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New Buffalo City Council adopts ordinance prohibiting new short-term rentals in residential districts
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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 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
New Buffalo City Council adopts ordinance prohibiting new short-term rentals in residential districts
BY FRANCESCA SAGALA
Members of the New Buffalo City Council adopted an ordinance that prohibits new short-term rentals in the city’s R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential districts at a special meeting held at the fire house Tuesday, Nov. 23.
Councilmembers adopted Ordinance 253 in a 3-0 vote, with members Lou O’Donnell, and Mark Robertson (who was recovering from a medical procedure) absent.
Per its official language, the ordinance amends sections 2-3, 6-2, 7-2 and 8-2, and adds a new section 20-8 to the New Buffalo Zoning Ordinance to “prohibit new short-term rentals in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 zoning districts.”
The ordinance also “provides that short-term rental activity is generally allowed in singlefamily and other dwelling units, subject to the regulations contained in the City Code,” as well as that “new short-term rentals would continue to be allowed in all other zoning districts that contain dwelling units.”
The ordinance will also “regulate existing short-term rentals in the R-2, R-2, and R-3 districts as legally nonconforming uses.”
Mayor John Humphrey spoke on what the ordinance “is and what it isn’t.”
Regarding property rights, Humphrey said when “you buy a home in a municipality, you are entering into a de facto social contract with that municipality that you will abide by the rules and regulations of that municipality.” He said that the city is in a current situation where “we have been issuing permits for something that was never declared a lawful use.”
“We should not be interpreting our statutes…Statutes are written, and they are what they are - we must define what these are and figure out how we’re going to manage it,” Humphrey added. Humphrey said the problems with short-term rentals began in 2018. In March 2019, the former city council passed a short-term rental ordinance; however, Humphrey said it got to the point where what they passed “wasn’t working.” In May 2020, the council passed a moratorium on the issuance of new short-term rental permits.
In October, the council approved the moratorium ending Dec. 13, which will be for the non-residential districts.
Humphrey said the section of the moratorium on why it was put into place says that “in order to lift the moratorium, we must meet those conditions, or we would not be doing our job.”
“What this ordinance does is move this town forward to regulate the 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,
“What this which passed the House Oct. 27, ordinance does Humphrey said that the city currently is move this town has 150 legal permits that have been forward to regulate issued, with about 100 of those in the the number of R-1 district, and about 50 illegal rentals rentals and give (down from 150). some equity to
people who live In the current bill, a municipality here and businesses could have 30 percent of the and that you won’t current homes as short-term be dealing with rentals. unfathomable Humphrey said that could amounts of people,” mean 750 rentals for the city.
Humphrey said. “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.”
“We have been an asset to New Buffalo and we’re grateful for the opportunity to share our home with many lovely families, who also fell in love with this area,” she said. She added that the council is supposed to represent the “best interests” of the entire city; however, they have “ignored the facts and wonderful ideas that have been presented by a very large contingency of taxpayers.” Jason Milovich said that he’ll “keep hope alive” that state House Bill 4722 “comes to fruition” as it moves toward the state Senate, which would make everything being discussed that night a “moot point.” He added that the data that he’s seen R-1 district, and about 50 illegal rentals that’s been FOIAed from the city police department and the complaints that were filed regarding short-term rentals were “very small.” Most complaints were with regards to alarms going off and noise and that “they weren’t that many.” “This has been a tourist driven economy for over a century and vacation rentals are the conduit from which this flows…This proposed ordinance, I believe, will drive a stake through the heart of this economy, decrease property values and send tourists elsewhere,” he said. William McCollum, who sits on the Planning Commission but was speaking as a citizen, said while he’s not in favor of expanding short-term rentals in R-1, he said that maybe it can be done in R-2 and R-3. He said that he’s mainly upset with the “loss of my community as the result of all these revolving doors and revolving tenants.” “It’s the loss of the community that shocks me…As we’re losing more fulltime residents, who’s going to be voting, who’s going to be going to our schools – it should be a concern,” he said. Adam Tynowksi said that “consistent messages” have been “essentially just asking for facts and asking for simple things like can we do a more reasonable approach than a blunt object that’s in front of you today.” He said the “only real opposition” seems to be the city council and a “handful of residents, who have voiced both “reasonable issues and also unreasonable issues.”
“Somehow, a tourist town is going to
He added that what the council is doing is a “big public relations nightmare that’s going to be very difficult to fix” and that tourism is the third largest industry in Michigan as well as the “only big industry we have in New Buffalo.”
