The Village of Empire Short Term Rental Committee has extended its March 7 deadline to look at possible regulations until the end of May to gather more information and possibly complete an ordinance.
The committee has been in operation since November 2023.
“There’s been discussion about what the fee represents,” said Meg Walton, Empire Village Council trustee. “How many people get licenses? Do you cap them by percentage or number?”
These are only a few questions the committee hopes to answer by May’s workshop meeting.
The short term rental committee is made up of two planning commission members, Robert Chase and Carey Ford, and two Village of Empire council members, March Dye and Walton.
The committee told the council they needed more time gathering information to look into possible regulations of short term rentals in Empire, which is one of the only communities left in Leelanau County without these regulations.
“I think the biggest surprise is how much misinformation is going around... We were never going to ban (short-term rentals) that’s never been the intent,” Walton said.
Walton says it has been at least four years since the village had last reported on short term rentals, and there is a growing need to reassess.
Walton expresses the need to look into regulations regarding short-term rentals because of the growth of Empire and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore that has been consistently touted as one of the most beautiful places to visit, according to reports in Good Morning America and CNN in recent months and years.
Over a million people have consistently visited SBDNL over the past several years.
The village has talked about a registration process and fees connected to that, but the price and how far they want to go is undetermined.
The Village of Empire planning commission had a meeting Tuesday that briefly discussed short-term rentals, fruiting nothing substantial.
“We don’t have some of the problems other communities have,” Walton said. “Most people (renting in Empire) are families that have been coming back for many generations... You don’t have a village if you only have short term rentals.”
The committee estimates there’s 50 to 65 short term rentals in Empire.
Committee representative Robert Chase says Empire has been a vacation rental destination since the peak of the lumbering days that go back a century.
“It’s not a brand new thing... The temperature has gone up with how many there are now and how many are needed,” Chase said.
Chase continued and said short term rentals may have already hit its peak.
In February, the committee submitted a draft proposal of what a short term rental ordinance would look like. The ordinance contained several regulations including fees, safety, septic, and violations. A proposed ordinance, if any, will be modifi ed in the coming months.
Locals and seasonal residents also have their doubts on a proposed ordinance.
“First, there was a fact-finding committee a few years ago to assess information on what and how many STR’s there were in the Village of Empire. What I understood from that report was there was no concern regarding STR’s in our Village. There had never been a problem over the years previous in the Village regarding STR’s,” Randy Parks said in a letter submitted to the committee. “Why this was brought up again and another committee of three was appointed to assess this again I do not know. I do believe it is causing concern that the Village Council may feel the STR’s have to be regulated.”
Corey McNutt, an Empire resident, added in a February letter submitted to the board: “My wife and I have read the committee’s minutes and the proposed STR Ordinance. It seems well thought out and researched, but we are concerned that the proposed language may prevent us from ever launching our brand new STR,” he said. “Back in June of 2021, before we knew of any talk regarding a short term rental Ordinance, we purchased lot 59 in The New Neighborhood with the intent of using it as a STR during the peak tourist season and for our personal use in the off season... Today, I’m happy to say we are on track to complete our home in late April 2024. It represents a huge investment for us.”
