Egg Harbor, Baileys Harbor Tackling STRs

Egg Harbor. File photo.

The Village of Egg Harbor and the Town of Baileys Harbor are the latest Door County communities to revisit existing short-term rental (STR) ordinances or adopt new ones with an eye toward stricter regulations. 

Sevastopol tightened up its restrictions in April in an attempt to slow the growth of new STRs within its communities, and Sister Bay is currently considering its own changes for the same reason.

The Village of Egg Harbor’s plan commission held its initial discussion last month, and the Town of Baileys Harbor’s plan commission agreed on a recommended ordinance that the town’s board will consider June 12.

STRs are, by state statute, residential dwellings that are offered for rent, largely on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo, for fewer than 30 consecutive days.

Village of Egg Harbor 

Egg Harbor had an STR ordinance on the books earlier than most, and its board of trustees updated that as recently as 2020. However, the ordinance does not contain any restrictions, and the plan commission’s members indicated during their May 23 discussion that they’d like to move in that direction. 

First, “we have to identify what the problem is,” said plan commission member Chris Roedl during that meeting. “Difficult guests and misbehaving – to me, that oversimplifies the problem. There’s more than just that we’re trying to deal with. Yes, it is those things, but also the market forces, the socioeconomic effects happening downstream, neighborhood impacts – it’s hard to have a neighborhood feel when you don’t have neighbors. I understand they [STR owners] still pay taxes, but it’s just not the same vested interest.”

Other commission members said they recognize their own neighborhoods changing as homes that go on the market are sold for STR use. Plan commission chair Cambria Mueller said she felt the village was at a “tipping point” and was “getting oversaturated” with STRs.

Mueller mined data from the Door County Tourism Zone Commission – the entity that collects the 8% room tax from all lodging establishments, including STRs – and learned the village had 94 STRs in December 2022, a 21% increase over December 2021. 

She also charted the locations of existing STRs within the village. The vast majority are in residential and recreational districts. Only 11 are located within the village’s small commercial zone that extends from Harbor School Road north to County E along Highway 42, and is bounded by Church Street on the west and White Cliff Road on the east.

State law does not allow municipalities to ban STRs from particular zoning districts such as residential areas, but Mueller said she wanted to explore how the village could regulate them differently by zoning district. 

“I would propose that we keep the residential areas residential, to the extent possible,” she said.

Mueller connected with officials in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, a city of almost 26,000 people that requires STR owners to obtain a conditional-use permit if the owner of the STR doesn’t permanently reside on the premises. The commission will also contact other Door County communities that have STR ordinances and will invite STR owners, through organizations such as Home Hosts of Door County, into the conversation.

The commission was expected to take up the issue again during its June 20 meeting. 

Town of Baileys Harbor

Baileys Harbor had adopted an STR ordinance in October 2022 that would have been effective Jan. 1, 2024. That ordinance would be rescinded and a new one put in place if the town board adopts the plan commission’s latest version, recommended June 5.

The strictest clause in the newest iteration mirrors the Town of Sevastopol’s ordinance: If an STR owner is renting a property for fewer than seven days, the STR must be owner-occupied. The ordinance gives existing STR owners a break, however, exempting them from the owner-occupied requirement if they have a license in good standing with the Door County Tourism Zone Commission as of July 15, 2023.

The draft ordinance also recognizes existing STRs with family history, just as Sevastopol’s ordinance does. If an owner sells an STR property, the existing STR license becomes void, and a new application is required under the owner-occupied rule. However, if the property is sold to a family member, that family member may continue to operate the rentals under the owner-occupied exemption.

If the town board passes the current draft version, all STR owners who operate for more than 10 nights each year must obtain an annual town license for $500 initially, with annual renewals of $250 thereafter. The ordinance would require all STR owners to receive these licenses by Jan. 1, 2024.

The stated purpose of the ordinance is to “ensure that the quality and nature of the short-term rentals operating within the Town of Baileys Harbor are adequate for protecting public health, safety and general welfare and to protect the character and stability of neighborhoods within the town.” 

In that, it shares similarities with other ordinances adopted by Door County municipalities in seeking to ensure that the proprietors of these residences-turned-rentals host good-neighbor guests. That includes regulations on items such as outdoor events, noise, occupancy, parking, garbage removal and private onsite wastewater treatment system compliance.

The Baileys Harbor Town Board will consider the draft ordinance during its June 12 meeting.