Coolbaugh Township, Pennsylvania Short-Term Rental Regulation: A Guide For Airbnb Hosts

Can you legally run an Airbnb in Coolbaugh Township, Pennsylvania? Yes, and unlike plenty of small Pocono townships, Coolbaugh has written the whole thing down in one place. The Board of Supervisors adopted a dedicated short-term rental ordinance in 2020, then tightened it considerably in June 2025. So you're not guessing here.

The catch is that Coolbaugh doesn't simply license your property. It inspects the house before issuing anything, then inspects it again every year at renewal, septic system included. And the ordinance points squarely at a second rulebook the township doesn't control, because a large share of Coolbaugh housing sits inside private communities whose covenants can restrict rentals no matter what the township allows.

So let's walk through what applies in 2026: the license and what it costs, the occupancy math that changed last year, the documents you need, the two layers of lodging tax, enforcement, and who to call. Everything below comes from the township's own code and forms, from Monroe County, or from Pennsylvania's Department of Revenue, checked in July 2026. If you're still weighing whether the numbers justify the effort, run the property through BNBCalc first.

Starting a Short-Term Rental Business in Coolbaugh Township

Coolbaugh's rules make more sense once you read why the supervisors wrote them. The ordinance's own findings call short-term rentals a real part of the local tourism economy and a genuine benefit to owners, then note in the same breath that the township had fielded complaints about noise, parking, litter, security and septic capacity. Guests turn over constantly and are hard to pursue, which the ordinance says outright, so the township made the unit owner the responsible party instead. That one choice explains most of what follows.

The consequence shows up in the text itself. Failure by the owner, an agent, a managing agency, a contact person or the renting occupants to comply is all deemed noncompliance by the owner, and it's the owner who faces enforcement. Counting how many people are actually in the house on a Friday night is your job, not the township's.

The framework is Chapter 324 of the Coolbaugh Township Code, adopted 8-18-2020 by Ordinance No. 141-2020 and amended 6-3-2025 by Ordinance No. 159-2025. That amendment rewrote four things at once: where short-term rentals are allowed, how many people can stay in one, what happens with septic, and what you must disclose about your own advertising.

Start with location. Short-term rentals are now permitted only in the R-1, R-2, R-3, W-C and C-3 zoning districts, which are Rural Residential, Low-Density Residential, Medium-Density Residential, Woodland Conservation and Commercial Village as the zoning ordinance designates them. Everything else is out. Coolbaugh runs a permissive-list zoning code too, so any use not specifically listed for a district is prohibited there, which makes the township zoning map worth checking before you make an offer.

Then the layer that catches out-of-state buyers hardest. Chapter 324 states plainly that it does not excuse any landowner from compliance with the declarations or covenants of a planned community. Pocono Farms Country Club Association and A Pocono Country Place both sit inside the township and run their own permitting and guest registration on top of the township license. So make sure you call the association before you buy and ask whether short-term rentals are permitted at all, and what it separately requires or charges. I couldn't confirm current association fees from their own pages, since those rules sit behind member logins, so treat any figure on a real estate blog as unverified.

One geographic trap is worth flagging early. The village of Tobyhanna sits in Coolbaugh Township, while Tobyhanna Township is a separate municipality with different rules, so a Tobyhanna, PA address tells you nothing about which one governs your property. Neighboring municipalities diverge quite a bit, as our Mount Pocono guide just up Route 611 shows.

Short-Term Rental Licensing Requirements in Coolbaugh Township

Assuming the parcel and the association both clear, there's still the township license to get through. A license is required before you rent a dwelling unit for any stay under 30 consecutive days. It attaches to the unit, so two-family and multifamily buildings need one per unit, and it is not transferable and does not run with the property. Sale, deed transfer, death, a change in the entity holding title or a sheriff sale all reset it, and the new owner applies fresh before renting. The ordinance closes the obvious loophole too. Where an owner convicted of violations transfers the property to a family member or to an entity they own, that new owner inherits the violations and penalties rather than starting clean.

