Kutztown STR Rules: Borough Hall and a Proposed Ordinance

Thomas Garner
Aug 18
12 min read

Updated: 18 hours ago

Kutztown University Old Main from Alumni Plaza

45 Railroad Street before you underwrite a stay in Kutztown Borough. Borough Hall is the Community Development and Code Enforcement desk, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at. A housing license is required to rent or let any house or apartment in the borough. That license is a rental-housing fact, not a published short-term rental ordinance. The ordinance itself was still a proposal in the March 9, 2026 Planning Commission minutes. Do not write the draft as live law.

Maxatawny Township is a different clerk at 127 Quarry Road, Suite 1,. Crystal Cave sits on that side of the line. Borough housing-license rules do not automatically apply on a township lot. Pennsylvania has no statewide short-term rental license. Lancaster County rules do not apply in Berks. Allentown rules do not apply on Railroad Street. State hotel occupancy tax is 6 percent. Berks County hotel room rental tax is 5 percent. Those lines are tax. They are not a T12 and they are not a permit.

This page is the clerk walk. It will not mash the two halls. It will not treat AirROI Low as Borough Hall. That Low tag is an Allentown city signal on a cell that prints $12,120, not a Kutztown year. AirROI 404s on this borough. Confirm 2026 status at the desk that matches the driveway. Then write the house. A listing that names the wrong clerk is already a problem, even if the photos are honest.

Call 45 Railroad Street Before You Underwrite a Stay

Borough of Kutztown is 45 Railroad Street, Kutztown, PA 19530. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Ask Community Development about the housing license on the unit you want to let. Ask Code Enforcement whether the March 2026 short-term draft has moved. Ask which tax map the driveway sits on if the listing photos look borough and the deed looks township. The person who answers that line is the underwriting step. A blog post is not.

Do not skip the call because a satellite city looks easy. Allentown is twenty to twenty-five minutes up US-222. Allentown rules are not this hall. Reading is the Berks county seat. Reading rules are not this hall. Lancaster is another county. Do not underwrite a Main Street closing on another municipality's chapter. If a seller's memo says no license is needed, send the memo back. The borough FAQ already says a housing license is required to rent or let any house or apartment. Write that sentence into the file before you price a Saturday.

The clerks file keeps the two pins apart. The purchase file underwrites clerk facts, not a finger-painted year. Use both before you bid. A stay you cannot legally let is not a stay. A packet that opens on Dutch Country is not a rules packet. Call Railroad Street. Write down the name you spoke with. Write down the date. Then decide whether this Berks parcel is the desk you hold. Underwriting without that call is a guess with a purchase price.

A Housing License Is Not an STR Ordinance

The borough Community Development FAQ is plain. A housing license is required to rent or let any house or apartment in the borough. That sentence covers long-term and short-term letting as a rental-housing desk. It is not the same thing as a published short-term rental ordinance with occupancy caps, spacing rules, or a transfer ban. This file will not invent those extras. It will not invent a fee. It will not treat the license as optional because you only want weekend guests. Ask the hall what the inspection looks like before you buy sofas. Furniture is not first.

Get the license path from 45 Railroad Street before you furnish. Ask what the inspection looks like. Ask what happens if you change occupants or alter the unit. Ask whether the license number belongs in the advertisement once you have it. Do not advertise a borough stay while the license is still a plan. Do not tell a lender the license is an STR permit. Lenders who want a Kutztown rent roll should see the clerk, not a costume chapter from another county.

The startup file prices detectors, the floor plan, and the license path. This page only needs the distinction. A housing license is required. An STR ordinance was still a proposal on March 9, 2026. Those two sentences stay separate. Mixing them is how a host tells a guest the house is fully permitted when the hall has only licensed it as rental housing. Tell the truth. The license is the license. The draft is the draft. A guest who asks whether the stay is allowed deserves the hall's answer, not a borrowed chapter from another county.

The March 2026 Draft Is Still a Proposal

Planning Commission minutes for March 9, 2026, are the dated hook on the draft. Chair Robert Weller reported a discussion with Council member Lisa Ladd-Kidder on the proposed short-term rental ordinance. Code Enforcement, Michele Lopez Gudino, was to reach solicitor Keith Mooney on wording. Earlier minutes from 2024 and 2025 show the draft in work, including a Chapter 170 discussion. That paper trail is real. Adoption is not in this file. Confirm 2026 status at Borough Hall before you list. A draft in the minutes is not a card you can hang in the window.

Do not write the proposal as live law. Do not invent occupancy caps, night caps, parking minimums, or transfer rules the minutes do not publish as adopted. Do not tell a buyer the draft is collateral. A proposal can move, stall, or change in solicitor language. Underwriting a closing on a draft is how a packet starts lying. If a broker says the ordinance already passed, ask for the adopted text and the date. If they cannot produce it, you are still on a proposal. Do not bid as if the solicitor already finished the wording.