Ron Watson said short-term rentals in residential areas must be “controlled in numbers” and “limited to ensure the single-family character of the neighborhood is protected - this includes limits on the number of people and cars and any activity that would impact the residential characteristics of the neighborhood.”
be better off with few tourists – none of that makes any sense,” he said.
Jim Kramer, who owns Nancy’s on North Whittaker Street, said that the ordinance will not help businesses downtown.
“Covid is still here and whether we realize it or not, it continues to hurt many businesses and families and individuals as well as our labor force and economy - why do this now?” he said.
Aresident of Shore Drive in Sunset Shores, he A crowd gathered in the fire house for the special meeting said that there are eight registered short-term rentals that are full-time and that there could be as many as 10 on that street – which is “much too high of a density” of that neighborhood. He added that people shouldn’t “assume a majority of New Buffalo citizens agrees with short-term rental proponents.” Councilmembers
Jason Milovich speaks during the public hearing adopted a resolution and letter of support for Amtrak Engineering and Environmental Study for a New Buffalo Passenger Rail Connection. In his report, city manager Darwin Watson said that Amtrak’s Pere Marquette train service currently connects Grand Rapids and Chicago, with stops in several Southwest Michigan (St. Joseph, Bangor and Holland) spots along its route. Improving the rail service would involve building a connection in New Buffalo that connect CSX tracks to Amtrak rails and “allow the Pere Marquette trains to operate on Amtrakowned tracks,” which would require an environmental and engineering study.
Councilmembers approved the Refunding Contract with the Galien River Sewer District. Watson’s report said the Galien River Sewer District (“the Authority”) is “desiring to refinance certain maturities (years 2023-2028) of the Authority’s 2013 bonds,” which will replace the 2013 bonds with new ones at a lower interest rate. The action will “achieve overall debt service savings to New Buffalo City, City of Bridgman, and New Buffalo Township.”
Humphrey added that refunding of the bond will also allow the city to get it paid off in a “quicker manner.”
Upon recommendation from the Planning Commission, the council approved a revised site plan for 1 N. Whittaker, which includes restoring the façade to the original state of the building. Previously, the Planning Commission had approved a Special Use permit to allow for outdoor seating at this location, with plans to remove the corner of the building. While the most current site plan does not remove the corner of the building, it adds more seating for the proposed restaurant.
Upon recommendation from the Planning Commission and per the homeowner’s request, the council approved rezoning 6 South Willard Street from General Commercial District to R-1 Single Family Residential.
Councilmembers approved the payment to Detroit Salt Company, LLC in the amount of $12, 371.80. for road salt.
The payment to Etna Supply for water tap materials in the amount of $15,328.16 was approved. Watson said that the Water Department has been contacted to complete two water taps for the New Buffalo Area Schools STEAM Building and Pickle Ball Pavilion projects.
AA single-vehicle accident resulted in one fatality and two injuries in Harbert Saturday, Nov. 27.
According to a press release from the Chikaming Township Police Department, at 9:59 p.m. Nov. 27, emergency personal were dispatched to Red Arrow Highway south of Harbert Road for a report of an unknown personal injury accident. Officer Carpp with the Chikaming Township Police Department arrived on the scene and found a single motor vehicle on the east side of Red Arrow Highway, the release stated. “The vehicle sustained heavy damage, as it appeared to have rolled multiple times and struck a large tree,” it said. The driver Travis Lloyd Germain, a 21-year-old male from Michigan City, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The two passengers Dakota Bentancourt, a 24-year-old male from New Carlisle, Indiana, and Ethan Eugene McFarland, a 20-yearold male from Noblesville, Indiana, sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Bentancourt and McFarland were both transported to Spectrum Health Lakeland in St. Joseph, Michigan. Bentancourt was treated and released. As of press time, McFarland was still being treated but remains in stable condition. “Preliminary investigation shows a second vehicle may be involved in the crash,” the release said, adding that this is “an ongoing investigation.” Assisting on the scene were the following agencies: Chikaming Township Fire Department, Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, Michigan State Police, Baroda Lake Township Police Department, Medic 1 Ambulance, and Office of the Medical
Two-vehicle crash in New Buffalo Township results in fatality, several injuries
Atwo-vehicle resulted in one fatality and several injuries on Interstate 94 eastbound near Maudlin Road New Buffalo Township Thanksgiving night. According to a press release from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, at approximately 7:15 p.m. Nov. 25, emergency responders were dispatched to a two-car traffic crash on I-94 near New Buffalo.
