Below are frequently asked questions regarding PTN’s lawsuit against Park Township:
Q. Why are you suing the township?
A. We believe existing vacation rentals (aka short term rentals) should be grandfathered in based on the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, but the township disagrees. We are trying to force the township to follow the law.
(Particularly since the township spent years telling people there were no restrictions on STRs — see evidence here.)
As this article explains, “A fundamental part of zoning in Michigan is that a zoning ordinance cannot be made retroactive.”
Q. Are you suing the township for money?
A. No, we are not asking for any money.
Q. Are you seeking limitless short term rental activity?
A. No. We are not seeking to expand the number of short term rentals in Park Township, which make up 3% or less of the housing. The March 2024 ordinance is valid and restricts short term rentals to the C-2 Resort Service zoning district.
Q. Are you trying to overturn Park Township’s new zoning ordinance that adds a definition of short term rentals and says they are prohibited in all zoning districts except for the C-2 Resort Service zoning district?
A. No, we are not trying to overturn the new zoning ordinance.
Q. Who is paying for the lawsuit?
A. PTN members are paying to sue the township. The township is paying to defend against it using taxpayer money, which means that a number of PTN members are also indirectly paying to defend against it, because they are also Park Township residents.
Q. What is the status of the lawsuit?
A. On December 1st, 2023, Ottawa County Circuit Court Judge Jon Hulsing ruled in favor of PTN and granted our motion for a preliminary injunction. As a result, Park Township cannot enforce its ban on short term rentals, which was originally set to take effect on Oct 1, 2023, at this time. The court case is currently scheduled to take place in November 2024.
Q. What is the status of short term rentals now in Park Township?
A. Aside from the preliminary injunction being in place at this time which prevents Park Township from enforcing their 2022/2023 ban, in March of 2024 the township passed Ordinance 2024-01. That ordinance prohibits short term rentals (of less than 28 days) outside of the C-2 Resort Service zoning district. This makes it clear that new short term rentals are only allowed in C-2.
Q. What happens if PTN wins the lawsuit?
A. Best case scenario would be that Park Township short term rentals that existed prior to Ordinance 2024-01 would be confirmed as nonconforming uses, and allowed to continue. This would not affect new rentals, which would continue to not be allowed under the new March 2024 ordinance outside of C-2.
Q. What kind of organization is PTN?
A. PTN is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization.
Q. The township and people on social media said that PTN is a PAC. Is this true?
A. No, it is not true. PTN is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization, and not a PAC. The township did eventually issue a retraction notice correcting their error.
Q. Who is funding PTN?
A. PTN is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization that is funded by donations from vacation rental owners, members of the public, and sponsors. As of the time of this writing, 189 constituents have contributed.
146 of those 189 are vacation home owners, 2 are real-estate related sponsors who contributed at the Benefactor and Ally level, and the other 41 are kind people who believe PTN is a worthy cause and gave in varying amounts. (If you would like to contribute as well, you can do so here.)
We have also been fortunate that the local, state, and national associations of Realtors directly paid Hope College’s Frost Research Center for the economic impact study, which PTN commissioned. The Realtors associations are not funding or involved in any way with the lawsuit.
Q. Do you represent every current short term rental owner in Park Township?
A. No, we do not represent every current STR owner. We likely represent less than 60% of the short term rental owners reported in previous years by Park Township’s Board (~250 at its peak)