The Rock River Township board confirmed that they would stand by the planning commission decision to enact a partial ban on short term rentals (STRs) in the township’s most rural zone.
The ban in RP 10, a zone created by the township’s zoning ordinance that requires 10 acres per parcel and is not bordering any major county roads or snowmobile trails. It is the largest zone by square mileage, but only holds about a third of the residents. The ban came after a 3-2 vote of the township’s planning commission at a special public hearing on Monday, Feb. 6. The planning commission also added language to the motion that a new policy addressing conditional uses and enforcement of STRs be adopted by the June 20 planning commission meeting.
“The removal of short term rentals from RP 10 was the nuclear option, but until we have some zoning ordinance with teeth to it, we have to approach this differently,” said township trustee and liaison to the planning commission Rowan Bunce.
Members of the public came out against the ban again with the goal of changing the commission’s mind one last time before advancing the measure.
“This puts the onus of responsibility on the property owners, when really this should be on the government,” Rock River resident Tom Schierkolk said. “This decision means that if you don’t get it done in a timely manner, you tell the landowners that they cannot act until you act on it.”
Discussion did bring up a situation where an STR potentially operating illegally in RP 10 was not approved due to a failure of completed paperwork by Alger County Building Inspector Joe Cilc. The township also received paperwork from former township zoning administrator Jason McCarthy that he kept in his office outside the township, but those documents addressed less than half of what McCarthy wrote in his submitted reports during the year of his employment.
The township also approved a bid from Superior Paving to grade and pave the parking lot between the fire hall and the township building. The only bid returned was for approximately $73,000, which uses up almost all of the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds received by the township.
Rock River also spent money to purchase the new groomer for the ski hill and to remove dangerous trees from the township cemetery. Township board members reported a clerical error in the ski hill finances after the ARPA funds to purchase the groomer were transferred into the ski hill account, but the money has been transferred back to complete the purchase.
