Plymouth City Council to Consider New Short-Term Rental Policy
March 4 continues to be a night that residents of a Plymouth neighborhood won’t soon forget.
“I did not know that behind me a group of children with guns and drugs and alcohol were parking all over our streets,” said Cheryl Sowada, who spoke before the Plymouth City Council on Thursday night.
Sowada is referring to an incident in which a 20-year-old Brooklyn Center man was murdered inside a single-family home in the 5800 block of Oakview Lane. The 4,000-square-foot home was a short-term rental found on Vrbo for $170 a night. Police later arrested a 19-year-old suspect from Brooklyn Park. Police say the crime was the result of a Snapchat feud.
Home at the time with her daughter, Sowada said she heard the gunshots. Police helicopters, drones and a crime lab soon covered the area. Sowada called 911 and commended police for their response.
“They came guns drawn. They ran in, no hesitation,” said Sowada, who says she had a “front-row seat” to all the activity from a bedroom window.
Sowada said she did not know it was a rental home, but suspected something was wrong from earlier activity at the home. Had she known it was a rental, Sowada said she would have been more inclined to call 911 on previous occasions.
“This is Plymouth, this is a residential neighborhood, not a commercial neighborhood. I want to make sure you all know, I’m not just upset with my neighbor, I’m upset with you,” said Sowada. “No one bothered to tell me there was a hotel in my back yard.”
Cheryl Sowada spoke before the Plymouth City Council Thursday.
Plymouth Rental Policy Changes Coming
Plymouth City Attorney Soren Mattick said the owner of the home voluntarily withdrew her rental license, so now it can’t be rented.
Meantime, city leaders are working on changes to its rental policy that could include new regulations and stricter penalties for short-term rental properties. The city’s code currently does not differentiate between short- and long-term rentals.
“Our code was adopted at a time when short-term rentals were not a common practice,” said Grant Fernelius, the city’s community and economic development director.
Proposed code changes would define short-term rentals as a dwelling rented for periods of less than 30 days. Rentals could be limited to 12 times in a calendar year. The city is also considering monetary penalties for problem rentals, something not in the city’s current code. And the city could require a tenant register for short-term rentals.
“The frequent turnover on the weekends is really what we’re trying to avoid,” said Fernelius.
The city considered changes back in 2018, but the council never moved forward on recommendations then. Residents who spoke say they want to do away with short-term rentals altogether. But Plymouth Mayor Jeffry Wosje said that wouldn’t necessarily eliminate the problem.
Wosje said he quickly found six Airbnb listings in Roseville despite that city having a prohibition on short-term rentals.
“While I wish we could wave a magic wand and say you can’t do this here, you can’t do short-term rentals here, unless we hire a full-time staff to proactively prevent it, I don’t see how we’re going to keep that [from happening],” said Wosje. “I think it’s more important to identify what’s out there.”
Plymouth officials estimate about 18 short-term rentals in the city with only about half having licenses. City staff plan to craft a policy over the next month to bring back to the city council.
“The policy that we had was inadequate,” said Wosje. “We’re going to make changes.”
