Ordinance will be changing in South Haven regarding houseboats and floating homes after action by the city council. They voted in January 2022 to form an ad hoc committee on the issue and received a report Monday night. Assistant City Manager Griffin Graham said there were five policy suggestions to consider.
“First recommendation was to incorporate definitions for houseboats, floating homes and floating commercial structure into the Zoning Ordinance. Presently, these definitions don’t exist in the Zoning Ordinance and this committee spent a lot of time working through the nuance of these different things.”
Other recommendations included updating the definition of marina in the Zoning Ordinance, review the Short-Term Rental Ordinance to possibly include the boats, allowing them in the B-3 Zoning District with a special land use, and incorporate minimum construction standards for new floating structures.
The vote was 6-2 to move forward, with councilmembers Steve Schlack and Joe Reeser voting no.