The fees are modest. Coolbaugh charges $200 for the initial license, $150 for the annual renewal and $40 for a re-inspection, and the same amounts appear on the township fee schedule revised 03/03/2026. Two deadlines inside that cycle bite, though. Let a renewal go 60 days past expiration and the license is void, so you file a new application rather than a renewal. Leave an application incomplete for 90 days and it's denied outright, fees nonrefundable.

Occupancy is where the 2025 amendment changed the economics. The rule is now two people per bedroom plus four additional people per residence, or 14 people, whichever is less, with 14 as an absolute ceiling however many bedrooms you have. Infants under two don't count, and day guests are capped separately at 75% of maximum overnight occupancy. So a three-bedroom sleeps 10, a five-bedroom sleeps 14, and a seven-bedroom also sleeps 14. Bedrooms stopped converting linearly into heads, and plenty of forum advice still quotes the old formula, which had no maximum at all.

Bedrooms must be at least 70 square feet, and the property needs one other habitable room of at least 120 square feet. More restrictive than either, your bedroom count cannot exceed the number approved on the sewage permit or by the township after its septic inspection. Which brings up the requirement most likely to disqualify a house outright. The septic system is inspected at every application and renewal, an inadequate one is grounds for denial, and a property served by a sewage holding tank cannot be a short-term rental at all. If the system malfunctions while you're operating, rental use stops on township notification until it's corrected to the township's satisfaction. Much of the local housing stock dates to the 1970s and 1980s, so do check this before you make an offer.

Parking has real geometry attached. You need a minimum of one space per bedroom, and every guest vehicle parks on your property rather than in any private, community or public right-of-way. Each space measures at least nine feet by 18 feet, has to be improved to a mud-free condition with paving or stone, and counts toward your maximum lot coverage under the zoning ordinance. Where the house is served directly by a township or state road, guests reach those spaces from the driveway rather than off the road itself. A patch of flattened lawn satisfies none of that.

Then there's the person on the other end of the phone. You must designate a contact person reachable by telephone 24 hours a day who can be physically present at the property within two hours, and who must respond to the enforcement officer within one hour of being notified of a violation. You can name yourself. If you're out of state, though, solve that two-hour clock properly rather than nominally, because a Saturday night noise call is when it gets tested. Don't forget to tell the township in writing within 14 days if that person changes, since the name on file is the one the enforcement officer dials.

Insurance is fixed: a paid-up policy showing at least $500,000 in liability coverage for short-term rentals, in force for the full license term. The declaration page has to say rental or short-term rental, so a standard homeowner's policy at the right limit won't clear it. And a property carrying any outstanding township code violation is ineligible until corrected, which usually means unpermitted decks, sheds and hot tubs get closed out first.

One operating standard is easy to miss and easy to fail. Exterior lighting must be directed away from adjoining properties and shielded downward, which trips up owners who mount floodlights for guest safety and aim them straight at the neighbors.

There's a boundary worth understanding too, because it defines what Chapter 324 is not. All of this applies to transient use, meaning stays under 30 consecutive days. Cross that line and you leave the short-term rental chapter entirely and land in Chapter 303, Rental Property, which asks only that you report the tenant's name, address and additional occupants to the township within 10 days of the lease or of occupancy. No license, no annual inspection, no occupancy cap. That gap is exactly why some Poconos owners pivot to mid-term stays, though it's a different business with different economics rather than a workaround.

Required Documents for Coolbaugh Township Short-Term Rentals

Staying under that 30-day line means an application, and the form isn't the slow part. Two required items come from outside the township and run on someone else's schedule, so gather the packet before you open the permitting portal. Coolbaugh then has 30 days to process it and schedule the inspection. Here's what Chapter 324 and the township's process sheet ask for.

