LOCAL GOVERNMENT TAKING ACTION ON VACATION RENTALS IN BERRIEN COUNTY

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

BERRIEN SPRINGS – The role of local government in people’s lives along with landlord’s responsibilities for their properties were debated at last week’s Oronoko Township Board meeting as board members and residents considered a new rental housing ordinance.

The township has been without such an ordinance for more than two decades as officials have been hesitant to touch what has been a controversial subject in the past. An ordinance approved in the 1990s was thrown out in Berrien County Trial Court in 1997 when two local landlords sued.

Township Supervisor Mike Hildebrand said the township’s goals are renter safety, firefighter safety, cosmetics and curb appeal, maintaining neighborhood property values as well as setting rules for short term rentals. The township has an estimated 1,000 or more rental units.

While the township board ended up approving the new ordinance and setting an Aug. 30 deadline for landlords to register, the public hearing before the vote raised questions about not only the details of the ordinance but what the role of government should be in people’s lives.

The latter issue came up when a township resident raised concerns about adjacent property owners who rent out their homes on a short term basis.

Township resident Tiffany Rydwelski said her family lives on Coveney Road and has had to deal with two neighbors using their homes as short term rentals over the last five years. She said they’ve had to deal with everything from increased traffic, noise and property damage to people trespassing and disrupting their horses.

She said that while she appreciated the township trying to address the short term rental issue in the new ordinance, she doesn’t think it goes far enough. “The problem is bigger than the scope of the ordinance,” she said. “How are you going to enforce on them using pictures of my kids on their website or on people who are here one day and leave the next?”

Township officials sympathized but said they can’t necessarily solve all the problems Rydwelski and others have relative to short term rentals. Police Chief Paul Toliver noted that a disturbing the peace or similar incident has to occur in an officer’s presence in order for him to make an arrest.

“There’s a concept people have that the government has to take care of you,” township attorney Robert Landgraf said. “You have the right as an individual to take another property owner to court to sue them for having a nuisance. You can’t expect the government to take on individual issues.”

“I don’t like getting involved in everybody’s issues but this has now reached the point of a critical mass,” Hildebrand said. “We’ve outlined issues of safety, blight, aesthetics and firefighter safety. Is it perfect? No, but we’re trying to do our level best.”

“Face it, we live in a beautiful part of the country,” he said. “We live in a salad bowl with all the fruits and vegetables grown here and Lake Michigan nearby, this is a destination place. But the time has come where we need to address these issues where people have crossed the line. We need to get our arms around it.”

The new ordinance has rules for both long and short term rentals. In long term rental situations, each building will be charged $100 for registration and inspection plus $20 for each rental dwelling unit. Short term rentals will pay $300 every year for registration and inspections.

The ordinance requires registration every two years for long term rentals and every year for short term rentals.

Landlord Tom Witzel said he felt the new ordinance is too heavy handed and the problems the ordinance seeks to address should have been already addressed through zoning and enforcement. “The expense of enforcing these rules is being put on landlords,” he said. “The ordinance makes landlords foot the bill.”

Fire Chief Bruce Stover, whose firefighters will be doing the inspections, said inspectors will be flexible and work with landlords. If most items are in compliance, landlords will be given time to fix specific issues.

Hildebrand agreed, saying “we’re not going to come in like cowboys.” “We’re not trying to be jerks or heavy handed,” he said. “The community would be upset by that. This didn’t happen overnight and it won’t be fixed overnight … Our goal is to be reasonable. If we shut down all the rentals, it would hurt the community.”