04/22/2007

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
Some residents of Elk Rapids are not happy with the home rental situation in the town.

Some concerned about rise in short-term rentals

By CRAIG McCOOL

cmccool@record-eagle.com

ELK RAPIDS — Royce Ragland looks around her neighborhood and wonders what the future holds.

Homes on her street that for years belonged to long-term residents are now being rented out by the week to summer visitors. Ragland contends that the character of the neighborhood is changing, and not for the better.

"When there's one or two (rentals) around town, nobody notices,” she said. "How many have we got here? Nobody knows. We're at the tipping point of being able to maintain a community or neighborhood.”

Ragland and others concerned about the number of short-term rental properties in the southern Antrim County town have prompted city leaders to consider restricting such properties. Discussion on a set of proposed regulations is set to continue at the next meeting May 7.

Elk Rapids is only the latest community to tackle the issue. In nearby Torch Lake Township, officials in 2005 decided not to allow short-term rentals. Three years ago in Milton Township, residents forced a referendum in an attempt to ban weekly rentals. They were unsuccessful.

On the opposite side of Grand Traverse Bay, the town of Suttons Bay has for the past two summers required registration of short-term rental properties.

"It seems like wherever you have a resort community this type of issue comes up,” Village Manager Charles Stewart said. "The people you rent to are … not always respectful to the neighbors. We needed some type of control.”

Stewart recalled one pre-regulation occasion when a couple arrived in his office on a Monday morning to lodge a complaint.

"Their (renting) neighbors took apart their wood fence and burned it in a bonfire,” Stewart said.

Bill Briggs, zoning administrator in Torch Lake Township, has similar stories.

"The most interesting one is one I call 'Naked People Stealing Firewood,'” he said. "We'd get a lot of complaints and there were a lot of arguments about it. The township hall was packed for a number of these meetings.”

Officials in Torch Lake Township ultimately decided to ban short-term rentals — commonly defined as less than 30 days — in any residentially zoned neighborhood.

But writing an ordinance is one thing, Briggs said; enforcing it is another.

"Enforcement is a problem everywhere. You really can't tell if people are doing this unless someone complains,” he said.

Brenda Moore, a hired planning consultant for Elk Rapids, agrees. She urged village leaders to allow summer rentals and to adopt stipulations to ensure that the use "shall not alter the essential character of the (home) in use or appearance.”

She acknowledged that her recommendation, which the council is now considering, is broad, but said "it's tough when you have these conditions about regulating human behavior. It's a judgment call.”

Ben Rubert, an Elk Rapids resident who rents out a two-bedroom home in the summer months to supplement his income, said he doesn't see a need for any changes.

"They've been talking about this issue for awhile … people complaining about noise, or too many people in a house,” Rubert said. "I can't imagine there's any place in the village where those problems don't exist with regular residents, too. People are out enjoying the summertime.”

Rubert said he screens his renters, and many are repeat visitors who have either previously lived in Elk Rapids or have relatives or some other connection to area.

"Most of the time I just allow older couples. Once in a while there will be a middle-age couple with kids,” he said.

Elk Rapids zoning administrator Steve Ravezzani said he has "no idea” about the number of short-term rentals in the village or whether it's growing.

Ragland believes that's a problem. Short-term rental owners should be required to register their properties, she said, or the city should consider zoning changes to limit areas where weekly rentals are allowed.

At the very least, Ragland believes the proposal being discussed now is too broad and "will open the floodgates.”

"I think we should reject the current proposal,” she said. "We need to define controls on location, numbers and types.”