On April 26, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced its opinion in Slice of Life v. Hamilton Township Zoning Hearing Board, No. 7 MAP 2018 (Pa. 2019), addressing the permissibility of short-term vacation rentals in residential zoning districts. Specifically, the Supreme Court addressed “whether a zoning ordinance that defines ‘family’ as requiring ‘a single housekeeping unit’ permits the purely transient use of property located in a residential zoning district.”

The Slice of Life litigation arose from a notice of zoning violation issued to the owner of a short-term rental property, a limited liability company whose only member resided in Brooklyn, New York. The owner operated several other properties as short-term vacation rentals. The property in question in Slice of Life operated solely as a short-term vacation rental and was located in Hamilton Township’s single-family residential zoning district. The zoning district only permitted “single family detached dwellings and accessory uses and essential services.” The applicable provisions of the township’s zoning ordinance are as follows:

  • “Dwelling” is defined as a building on a lot intended for and occupied exclusively as a residence for one family and specifically excludes hotels, motels, rooming houses or other tourist homes.
  • “Family” is defined as a “single housekeeping unit.”
  • “Single family housekeeping unit,” “rooming house” and “tourist home” are undefined by the zoning ordinance.