The Rock River Township Board has taken the next, and final, step to prevent short term rentals from one of the largest zones of the township.
The board voted to remove short term rentals as a conditional use in RP 10, which is the largest zone by square mileage in Rock River. The zone is primarily used as farming and forest land, and has approximately 30 percent of the population of the township.
It was a 3-1 vote to approve the removal. Janet Braun, Maria Strand and Trevor Case voted in favor, Rowan Bunce dissented and Supervisor Teri Grout was not in attendance.
The vote could be called at any time after the Rock River Township Planning Commission voted 3-2 to recommend the removal of short term rentals as a conditional use in that zone in February. However, in the process of recommending the removal, the three planning commission members who voted in favor of removal asked for more time to get a new short term rental ordinance put together for a vote in May. The planning commission has one more work session scheduled between now and the May township board meeting.
According to Bunce, who serves as the township liaison for the Rock River Planning Commission, the planning commission has increased the amount of regular meetings and work sessions in the hope of keeping that promise.
“We’ve doubled how often the planning commission will meet. We’ve been discussing a lot about different definitions, taking out some things and then adding more for yurt and things we never would have originally thought of,” he said. “I voted to remove them (with the planning commission), but I will not be voting in favor of this tonight because the planning commission is working toward getting something together with teeth to it.”
Case has been the most vocal member of the board against short term rentals in RP 10. He has attended all of the work sessions and planning commission meetings as the interim zoning administrator. Case said that if the public wanted to go through the process to change the ordinance back, that could happen at any time regardless of where the planning commission is at with its new short term rental ordinance.
“All they have to do is go through the same process we did,” he said.
The decision does not change short term rental procedures in any other zone of the township. Citizens also have the option to apply for a zoning variance in RP 10. According to Michigan State University Extension, conditional use permits allow a citizen to use the property, but would add additional restrictions to not disturb the community. An example would be limiting where snowmobiles would enter and leave a short term rental so it would not disrupt the livestock on an adjoining property. Zoning variances require more evidence to prove that the property can only be used successfully in a way that does not abide by the zoning ordinance. An example of a zoning variance would be inheriting a house while living out of the immediate area, so the new owners use the property as a short term rental to offset property management fees and property taxes. There has never been a zoning variance regarding a short term rental in Rock River Township.
