Plymouth City Council Plans June Vote On New Short-Term Rental Rules

Plymouth city leaders will hear public input and could vote on a new ordinance that would tighten regulations on short-term rentals as soon as next month.

At Monday’s city council meeting, city planners introduced a draft ordinance that would require short-term rentals be available for a minimum of seven days. All property owners would also have to complete required training with the city’s police and fire department, under the proposed ordinance.

“Our current code really isn’t adequate and isn’t designed to regulate that type of activity,” said Grant Fernelius, community and economic development director for the city of Plymouth. “We do license single-family houses, apartments, townhomes for long-term rentals, and that program has worked quite well. But we don’t have anything for short-term rentals. That’s really the purpose of that ordinance that we reviewed.”

Residents in Plymouth raised concerns about short-term rental regulations after a murder inside a home earlier this year.

In March, concerned residents spoke at great length at a city council meeting after a murder inside a short-term rental.  

Short-term rentals are available on websites such as Vacation Rental by Owner and Airbnb, and often are used for special events or parties, but many are also rented by the night by families who are visiting the area.

“I think, by and large, we don’t have a lot of problems. So we want to strike that balance between making sure that public safety concerns are addressed, this isn’t a disruption to neighborhoods, but that we have some kind of rules in place so if we run into an issue, we can try and address it,” said Fernelius.

Fernelius invites anyone with any input to attend the city council meeting on June 13, where council may vote on the ordinance.

Plymouth