HOLLAND, Mich. -- Non-owner occupied short-term rentals will soon be allowed in Ottawa County's largest city.
By a narrow margin, Holland's City Council approved a pilot program that would allow non-owner occupied short-term rentals for the next two years.
There are some restrictions:
- Two of these types of rentals would not be allowed to be within 500 feet of each other.
- Only 25 of these rentals will be allowed to exist
- There will also be inspections each year
- A local agent must be within 35 miles of the property
"It was kind of like a weight was lifted off of our shoulders," Elaine Page, a rental property owner told 13 On Your Side on Thursday.
Page has been fighting for short-term rentals for the last 4 1/2 years.
"I’m really happy that the city of Holland worked with us to get to this point," she said.
But not all are on board.
Some council members who voted against the pilot program did so because they had concerns about how the project would affect affordable housing in the city. Sally Laukitis the Executive Director of the Holland Area Visitors Bureau is also against short-term rentals.
She's concerned with what they could do to the neighborhoods.
"The concerns that we’ve had is with non-owner occupied short-term rentals and the fact that they don’t have to be locally owned. Our feeling is that because hotels have to be inspected, have to meet certain safety codes, certain safety regulations parking regulations that essentially people in those neighborhoods could end up living essentially next to a hotel or a motel,"Laukitis said.
But Page is confident, the program will prove to be nothing but positive for the lakeshore community.
"I understand the negatives that they were talking about but if we all work together this can be a huge positive for this city."
Applications would start being accepted for the pilot program on May 9.
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