In a recently published opinion, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in Johnson v. Pocono Township Zoning Hearing Board, 2024 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 46 (Feb. 7, 2024), found that an owners’ use of their property as a short-term rental was a legal, existing nonconformity even after an ordinance outlawed such a use in the municipality.

In 2016, the owners in Johnson purchased a property to use as a vacation home and to provide short-term rentals during periods in which they were not using the property, the opinion said.