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News

Homeowners file federal lawsuit against Park Township regarding lawful non-conforming use of STRs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Park Township, Michigan – A group of approximately 70 homeowners have filed a federal lawsuit against Park Township. A copy of the lawsuit can be viewed online.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the township’s zoning ordinance in effect from 2003-2024 violated the Michigan and U.S. Constitution’s due process and unconstitutional vagueness clauses, and to prevent the township from denying the homeowners their property rights. It also asks the court to award monetary damages and attorneys’ fees to the fullest extent of the law.

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News

Short-Term Rental Property Owners File Appeal and Ask Township Board of Trustees to Do The Right Thing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Park Township, Michigan – West Michigan non-profit Park Township Neighbors (PTN) files appeal, continuing legal efforts to keep existing short-term rentals legal.

On Nov 4th, 2025, Ottawa County Circuit Court Judge Jon Hulsing wrote in his opinion how “it is undisputed that for nearly 50 years [Park] Township did not take enforcement against any homeowner who rented his property on a short-term basis. In fact, various Township employees, including former zoning administrators, regularly opined that the zoning ordinance did not prohibit STRs.”

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News

Next steps for PTN

Last updated November 5, 2025. (This post will be updated from time to time as events unfold. The latest update is at the end.) 

In November 2024, Circuit Court Judge Jon Hulsing dismissed our case. Essentially, the judge found that Park Township amending the ordinance in March of 2024 changed things.

Because the township had not issued any citations under that new zoning ordinance, the judge found that PTN had not exhausted our administrative remedies, and that he did not have jurisdiction on the remaining issues. You can read the court’s opinion here.

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Fact Checks

Revisionist history in Park Township

After decades of actively allowing short term rentals, in March of 2022 Park Township set revisionist history in motion with a press release aimed at property owners and Realtors.

The press release proclaimed that, “Short Term rentals are currently illegal in Park Township, and have been since the Zoning Ordinance was adopted on February 7, 1974.”

(See have short term rentals always been illegal for more on that assertion.)

Naturally the public believed what the township said in the press release, concluding that short-term rental owners must be lawbreakers, or perhaps assuming the owners did not check the ordinances themselves.

But that is not the case.

The truth is that vacation home owners were told that there were no restrictions or requirements on renting in Park Township.

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News

Local non-profit makes emails public that support assertions in short-term rental ban case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local non-profit Park Township Neighbors (PTN) has published a sampling of emails supporting the assertions in their legal case against Park Township over its short-term rental ban.

These documents, which Park Township was required to release, strongly support the experiences of short term rental owners and PTN’s lawsuit.

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News

Study reveals potential economic impact of Park Township short term rental ban and challenges misconceptions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Park Township, Michigan, July 10, 2024 – According to a recent economic impact study conducted by The Frost Center for Data and Research, a ban on short term rentals (STRs) in Park Township would negatively impact local businesses. It also shed light on some common misconceptions about the effects of STRs on housing availability and prices.