4
www.newbuffalotimes.com
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021
Local Government Meetings New Buffalo Times
Democracy Requires Transparency
CITY OF NEW BUFFALO JOHN HUMPHREY, MAYOR CITY COUNCIL LOU O’DONNELL, IV. MARK ROBERTSON, JOHN HUMPHREY, ROGER LIJESKI, BRIAN FLANAGAN City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:30PM CITY OF NEW BUFFALO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS to be determined NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP BOARD PETE RAHM, MICHELLE HEIT, JUDY H. ZABICKI, PATTY IAZZETTO, JACK ROGERS Board meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7PM NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM NEW BUFFALO AREA SCHOOLS BOARD CHUCK HEIT, PRESIDENT HEATHER BLACK, VICE PRESIDENT JOHN HASKINS, TREASURER LISA WERNER, SECRETARY JOYCE LANTZ, TRUSTEE FRANK MARGRO, TRUSTEE PATRICIA NEWSTON, TRUSTEE CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP BOARD DAVID BUNTE, PAULA DUDIAK, LIZ RETTIG, RICHARD SULLIVAN, BILL MARSKE Chikaming Board meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30PM CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6:30PM THREE OAKS THREE OAKS TOWNSHIP BOARD Meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7PM VILLAGE OF THREE OAKS BOARD Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7PM
New Buffalo City Council adopts ordinance prohibiting new short-term rentals in residential districts
M
BY FRANCESCA SAGALA
embers of the New in a municipality, you are entering Buffalo City Council into a de facto social contract with adopted an ordinance that municipality that you will abide that prohibits new by the rules and regulations of that short-term rentals in municipality.” the city’s R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential He said that the city is in a current districts at a special meeting held at the situation where “we have been issuing fire house Tuesday, Nov. 23. permits for something that was never Councilmembers adopted Ordinance declared a lawful use.” 253 in a 3-0 vote, with members “We should not be interpreting our Lou O’Donnell, and statutes…Statutes are “What this Mark Robertson (who written, and they are ordinance does was recovering from what they are - we must is move this town a medical procedure) define what these are forward to regulate absent. and figure out how we’re the number of Per its official going to manage it,” rentals and give language, the ordinance Humphrey added. some equity to amends sections 2-3, Humphrey said the people who live 6-2, 7-2 and 8-2, and problems with short-term here and businesses rentals began in 2018. adds a new section and that you won’t 20-8 to the New Buffalo In March 2019, the be dealing with Zoning Ordinance to former city council unfathomable “prohibit new short-term passed a short-term amounts of people,” rental ordinance; rentals in the R-1, R-2, Humphrey said. and R-3 zoning districts.” however, Humphrey said The ordinance also it got to the point where “provides that short-term rental what they passed “wasn’t working.” activity is generally allowed in singleIn May 2020, the council passed a family and other dwelling units, subject moratorium on the issuance of new to the regulations contained in the City short-term rental permits. Code,” as well as that “new short-term In October, the council approved the rentals would continue to be allowed in moratorium ending Dec. 13, which will all other zoning districts that contain be for the non-residential districts. dwelling units.” Humphrey said the section of the The ordinance will also “regulate moratorium on why it was put into existing short-term rentals in the place says that “in order to lift the R-2, R-2, and R-3 districts as legally moratorium, we must meet those nonconforming uses.” conditions, or we would not be doing Mayor John Humphrey spoke on what our job.” the ordinance “is and what it isn’t.” “What this ordinance does is move Regarding property rights, this town forward to regulate the Humphrey said when “you buy a home number of rentals and give some equity
to people who live here and businesses and that you won’t be dealing with unfathomable amounts of people,” Humphrey said. While he “can’t make any promises,” Humphrey said that, as part of the city’s current rezoning process, the city may defer to the homeowner’s associations in the R-2 and R-3 districts regarding short-term rentals. Regarding state House Bill 4722, which passed the House Oct. 27, Humphrey said that the city currently has 150 legal permits that have been issued, with about 100 of those in the R-1 district, and about 50 illegal rentals (down from 150).
I
n the current bill, a municipality could have 30 percent of the current homes as short-term rentals. Humphrey said that could mean 750 rentals for the city. “Every rental in this town with an average occupancy of 10...That’s 7,500 people,” he said. Humphrey added that the city is down to about 1,000 registered voters. “This isn’t about trying to punish second homeowners and people from Chicago, it’s about keeping this town viable moving forward. You cannot let the market dictate how your town ends up because you will not have a town at a certain point,” Humphrey added. A public hearing held before the passage of the ordinance drew the participation of about 20 people. Diane Gajos said she and her husband had been renting for the past 15 years “without incident.”
GRAND BEACH VILLAGE OF GRAND BEACH COUNCIL Meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7PM MICHIANA VILLAGE OF MICHIANA COUNCIL Meets on the 2nd Friday of each month at 1PM
Good government is one of the most important factors in economic growth and social well-being. — Joe Lonsdale
