In a 4-1 vote, the Laketown Township Board of Trustees approved a zoning ordinance restricting where short-term rentals can operate and prohibits future stand-alone rentals in predetermined residential districts or zones.
Existing licensed stand-alone sites are grandfathered in and may continue to operate under originally approved rules.
STRs are not allowed in Agricultural zones and are limited to owner-on-site properties in other zones via special use permits and added restrictions including number of guests allowed.
The new rules take effect May 26 coinciding with an expiring moratorium.
Supervisor Steven Ringelberg says it was appropriate to manage zoning rules before specific regulations.
“If we get to the end of the moratorium on the last day in June and we have yet to fix the regulations, nothing terrible happens. If we hadn't addressed the zoning issue and we got to the end of the moratorium, we might have gotten a flood of applications until we got the regs figured out.”
The board is now moving to develop regulations for noise, parking, and enforcement during the next planning commission meeting June 3.
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