• A current Monroe County Hotel Room Excise Tax Certificate. Be aware that this comes first, and that it comes from the Monroe County Treasurer, not from Coolbaugh. Registration is free, but the township won't process anything without the certificate.
• The declaration page of your liability policy, showing at least $500,000 of short-term rental coverage for the whole license term.
• Sewage details plus a pumper or hauler evaluation certifying the system functions as intended, with proof the tank was inspected within the three months before you applied or renewed.
• Owner and contact person details, a photograph taken from the access road side, and a diagram showing the number and location of on-site parking spaces.
• Bedroom acknowledgments, confirming each designated bedroom is at least 70 square feet, with the bedroom count and maximum overnight occupancy.
• Proof you're the owner of record. The applicant must match the owner shown at the Monroe County Assessment Office. Title in an LLC is fine, but supply the operating agreement or certificate of organization or the application won't be processed at all.
• An alarm permit, if your security system is third-party monitored. Self-monitored systems like Ring or Arlo don't need one.
• Copies of your advertising, at application, at renewal, and on request.

The inspection then checks the house itself, and the township's checklist splits into two halves. Outside, the inspector wants the 911 address sign installed correctly, deck and stair rails and guards attached and working, exits clear of obstructions, exterior lights working and not facing adjoining properties, a sound chimney if you have one, and no junk or garbage on the property. Outside is also where first inspections usually fail, because every structure that ever needed a permit must have a valid final certificate on file, and that sweeps in decks, sheds, hot tubs, gazebos, patios, awnings and pools.

Inside, expect the inspector to look for:

• A smoke detector inside every sleeping room, plus one in a common area on each level.
• A carbon monoxide detector in a common area on each level.
• A maintained fire extinguisher, visible or clearly labeled, in the kitchen and beside any fireplace or wood stove.
• Working outlets and light fixtures in every occupied room, with no extension cords standing in for permanent wiring.
• GFCI outlets near water sources. Those are ground fault outlets, the ones that cut power the instant they sense current leaking, and they're wanted in kitchens, bathrooms and by the washing machine.
• Stairs free of trip hazards, hallways clear, walls and ceilings undamaged, appliances and fixtures working, and the dryer vented to the exterior.

Every room has to be accessible, basements and converted attics included. Two more items round it out. The township encourages a knox box, the small lockbox holding a key for fire and ambulance crews, and if you'd rather not fit one you sign a waiver releasing the township from claims over damage caused by responders forcing entry. And your guest notice goes up beside the front door before the inspector arrives.

That notice is more specific than most hosts expect. It carries the 24-hour contact name and number, the maximum overnight occupants and maximum day guests, the maximum vehicles along with the rule that all guest parking stays on the property, the location of the spaces plus any snow removal and emergency access rules, and the trash pickup day. On trash the ordinance gets very Pocono: refuse can't sit outside except between 6:00 p.m. the day before pickup and 6:00 p.m. on pickup day, unless the property has a bear-proof container. The notice also has to tell guests that they personally can be cited and fined for creating a disturbance or breaching the parking and occupancy limits.

Coolbaugh Township Short-Term Rental Taxes

Once that notice is up and the license is in hand, tax becomes the recurring obligation. Two layers of lodging tax apply, and neither is the township's. Coolbaugh takes license and inspection fees. It levies no bed tax.

The state layer is Pennsylvania's 6% Hotel Occupancy Tax, which matches the sales tax rate and applies to lodging rented for less than 30 days to the same person. The extra 1% some people have heard about applies only in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties, so it doesn't touch Monroe. Whether you register personally depends on your booking channel. If a third-party broker confirms it both collects and remits, you don't need to register. Otherwise you obtain a Pennsylvania Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax license and file through myPATH, which is where direct bookings put you.

The county layer is the Monroe County Hotel Room Rental Excise Tax at 3%, created by County Ordinance #2017-1 and applied to every rental of a room with a bed. The county's definition of hotel is broad enough to reach guesthouses, cabins and homestead lodging, so a single-family Airbnb sits comfortably inside it, and the proceeds fund the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau as the county's designated tourist promotion agency under Act 18 of 2016. Registering with the Treasurer produces the certificate Coolbaugh demands, and reporting runs quarterly on a form with a "no tax due" option for the case where a platform already remitted. Remember that registering and filing zeros is not the same as not registering.