The finance file keeps a proposal off the note. The market filekeeps AirROI from minting a year while the hall is still drafting. Use both. The honest listing says you hold a housing license if you do, and that you have confirmed the draft's status on a named date. The dishonest listing treats March 9 as a closed chapter. again before peak season. Drafts move. Your copy should move with them.

Maxatawny Township Is a Different Desk

Maxatawny Township is 127 Quarry Road, Suite 1, Kutztown, PA 19530. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed noon to 1:00, Friday by appointment. Township zoning is the desk for unincorporated land around the borough, including Crystal Cave at 963 Crystal Cave Road. A Kutztown mailing address does not make a township lot a borough lot. The tax map decides. The driveway decides. Photos of Main Street do not. A pretty borough walk in the gallery does not move a township lot onto Railroad Street.

Borough housing-license rules do not automatically apply on a township parcel. Do not promise a Railroad Street license on a Quarry Road deed. Do not promise township silence on a borough unit. the hall that matches the line. Ask zoning what is allowed on that lot. Ask whether a short-term stay is an use you can advertise. This file will not invent a Maxatawny STR chapter. It will not import the borough draft onto township land. Two clerks. Zero mash. before you advertise a cave-side stay. The township answers that line, not Borough Hall.

The clerks file is the map walk. The hooks file keeps the cave on the township side of the line. Use both when the tile says borough walk and the attraction is a township drive. Guests search Kutztown and land on both inventories. Your job is to name the clerk you actually have. A pretty cave does not move the parcel. 1871 does not change the hall.

Pennsylvania Has No Statewide STR License

Pennsylvania does not issue a statewide short-term rental license. Regulation is municipality by municipality. That is why 45 Railroad Street and 127 Quarry Road both matter, and why a Lancaster chapter does not. Allentown, in Lehigh County, is a different municipality twenty to twenty-five minutes up US-222. Allentown rules do not apply in Kutztown Borough. Reading rules do not apply on this walk. Do not underwrite a Berks parcel on another hall's ordinance. Drive time is origin. It is not a shared chapter.

Do not treat the absence of a statewide license as the absence of local rules. The borough already requires a housing license to let any unit. The borough has a proposed STR ordinance in the March 2026 minutes. The township has its own zoning desk. State hotel occupancy tax still applies. County hotel tax still applies. No statewide card is not a no-rules borough. It is a reason to call the clerk whose map holds the driveway before you spend on furniture. Confirm 2026 at the desk that matches the deed. Then furnish. Then advertise. Skip that order and furniture costs more.

The marketing file should name the actual clerk in the guest guide. This page only needs the legal frame. Municipality by municipality means your neighbor's setup is not your setup if the line falls between you. It also means leftover copy from another county is not a compliance plan. Write Berks. Confirm local rules for 2026. Then advertise. A statewide vacuum is not permission. It is a map. Municipality by municipality also means your listing copy has to name the hall you actually called.

Six Percent State Tax and Five Percent County Tax

Pennsylvania hotel occupancy tax is 6 percent on lodging under 30 days to the same person. That is the Department of Revenue line. Berks County hotel room rental tax is 5 percent, collected through the county treasurer. Those two figures are tax. They are not host revenue. They are not a typical year. They are not a reason to invent a borough STR fee. This file will not mint a local license dollar. Ask Railroad Street what, if anything, the hall charges besides the housing license. Put that answer in the startup file you take to Code Enforcement. Do not guess the dollar on a forum.

Register and remit before you advertise if the stay is under 30 days. A 30-plus night stay is a different tax conversation. Allentown city already sets 30.8 percent of its cards at a 30-plus night gate. That setting is Allentown. It is not a Kutztown tax rule. Do not tell a guest the 6 percent and the 5 percent are optional because you host from out of town. Do not bury them in a cleaning fee. Quote them as tax. Keep them off the T12.

The startup file stacks tax with detectors and the license. The tourism file keeps county hotel tax off visitor math. Use both. A clean file shows 6 percent state and 5 percent county as lines you remit, not as occupancy. A dirty file treats tax as income or ignores it until a letter arrives. Confirm remittance with the state and the county treasurer. Then put the rates in the house binder.

AirROI Low Is an Allentown City Signal

AirROI Low on the Allentown city extract is a city signal. It is not Borough Hall. Allentown prints $12,120, $159, 36.6 percent occupancy, $57 RevPAR, and n of 130. Professionally managed share is 10.0 percent. Year over year is minus 26.3 percent. Peak three are December, June, and August. Softest month is January. Quote that cell as Allentown city. Do not treat Low as proof Kutztown has no rules. The housing license already exists. The March 2026 draft already exists. A satellite scrape cannot bless a Railroad Street stay. Quote Low only when you are quoting Allentown city, and say so in the same sentence.

