected]

County and state tax registration

The Monroe County Treasurer administers the Hotel Room Rental Excise Tax, including registration and quarterly returns, through the county's hotel tax program. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue handles the state's Hotel Occupancy Tax and the Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax License through myPATH, with a general information line at 717-787-1064.

What Do Airbnb Hosts in Ross Township on Reddit and Bigger Pockets Think about Local Regulations?

Whichever office picks up, though, don't expect much online chatter to save you a phone call in a market this small. A targeted search turned up no BiggerPockets threads or Reddit posts discussing Ross Township, Monroe County by name, and that's worth reading as a data point rather than a gap in the research. This is a genuinely small market: two zoning districts where hosting is even legal, and a listing count too thin to generate the kind of sustained investor discussion that a much larger Pocono township attracts.

What does turn up, again and again in Pocono-area investor discussion generally, is hosts and buyers comparing notes on how much short-term rental rules vary from one small township to the next in this part of Monroe County. A strategy that works two miles away can be flatly illegal here, and vice versa, which is exactly the trap a reader coming from a general Poconos search could fall into. The Lehigh County guide covers a much larger, more consistently regulated market roughly forty minutes south, and the Montgomery County guide is worth a look too if you're weighing the Poconos against the Philadelphia suburbs entirely.

Small townships like this one are proof that "Pennsylvania allows short-term rentals" is never the useful sentence on its own. The useful sentence is whichever ordinance your own property happens to sit inside, and if you're comparing Ross Township against other Pennsylvania markets before you commit, BNBCalc's Pennsylvania market data is worth checking before you decide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you legally run an Airbnb in Ross Township, Pennsylvania in 2026?

Yes, but only if your property sits in the Village Commercial/Residential or General Commercial zoning district. Ross Township's 2020 short-term rental ordinance prohibits the use in all five of its residential and conservation districts, which cover most of the township's housing. You'll also need a Short-Term Rental Permit, current Monroe County and Pennsylvania tax registrations, and compliance with the ordinance's supplemental standards before you can legally host.

What zoning districts allow short-term rentals in Ross Township?

Only two, out of the township's seven total: Village Commercial/Residential (VC) and General Commercial (GC). Conservation Residential, Special Conservation, Rural Residential, Low Density Residential and Medium Density Residential all prohibit the use outright, regardless of the property's size or setup. Check your parcel's zoning with the Zoning Officer before assuming your home qualifies, since ordinary residential streets almost never fall inside VC or GC.

How much does a Ross Township short-term rental permit cost?

The township's published zoning permit fee is $100, and every zoning application routes through that same fee schedule. The separate Short-Term Rental Ordinance that authorizes the permit isn't published online in full, so this guide can't confirm whether an additional standalone fee applies. Call the Zoning Officer directly to get the current total before you apply.

What taxes apply to a Ross Township short-term rental?

Two layers stack on top of your nightly rate: Pennsylvania's 6% State Hotel Occupancy Tax, which major booking platforms generally collect automatically, and Monroe County's 3% Hotel Room Rental Excise Tax, filed quarterly with the County Treasurer. That's 9% combined. A current county tax certificate is also required before the township will approve your zoning permit, regardless of who ultimately files the return.

What happens if you operate a short-term rental in Ross Township without a permit?

This guide couldn't confirm a specific fine schedule from an official Ross Township page, so don't take any number you see elsewhere as confirmed. What's documented is that the township does enforce its ordinance: a 2020 case involving an unpermitted rental outside the approved zones drew complaints, an investigation, and direct involvement from the township's supervisors and legal counsel. Contact the Zoning Officer before operating outside VC or GC.

Last verified: July 2026. Every ordinance, tax rate, state law, and contact detail in this guide links to or comes from its official source.