Platform behavior is worth verifying rather than taking on trust. Airbnb states that in Pennsylvania it collects the 6% state tax and that all locally imposed occupancy taxes will be collected on reservations in Pennsylvania, without naming Monroe County. Vrbo and direct bookings can behave differently, so do check a payout statement and read what was withheld line by line. The obligation stays with you whichever system collects it.

Deductions run normally, from the license and inspection fees through insurance, cleaning and management, supplies, a proportional share of utilities, repairs, depreciation on both the building and its furnishings, and mortgage interest. Septic pumping and the annual inspection are a recurring cost here rather than an occasional one, so budget them properly. And the lodging taxes you collect from guests and pass along aren't income to you, so they never inflate your own taxable revenue. To see how all of it interacts with the 14-guest ceiling before you commit, BNBCalc Markets compares revenue and expenses at the neighborhood level rather than off one blended Poconos average.

Pennsylvania Statewide Short-Term Rental Rules

All of that is township and county work, because Pennsylvania has no statewide short-term rental licensing statute. Regulation is municipal, delegated through the Municipalities Planning Code, which is exactly why Monroe County reads like a patchwork and why a permit from one township means nothing in the next.

What the state does supply is tax administration and one consequential court decision. In Slice of Life, LLC v. Hamilton Township Zoning Hearing Board, decided April 26, 2019, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that purely transient use of a house is not a permitted use in a residential district whose ordinance limits occupancy to a family defined as a single housekeeping unit. The property sat in Hamilton Township, Monroe County, so this is local law in the most literal sense. The takeaway is that a Pennsylvania municipality's silence is not permission, since courts have been willing to read transient use as excluded where an ordinance doesn't contemplate it. That Coolbaugh wrote an explicit ordinance is genuinely good news for hosts, because it converts an ambiguity into a checklist.

Building and fire safety come from the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code. That's where the smoke alarm, carbon monoxide and egress items on Coolbaugh's inspection checklist ultimately originate, rather than from anything the township invented locally.

There is pending legislation worth watching without planning around. House Bill 2303 of the 2025-2026 session would amend Title 48 to create statewide short-term rental provisions, with county-level registration, tiered operator categories and platform verification of permits. As of July 2026 it has not passed, and from what I can tell its drafters left municipal zoning authority intact, so it would sit on top of Coolbaugh's ordinance rather than replace it.

For how differently neighboring municipalities handled the same pressures, our Middle Smithfield Township guide covers another Monroe County approach, and the Jim Thorpe guide shows a Carbon County borough where tourism is concentrated rather than spread out.

Does Coolbaugh Township Strictly Enforce STR Rules?

Yes, and the mechanism is worth naming: Coolbaugh enforces mostly through the annual inspection rather than through sweeps. Every renewal puts a township official inside the house and beside the septic tank, which quietly makes drift impossible, because a season's worth of accumulated problems surfaces on a fixed schedule.

The penalties on top of that are serious. Violating any provision of Chapter 324 draws a fine of up to $1,000 per day of violation, each day a separate offense, plus costs of suit including reasonable attorney fees. It compounds. Worse for a long-term investor, three convictions in any rolling twelve-month period revoke the license for a full year, and a fourth is grounds for permanent revocation. A violation of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act can trigger immediate revocation. A year of forced vacancy dwarfs any fine.

Enforcement is complaint-driven in a direct way. When someone reports a violation in progress and gives their name and address, the enforcement officer notifies you or your contact person immediately, which is exactly why that one-hour rule exists. Repeat a similar violation within six months and the township needn't send another notice first. The ordinance also lets the supervisors appoint a contracted firm as enforcement officer, which several Poconos municipalities have done.

A notice of violation can reach you by personal delivery, by certified mail to the address on your license, or simply by being fixed to the door of the property. An unopened envelope is not a defense. Every licensed short-term rental is also open to inspection whenever the enforcement officer has reason to believe the chapter is being broken, and hindering or delaying that access is itself unlawful.

