The years-long battle over short-term rentals in South Haven won’t be going away anytime soon. The city council held a forum on the issue at South Haven High School last night with five roughly 15-minute presentations followed by a short break and over an hour of public comment. Mayor Scott Smith says he was not surprised by anything he heard from either side.
“I think these are a lot of the same topics we’ve heard over the last 10 years, so I think it’s an ongoing struggle with balancing what is a desirable community, how do you control that desirability of folks wanting to come in, move into our town on a part-time or recreational basis and gobbling up that demand.”
Walt Plechaty of Neighborhoods Need Neighbors said in his presentation that South Haven has almost as many short-term rental properties as Grand Haven, Saugatuck, and Traverse City combined. There are 497 business non-exempt short-term rentals in South Haven, and a total of 708. South Haven Vacation Rental Alliance’s Ashley Greer counters with the fact that none of the STRs in the city are owned by corporations, and $44.7 million was spent in the city last year by short-term renters, not including their lodging price.
