Recap of the First Meeting of the Grand Traverse County Septic Inspection Program Ad Hoc Committee, Traverse City Renews their Discussion of Short-Term Rental Regulations, and REALTOR Party Playlist: Advocacy Scoop Podcast - Unpacking RPAC
Starting off this week’s GAD Top 3, we have a brief recap of the Grand Traverse County Septic Inspection Program Ad Hoc Committee held on Friday, October 11th. Then, a little bit lengthier summary of Traverse City’s renewed discussion of potentially amending their short-term rental (STR) regulations with the intent of increasing restrictions. Then check out the latest Advocacy Scoop podcast “unpack” some of the most commonly asked RPAC questions.
1. Recap of the First Meeting of the Grand Traverse County Septic Inspection Program Ad Hoc Committee
At the Grand Traverse (GT) County Septic System Inspection Program Ad Hoc Committee on Friday, October 11th there was discussion about whether to consider a Point-of-Sale, Point-of-Transfer, or Time-based septic system inspection program. Time-based is what is written into Michigan House Bills 4479 and 4480 and what Michigan REALTORS® as well as Aspire North REALTORS® is currently advocating for. At Friday’s meeting, there appears to be a consensus that long-term a time-based septic system inspection program is ideal, however, members of the GT County Septic System Inspection Program Ad Hoc Committee would like to get some septic system inspection program for the county started to begin some level of inspections throughout the county. The consensus following the meeting was to consider a time-of-transfer policy that was only for properties within roughly 300 feet of a body of water. The GT County Health Department was charged with bringing back a draft time-of-transfer septic system inspection program for properties within close proximity to bodies of water for the next Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on Monday, October 21st.
For additional context, the septic system inspection programs that the GT County Health Department is reviewing as potential models are the Benzie-Leelanau Sanitary Code and Long Lake Township. If you would like any additional information regarding Grand Traverse County’s discussion of a septic inspection program. Reach out to me at connor@aspirenorthrealtors.com or 231-944-8315.
2. Traverse City Renews their Discussion of Short-Term Rental Regulations
This past Tuesday, October 15th at a Study Session the Traverse City (TC) Planning Commission renewed their discussion of potentially amending their short-term rental (STR) regulations with the intent of increasing restrictions, a priority goal they set for 2024. The TC Planning Commission discussed a number of potential amendments they might make to TC’s STR regulations including:
- Increasing the maximum fees for violations.
- Moving to a police power ordinance as opposed to regulating STR through zoning as they do now.
- Combining High and Low-intensity tourist homes as one tourist home category since it is difficult to enforce the two different types.
- Decreasing the percentage of dwelling units allowed as Vacation Homes in the following districts:
- HR: Hotel/Resort - 25%
- C-1: Office Services - 25%
- C-2: Neighborhood Center - 25%
- C-3: Community Center - 100%
- C-4: Regional Center - 100%
- D-1: Development (Ironworks) - 100%
- D-2: Development (Depot) - 25%
- D-3: Development (Red Mill) - 100%
- I: Industrial - 25%
There was quite a bit of discussion around whether these changes would really impact their intended goal of increasing long-term housing options through these policies. TC Planning staff identified from the discussion a number of data points they will gather to share with the TC Planning Commission to assist in their discussion. These include: the number of hospitality units (they believe this number is 8), what enforcement the city has at their disposal for STR properties, the number of STR violations the city has received, any complaints about the intensity of STRs the city has received, the total number of dwelling units in TC and how many units are long-term versus seasonal dwellings, patterns of operating STR units that may show the need for an overlay district, what share of new construction are STRs, what is the trigger for losing an STR license, how many STRs are seasonal versus year-round, what options are there for TC to incentivize people to get rid of their STR licenses, and what information there may be on communities across the country that have successfully transitioned STR units to long-term rentals.
In public comment, it was suggested that TC consider an overall cap on the total number of STRs and maintain the ability for individuals who already have STRs to retain that ability when they sell their property, so these individuals are grandfathered in and do not lose the value of their property when they sell.
3. REALTOR Party Playlist: Advocacy Scoop Podcast - Unpacking RPAC
Earlier this month the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) Advocacy team released their latest Advocacy Scoop Podcast, Unpacking RPAC. For the past 45 years, the REALTORS Political Action Committee (RPAC) has promoted the election of pro-REALTOR candidates across the United States. In this podcast episode, Patrick Newton Director of Advocacy and PR Communications at NAR, and Shannon McGahn Chief Advocacy Officer for NAR “unpack” some of the most commonly asked RPAC questions. Listen to the episode here.