Two details catch people. Advertising above your permitted occupancy is itself evidence of a violation, which is why the township now collects your listings. And noise runs through a separate chapter with real numbers in it: Chapter 262 sets a 62 dB(A) limit at the property line in residential districts, defines nighttime as 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., and prohibits amplified sound audible at a neighbor's residence along with party noise above 70 dB(A). Noise enforcement escalates rather than jumping straight to court. A first offense brings a written warning that stays live for 90 days, and a second inside that window brings a citation before the Magisterial District Judge carrying a fine of $25 to $1,000 plus costs.

Chapter 324 fills in the rest of the guest-behavior rules. Open fires must be extinguished by midnight, and overnight occupancy of recreational vehicles, camper trailers and tents is barred outright, so a group can't quietly expand past your permitted headcount by pitching tents or parking a camper in the driveway. Children under 13 may camp out in a tent on the property, which is the one carve-out.

Denials, refused renewals and revocations go to the Board of Supervisors on appeal, filed in writing within 30 days of the decision. The hearing follows within 60 days of filing unless you agree in writing to an extension, and the written decision comes within 45 days of the hearing. Proceedings run under Pennsylvania's Local Agency Law, so you can be represented by counsel, present evidence and cross-examine adverse witnesses, and the Board can subpoena witnesses and documents. Nobody wants to get there. Knowing the route exists, with deadlines attached, is worth something if you ever do.

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

Most owners never see that appeal process, though, because they got the sequence right the first time. Order matters here, since several steps depend on documents somebody else has to issue.

1. Confirm the parcel qualifies. Check the zoning district is R-1, R-2, R-3, W-C or C-3, then read the community's covenants, since a private association can prohibit what the township permits.
2. Check the septic before anything else. Find the sewage permit, confirm the approved bedroom count, and confirm the property isn't on a holding tank. A holding tank disqualifies the house entirely.
3. Register with the Monroe County Treasurer. File the free hotel excise tax registration and get the certificate, because Coolbaugh won't process anything without it.
4. Sort out state tax registration. If any booking channel doesn't both collect and remit the 6% tax, or if you take direct bookings, get a Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax license through myPATH.
5. Buy the right insurance, at least $500,000 in liability coverage naming short-term rental use on the declaration page.
6. Name your contact person and mean it. Confirm in writing that they can reach the property within two hours and will answer the enforcement officer within one.
7. Clear violations and prep for inspection. Close out final certificates on decks, sheds, hot tubs and pools, install detectors and extinguishers, put up the 911 sign, and post the guest notice by the front door.
8. Apply and pay through the portal, then diary the renewal 60 days ahead. A lapse past 60 days turns a $150 renewal into a $200 new application.

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

Whichever of those steps you get stuck on, four offices handle nearly everything between them, and knowing which is which saves a lot of transferred calls.

Short-term rental licensing and inspections

The township publishes a licensing mailbox rather than a named officer, so use it for applications, renewals and inspections.

• Coolbaugh Township Municipal Center: 5520 Municipal Drive, Tobyhanna, PA 18466
• Phone: 570-894-8490, Fax: 570-894-8413
• Short-term rental email: [email protected]
• Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Applications and payments: the township permitting portal

Zoning questions about a specific parcel

The Zoning and Code Enforcement department handles district questions, plus the permits and final certificates you need closed out before inspection.

• Tomas Keane, Director of Zoning and Code Enforcement: [email protected]
• Clinton Oddy, Zoning Officer: [email protected]
• Lourdes Aponte, Zoning Officer: [email protected]
• Same building and same main number, 570-894-8490

County hotel tax

• Monroe County Treasurer: Administrative Building, One Quaker Plaza, Room 103, Stroudsburg, PA 18360
• Phone: (570) 517-3180, Fax: (570) 517-3859
• Hotel tax email: [email protected]
• Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
• Forms: the Treasurer's hotel tax page

State tax and police response

• Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, for the tax license and filing questions: 717-787-1064, filing through myPATH.
• Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department, which serves Coolbaugh along with Mount Pocono Borough, Tobyhanna, Tunkhannock and Barrett Township: 2454 Route 940, Pocono Summit, PA 18346, (570) 895-2400. Use 911 for emergencies in progress.

