LAKE PLACID — The North Elba Planning and Building Department is now accepting unfinished applications for short-term vacation rental permits.

Part of the permit application process includes the submission of a site plan, a septic system inspection report and a chimney clean-out report. Now, however, many services are pared down or deemed non-essential amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, making it more difficult for property owners to fulfill all the necessary requirements.

“We will process whatever paperwork they can supply now, due to COVID-19,” North Elba Code Enforcement Officer Michael Orticelle said during the town board’s regular meeting Tuesday. “If necessary, we’ll give them a temporary permit and expect outstanding paperwork at a later date.”

As of Wednesday, nearly a month after the town and village of Lake Placid’s joint law went into effect, the planning department had received around 25 to 30 permit applications, according to Orticelle. That’s up from 12 last Thursday. Many more may be in the works. More than 600 active short-term rental properties were listed in Lake Placid in the first quarter of this year, according to AirDNA, a website that aggregates data from Airbnb and Vrbo.

Every short-term rental owner must have a permit by June 17. That deadline might be revisited because of the coronavirus, according to Orticelle.

Permit application paperwork can be found at townofnorthelba.org under the “Building and Planning Department” tab. The department is available by phone to answer questions.

Short-term rental owners are also required to register with Essex County, which collects occupancy taxes on each stay. The occupancy tax will increase from 3% to 5% in June.

Essex County lawmakers, as well as the North Elba Town Board and Lake Placid village officials, have asked short-term vacation rental owners to stop renting out their properties for the time being.

Essex County also requested property owners remove listings for their rentals from sites like Airbnb and VRBO last month. It’s unclear how many rental owners who haven’t removed their listings are still accepting bookings. Some listings note, either in the title or in the description of the property, that bookings will not be accepted until June or later, but not all of them have that disclaimer.