With no complaints, short-term rentals carry on

By Grace Lovins

During the Birmingham city commission meeting on Monday, November 27, city commissioners decided to discontinue conversations about short-term rental regulations after hearing complaints have stopped.

The commission has discussed short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, in the past as a result of repeated complaints about a specific property. Commissioner Brad Host brought the discussion back saying that short-term rentals threaten the character of the city’s neighborhoods.

Host motioned that the commission direct city manager Jana Ecker draft an ordinance before the end of the year that requires a minimum term for residential rental agreements. The Michigan state legislature has stated it is not supportive of local municipalities banning short-term rentals.

“I disagree with the narrative that this is finally on the agenda because this has been on the agenda multiple times already. It’s been the subject of a full workshop. It’s been the subject of several reports – we’ve heard from our city attorney that our current ordinance includes everything that other communities for the most part have.” said commissioner Therese Longe.

“Until we see that what we have is insufficient and we see that there are more problems, I think that this has had more than sufficient discussion at the commission level already,” she continued.

Host’s motion failed to gain the support of the commission.