Ottawa judge rules in favor of Park Township officials who banned short-term rentals

PARK TWP. — Don’t anticipate renting a vacation home on a short-term basis in Park Township anytime soon.

Ottawa County 20th Circuit Court Judge Jon Hulsing released his ruling on Nov. 4 that essentially bans the rental of homes on a short-term basis for vacationers in the resort town, ending a long legal challenge by more than 100 property owners. 

Hulsing said he was upholding the Zoning Board of Appeals’ interpretation that short-term rentals, facilitated by platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, are not a permitted use in residential districts. 

Years-long issue in Park Township 

The issue of township homeowners renting their properties as vacation rentals has been going on since 2023. 

The core of the dispute lay in the interpretation of the 1974 Zoning Ordinance, an issue that became contested only after the township began enforcement in 2023 following an increase in resident complaints.

A group of property owners then rallied together and formed the Park Township Neighbor and filed suit against the municipality, according to previous media reports. The group claimed the Park Township Board of Trustees voted to adopt an amendment to the zoning ordinance by defining, regulating and prohibiting short-term rentals without holding a proper hearing or providing prior notice to the public.

But Hulsing’s opinion affirmed the zoning board’s May 2025 decision, which determined that transient commercial uses like short-term rentals have been excluded from residential zones since before the 1974 ordinance was enacted.

Park Township Supervisor Steve Spoelhof said in the news release that he was “grateful” for Hulsing's ruling. 

“We are grateful for the court’s continued affirmation of the Township Board’s position over the past several years, which is that short-term rentals have not been permitted in residentially-zoned neighborhoods since at least 1974,” he said.  

“We have long held that our neighborhoods are for residents, not commercial uses like short-term rentals.”

However, historically, the township did not enforce the ordinance — something the judge didn’t dispute in his ruling. The Park Township Neighbors argued that the township's nearly 50 years of non-enforcement and previous assurances from local officials created a right to continue the rentals. 

But Hulsing dismantled this argument by strictly interpreting the law as its written.

Per the wording in the Nov. 4 ruling and opinion, the court acknowledged the previous lack of enforcement:

“Appellants are scores of landowners who rent their houses within Park Township on a short-term basis. Many of those landowners have engaged in short-term renting of their houses for many years. It is undisputed that for nearly 50 years, the township did not take enforcement action against any homeowner who rented his property on a short-term basis. In fact, various township employees, including former zoning administrators, regularly opined that the zoning ordinance did not prohibit STRs. However, the issue of STRs was never brought before the ZBA to render a formal opinion until this case.”

“As a result of increased citizen complaints, which may have correlated to an ever-increasing number of STRs, the township studied the issue and concluded that the zoning ordinance did not permit STRs in residential districts. Hence, enforcement action began in 2023. In addition, the township amended its zoning ordinance in 2024 to expressly prohibit short-term renting for less than 29 consecutive days. Appellants challenged the township's interpretation of the zoning ordinance and commenced this action.”

Hulsing ultimately concluded that a 2003 amendment to the 1974 ordinance changed the definition of "motel," but that STRs still "squarely fit within the definition of a motel because they are commercial establishments which offer lodging accommodations and sleeping rooms to transient guests in return for payment.'

The written opinion’s conclusion delivered a final blow to the plaintiffs. 

The language reads as follows: 

“Finally, prior erroneous statements by zoning administrators are not legally binding on either the ZBA or this court. This court must ignore those statements because they conflict with an unambiguous zoning ordinance. Zoning administrators and township employees do not have the authority to enact or modify ordinances; only the township board may enact ordinances and the ZBA has final administrative interpretation of zoning ordinances. The ZBA did not err.”

Next steps

Following this court order, the township is now authorized to move forward with enforcement of the ban on rentals of less than 29 consecutive days. 

The township had previously agreed to a grace period for STR owners to honor existing reservations, but has indicated that property owners who fail to cease operations immediately following the ruling will be cited by its full-time code enforcement officer.

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Hulsing had dismissed the property owners’ original lawsuit in November 2024, citing a lack of jurisdiction after the township had amended its ordinance to explicitly prohibit STRs in 2024. 

The property owners were then required to appeal to the ZBA—a step now validated by the circuit court.

The next legal step for property owners would be an appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals. To read the entire ruling, click here. 

— Heather VanDyke covers northern Ottawa County for the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at hvandyke@ottawanewsnetwork.org.