Add your association to that list too, because for many Coolbaugh houses it's the office you'll deal with most often. Pocono Farms Country Club Association is at 182 Lake Road, Tobyhanna, PA 18466, 570.894.4435. A Pocono Country Place POA is at 112 Recreation Drive, Tobyhanna, PA 18466, 570.894.8356. Ask them for their rental rules in writing rather than over the phone, since that's the document you'll be held to.

What Airbnb Hosts in Coolbaugh Township Report About Local Regulations

Hosts talking publicly about any of this are harder to find than you'd expect. Coolbaugh-specific discussion is genuinely thin. There's a thread on r/Poconos titled for the township, but it's short and mostly captures a neighbor's frustration rather than an operator's experience. So what follows widens honestly to Poconos and Monroe County sentiment, and I've flagged where the community's information has gone stale.

• On BiggerPockets, the most detailed township-by-township breakdown of Poconos rules rates Coolbaugh as more favorable than Tobyhanna Township and singles it out for requiring an inspection before approval. That same post describes occupancy as two per bedroom plus four with no maximum, which was accurate when written and is wrong now. Forum threads age badly against ordinances that get amended.
• Across older threads on which Poconos towns permit short-term rentals, Coolbaugh consistently appears in the permitted column, with the same warning attached each time: a community association can prohibit what a township allows.
• The dominant complaint on r/Poconos isn't any single rule, it's the fragmentation. Hosts describe every township having different requirements inside one county, and buyers avoiding whole municipalities because they can't be confident a permit will issue. Owners also talk repeatedly about saturation since 2020 and real community backlash, including townships hiring outside firms to find unregistered rentals.
• Septic comes up far more than in most markets, which the 2025 amendment formalized: the septic system, not the floor plan, sets your occupancy.

Coolbaugh's reputation among investors is strict but workable, and the people who get burned bought on a general impression of the Poconos rather than the specific township, district and association. Our Kidder Township guide covers another lake-community market where associations carry similar weight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need a license to run an Airbnb in Coolbaugh Township?

Yes. Under Chapter 324 of the township code, every dwelling unit rented for less than 30 consecutive days needs its own short-term rental license before you take a booking. The initial fee is $200 and the annual renewal is $150, and both the first license and every renewal require passing a township inspection. Operating without one exposes you to a fine of up to $1,000 for each day of violation.

How many guests can a Coolbaugh Township short-term rental sleep?

Two people per bedroom plus four additional people per residence, or 14 people, whichever is less. Fourteen is a hard ceiling regardless of how many bedrooms the house has, and infants under two are excluded from the count. Day guests are separately limited to 75% of your maximum overnight occupancy at any one time. Your bedroom count also cannot exceed the number approved on the property's sewage permit.

What taxes do you collect on a Coolbaugh Township short-term rental?

Two. Pennsylvania's 6% Hotel Occupancy Tax applies to any stay under 30 days, and Monroe County adds a 3% Hotel Room Rental Excise Tax under County Ordinance #2017-1. Coolbaugh itself levies no lodging tax. You must register with the Monroe County Treasurer regardless, since that certificate is required for your township application, and you file quarterly with the county even when a platform has already remitted.

Can an HOA stop you from running a short-term rental in Coolbaugh Township?

Yes. Chapter 324 expressly states it does not excuse compliance with the declarations or covenants of a planned community, so a township license gives you no protection against a private association's restrictions. Large communities in Coolbaugh, including Pocono Farms and A Pocono Country Place, administer their own rules, permits and guest access separately. Confirm what the association allows before you buy, not after.

Can a septic system disqualify a Coolbaugh Township property?

It can. Since the June 2025 amendment, the sewage system is inspected at every application and renewal, and an inadequate system can mean denial or non-renewal. A property served by a sewage holding tank cannot operate as a short-term rental at all. The bedrooms approved on the sewage permit also cap how many you may advertise, which caps your occupancy and your revenue.

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