The South Haven City Council continues to discuss and debate short term rentals. At Monday night’s meeting, City Manager Kate Hosier asked them for ideas of what they want the city to focus on going forward. Most wanted a fixed cap on the number of STRs instead of the current floating cap of 497 with one in every four homes being allowed.
“I’m getting feedback, but not seeing a clear majority,” says Hosier. “That’s really hard for us to start drafting something to bring back to council without knowing where you all want to go. That’s what I’m looking for tonight is to cover some topics put in the staff report and just get thumbs up or thumbs down and really get some guidance as to where you’d like to be.”
A majority of the council wanted a fixed cap on STRs. Councilman George Sleeper said he wanted a cap of 500 STRs, while Councilman Joe Reeser wanted the cap at 497, but suggested it go down as homes currently rented are sold. Councilwoman Wendi Onuki said she would prefer 50 to 100 rentals at most, but added she knows that is not feasible. She wanted 250 for a cap.
