By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Proposed rules governing short-term vacation rentals like those rented through Airbnb will be forwarded to the Swanton Village Council after Swanton Planning Commission members discussed the issue at their most recent meetings.
Village Administrator Shannon Shulters reported several such rentals are currently being advertised online, which has led to multiple concerns and issues.
Among those issues was a unit being rented on the corner of Cherry Street and Main Street, where a police report was filed because renters walked into a woman’s home.
“This whole thing needs to be adopted to our short-term rental policy because we do not have any repercussions,” Shulters wrote, adding that when concerns are currently raised with property owners, it “goes in one ear, out the other.”
Current ordinance already bars residents from having more than one accessory structure on their property as well as banning any secondary living structure that is not physically attached to the main residence on the property.
Shulters also raised the concern that, by portraying the properties as rentals to the agency managing the village’s tax collections, owners of said properties are circumventing taxes.
Commission members agreed the rentals should not be allowed in any residential districts except, possibly R4 districts where rental units such as apartments and condos are already the norm. They recommended limiting the rentals to B2 business districts, the central business district, and manufacturing districts.
Commission members voted to approve the concept, which will now be drafted and forwarded to the village council for final approval.
SEASONAL VEHICLE STORAGE
Commission members reopened discussion on a proposed ordinance regulating the storage of seasonal vehicles such as RVs and boats on residential properties after the original version was voted down by the Swanton Village Council and sent back for further review and revision.
“A lot of council, we felt that a lot of the wording in here, there was too much going on limiting people as to what they can and can’t do.
“We had concerns about the abilities of people to be hooked up to water or electricity. The way it was worded nobody could have more than one extra vehicle on their property,” commission and council member Noah Kreuz said.
Kreuz said they agreed the overall idea was good, but it overstepped as it existed.
Commission members considered such changes as allowing water and electricity to be hooked up, but barring sewer hookups, with a central idea being to be as lenient as possible while still keeping residents from using seasonal vehicles as permanent living quarters.
They also discussed proof of insurance requirements and specifics on enforcement and potential penalties.
HOUSING COUNCIL
Commission member Alyssa Walberg volunteered and was approved to be the body’s representative on the Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council.
Walberg joins village council members David Pilliod and John Schmidt as well as Mayor Neil Toeppe’s appointees — Ben Remer and Scott Drummond — to each serve a three-year term on the housing council.
The next regular meeting of the Swanton Planning Commission is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 13, at The Venue on Main, 124 N. Main Street.