The City of St. Joseph has battled over short term rentals for a number of years now, always trying to find the right balance between visitors and residents trying to live in the same neighborhoods compatibly. They aren’t the only ones, either, with many other communities including Muskegon and Traverse City dealing with those issues in recent months as well. Now, they may all end up as allies in a new fight against state control.
City Manager John Hodgson has alerted St. Joseph City Commissioners of new legislation introduced in the past week in both the State House and the State Senate which, he says, “Would deprive local governments of the ability to regulate short-term rentals.” Those bills are Senate Bill 329 and House Bill 4503, and each has been referred to committee at this juncture.
Hodgson and his staff are encouraging the St. Joseph City Commission tonight to pass a resolution in opposition to those proposed laws, joining other communities across the state being alerted by the Michigan Municipal League.
The newly proposed legislation would require that short-term rental uses be a permitted use “in all residential zones, not subject to a special use or conditional-use permit or procedure different from those required for other dwellings in the same zone,” according to Hodgson. He says that the bills would allow regulation “applied on a consistent basis to rental and owner-occupied residences for noise, advertising, traffic, or other considerations.”
The reason for alarm in St. Joseph stems from the fact that, if approved as proposed, the bills would supersede the city’s current zoning regulations, which restrict short-term rentals to the R3 Multiple-Family Residence and W Water Recreation zoning districts, and “generally undermine local control,” according to Hodgson’s take. Essentially, “The bills would simply allow any home in any residential district to be rented as a short-term rental,” says Hodgson.
Both the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan Association of Planning are opposing the two bills and they are urging individual members of their associations to follow suit, much like St. Joe is expected to do at tonight’s City Commission meeting at City Hall.
In a proposed resolution of opposition, the city cites a “detrimental effect,” of the proposed legislation, saying they have “through hard experience learned from residents the importance of thoughtful consideration on the impact of introduction of transient guests to residential neighborhoods.”
The draft resolution calls on State Senator John Proos and State Representative Kim LaSata to oppose passage of the two bills, and further urges the House Committee on Tourism & Outdoor Recreation Chair Holly Hughes and Senate Committee on Local Government Chair Dale Zorn to not take up the two bills facing their committees.
The Michigan Municipal League accuses the Michigan Realtors Association of assisting in “writing the bills,” and of “aggressively pushing for quick action.” The contention is that local municipalities “are overstepping on private property rights, prohibiting property owners from maximizing the value of their property.”
The Michigan Association of Planning argues, “These uses (short-term rentals) can have a huge and detrimental impact on the quality of life in a neighborhood, and local government should be able to address the issues locally.”
The planners argue against undermining local control and encourages enactment instead of “A sensible framework for short-term rentals, but carte blanche exemption from local control is not the answer. They also express concern that “There is a risk of units effectively being used as illegal hotels,” adding, “We have state fire, building and safety codes for hotels for good reason, and to at least some degree, they should be applied to short term rentals as well.”
The city of St. Joseph will vote on the resolution of opposition at tonight’s session.