Reading city is also not this hall. Reading prints $11,474 on n of 79, with 3.8 percent professionally managed. AirROI 404s on Kutztown. There is no borough Low tag to quote. There is no borough year to pair with it. A lender packet that opens on Low as if Railroad Street had blessed the stay is a costume packet. Send it back. Attach the housing-license FAQ and the March 9 minutes. Attach the Allentown extract labeled as city.

The market file is the 404 walk. The finance file refuses an invented borough year. Use both when a broker treats Low as the ordinance. Regulation is the clerk. The scrape is the scrape. Mixing them is how a satellite city becomes fake permission. Call 45 Railroad Street. Call 127 Quarry Road if the lot is township. Then read Allentown as Allentown. Low is not a housing license. It is not an adopted chapter.

Confirm the Parcel Before You Advertise

The last step is the map. Confirm whether the tax parcel sits in Kutztown Borough or Maxatawny Township before the first photo goes live. A Kutztown mailing address is not enough. Crystal Cave's address says Kutztown and the lot is township. Main Street photos can sit on a borough deed or on a lot just outside it. Ask the clerk. Ask the survey. Ask the seller for the tax map. Do not let the listing title decide the hall. Confirm the line in writing before the first weekend goes live. Guests search Kutztown and land on both inventories. Your job is to name the one you hold.

Once you know the line, write it. Borough parcels start at 45 Railroad Street and the housing license. Township parcels start at 127 Quarry Road and zoning. Put the right hall in the guest guide. Put the right hall in the lender file. Do not advertise a borough walk on a township driveway. Do not advertise cave-next-door if the drive is a drive. The visitors guide should match the clerk you confirmed.

Then keep confirming. The March 2026 draft can move. Cave hours can change. KU commencement is May 15 and 16, 2026, unless the university moves it. Fairgrounds dates are July 2 through 5 and August 3 through 8, 2026, unless those calendars move. Rules copy goes stale the same way marketing copy goes stale. Call before peak. Call before you close. A parcel you have not confirmed is not a listing. It is a guess with photographs. Rules copy goes stale the same week the fairgrounds calendar moves. Date the last call in the house file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a permit to run an Airbnb in Kutztown PA?

A housing license is required to rent or let any house or apartment in Kutztown Borough. the hall the map names before you advertise. The short-term rental ordinance was still a proposal in March 9, 2026 Planning Commission minutes. Do not treat the draft as live law. Maxatawny Township parcels start at 127 Quarry Road,.

Has Kutztown adopted a short-term rental ordinance?

Planning Commission minutes for March 9, 2026, describe a proposed ordinance, a discussion with Council, and a request that Code Enforcement reach the solicitor on wording. Earlier minutes show the draft in work. Confirm 2026 status at Borough Hall before you list. Do not invent fees, caps, or transfer rules the hall has not adopted.

Does the borough housing license apply in Maxatawny Township?

Borough housing-license rules do not automatically apply on a township lot. Maxatawny Township is 127 Quarry Road, Suite 1,. Crystal Cave sits in the township, not inside the borough line. A Kutztown mailing address does not change the clerk. Confirm the tax map before you advertise. Confirm whether the tax parcel sits in Kutztown Borough or Maxatawny Township before the first photo goes live.

Is there a statewide short-term rental license in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania has no statewide STR license. Regulation is municipality by municipality. Lancaster County rules do not apply in Berks. Allentown rules do not apply in Kutztown. The absence of a statewide card is not a no-rules borough. the clerk whose map holds the driveway before you furnish or advertise. Pennsylvania does not issue a statewide short-term rental license.

What lodging taxes do Kutztown hosts collect?

Pennsylvania hotel occupancy tax is 6 percent on lodging under 30 days to the same person. Berks County hotel room rental tax is 5 percent. Those lines are tax, not host revenue and not a T12. This file will not invent a borough STR fee. Confirm remittance with the state and the county treasurer before you advertise.

What does AirROI Low mean for Kutztown rules?

AirROI Low is an Allentown city signal on a cell that prints $12,120, not a Borough Hall ruling. The borough already requires a housing license. The STR ordinance was still a proposal in March 2026. Do not treat a satellite Low tag as permission to skip 45 Railroad Street. That Low tag is an Allentown city signal on a cell that prints $12,120, not a Kutztown year.

Who is the Kutztown Borough contact for rentals?

Borough Hall is 45 Railroad Street, Kutztown, PA 19530., Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. Community Development and Code Enforcement sit there. Ask about the housing license and the status of the proposed short-term ordinance. Write down the name and the date of the call before you underwrite. Borough Hall is the Community Development and Code Enforcement desk, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.

Why does the parcel line matter before I advertise?

Guests search Kutztown and land on both borough and township inventory. Crystal Cave's address says Kutztown and the lot is Maxatawny. The tax map decides the clerk. Confirm the parcel, then name 45 Railroad Street or 127 Quarry Road in the listing and the guest guide. A wrong clerk is a compliance problem even if the photos are honest.