Park Township NeighborsShort term rentals in Park Township are a huge problem.
Complaints were said to be filled with noise violations and other disturbances in 2020 and 2021.
“This is a huge issue. I think as time goes on it just becomes bigger and bigger.” – Jim Gerard, Park Township Supervisor, in the Feb. 12, 2022 Board of Trustees meeting.
The facts show that there were not a huge number of complaints filed against short term rentals, and that they do not show a huge problem.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Park Township Neighbors (PTN) has filed a lawsuit against Park Township to ask the court for relief on the township’s short term rental ban.
PTN spent many months trying to avoid a lawsuit, working to find a win-win solution instead. After the Park Township Board of Trustees proved unwilling to compromise or to allow PTN to present at a board meeting, PTN turned to the court for help.
For nearly 50 years, Park Township had repeatedly and expressly permitted the use of single-family dwellings for short-term rentals throughout the township, which has long been a tourist destination. PTN would like that use to continue, in a respectful manner.
Short term rentals are largely owned by out of state people and corporations.
According to data provided to PTN by Park Township through a July 2023 FOIA request, short term rentals are largely owned by Michiganders.
In other words, over half of the short term rentals in Park Township are owned by hyper-local residents of greater Holland. And 41.5% of the vacation rental owners live directly in Park Township itself. Sometimes right next door to their rental! (Or to someone else’s.)
3 out of 4 vacation rentals here are owned by Michigan families and property owners. This means that Michigan owners are disproportionately and negatively impacted by the township’s decision to create an outright ban rather than enforce reasonable regulations – most of which already exist in the current code.
Short term rentals have been illegal in Park Township since 1974. The 1974 ordinance prohibits them in residential zones.
There are no mentions of short, medium, or long term rental properties in the zoning ordinances at all.
And there is nothing in the zoning ordinances that says any of those types of rentals are prohibited.
Rentals are simply not mentioned at all.
While we can’t speak for the drafters of the 1974 zoning ordinances, it’s likely this is because the right to rent out one’s home was assumed to be part of the bundle of rights that are granted when someone purchases real estate in the United States.
Despite the fact that nearly 2/3 of Park Township voters favor short term rentals, a ban is still scheduled to go into effect this October:
Nearly 60% of voters do not support the current short-term rental ban in Park Township scheduled to go into effect this October. And, nearly a supermajority of voters favor a reasonable alternative policy allowing a limited number of owners to short-term rent their home.
“Many are focused on this important issue,” said Jeremy Allen, President of the Park Township Neighbors (PTN), a nonprofit representing over 100 property owners in Park Township that support the regulation, rather than the prohibition, of short-term rentals. “We are excited to engage the Township and find a solution here through a local legislative process.”
PTN has continued to engage the Township and community members this year, including the Realtors Association at the local and State levels with important input from the National Association. Polling was recently completed to inform a better local solution to this important Township issue.