Upon arrival, police found a female who was unresponsive and lying in the roadway, as well as another male lying on the ground who was pinned under his vehicle. Crash investigators were called to the scene to assist in the investigation.
“Police were able to determine that a Ford Escape SUV with four subjects inside the vehicle was travelling eastbound near the truck weight station when the driver lost control of his vehicle on slippery roadway, ran off the roadway and struck a guardrail. The vehicle then came to rest on the shoulder of the road,” the release stated. While a rear seat passenger was outside the vehicle and tending to the front seat passenger, a second vehicle also lost control on the slippery roadway and spun into the stopped first vehicle.
“The second vehicle, a 2008 Buick Lucerne, slammed into the passenger side of the Ford Escape while one of the occupants was standing next to the vehicle pinning the occupant between both vehicles. The driver of the Escape was then thrown from the vehicle and became trapped under his car,” the release said.
The driver and front seat passenger of the Escape were transported to Memorial Hospital of South Bend for Serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Buick was taken to LakelandSpectrum Hospital for critical injuries and was airlifted to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. The front seat passenger of the Buick was taken to Franciscan Hospital in Michigan City and was transferred to University of Chicago for her injuries and the back seat passenger of the Buick was treated and released at Spectrum Health Lakeland.
As of press time, the names of all subjects were not released.
The deceased was taken to WMED of Kalamazoo for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
This crash is still under investigation. The release states that it “appears that cold, slick rain/icy road conditions contributed to this crash.”
Agencies involved were the Berrien County Sheriff New Buffalo Township Patrol, New Buffalo City Police Department, Pokagon Tribal Police Department, New Buffalo Township Fire, Michigan State Police, Medic 1 Ambulance, Three Oaks Ambulance, and the Berrien County Sheriff Crash Reconstruction Unit. — STAFF
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New Buffalo Times
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE — SINCE 1942 —
MANY THANKS...
Blessings in a Backpack in New Buffalo would like to thank the New Buffalo Lions Club for their generous gift of funding to purchase Thanksgiving gift cards to help provide families in New Buffalo with a Thanksgiving meal. Thank you for all that you do for the New Buffalo community!
We would also like to thank Barbara and Conrad Rieckhoff and the Sunset Shores Homeowner’s Association for their kindness and generosity in supporting Blessings in a Backpack. The Homeowner’s Association held a very successful food drive in Sunset Shores recently and provided over 900 individual food items to be distributed to the children in the Blessings in a Backpack program at New Buffalo Elementary.
Blessings in a Backpack sends food home with elementary students who might not have enough food for the weekend. This ministry is made possible by generous donations from the community and many, many volunteer hours.
Donors across the country contribute to the success of the nationwide Blessings in a Backpack program which provides food to over 88,900 children in 1,092 schools in 46 states each weekend. There were over 3 million hunger free weekends provided nationwide during the last school year through Blessings in a Backpack.
Once again, thank you New Buffalo Lion’s Club and Sunset Shores Homeowner’s Association! Your support and generosity is greatly appreciated. — MARY ROBERTSON, WATER’S
EDGE UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH
BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK
Pay raises aimed at slowing turnover
BY STAN MADDUX
LaPorte County officials are hoping a six percent wage increase is enough to stop the alarming rate of ambulance workers and jail problems at the E-911 Dispatch Center and LaPorte County Jail. Sheriff John Boyd said 14 jail officers have become correctional officers elsewhere this year primarily officers from leaving for much higher pay elsewhere.
With a sense of urgency, the LaPorte County Council also approved the same pay increase for police officers, 911 dispatchers and others viewed as frontline workers, like members of the LaPorte County Highway Department, Nov. 22.
A five percent increase in pay was given to all other county employees.
Councilman Earl Cunningham said he would have supported a 10 percent across the board pay hike if the county was able to afford it.
“We don’t have the money,” he said.
The increase wasn’t close to what LaPorte County Emergency Medical Service Administrator Andrew McGuire felt would solve the high turnover in his department.
Several weeks ago, McGuire proposed a $10,000 raise for every paramedic and emergency medical technician to be more competitive with the salaries offered by surrounding municipalities.
“I do appreciate what they did for us tonight but there’s more work that needs to be done,” he said.
EMS Capt. Jeff Koon said ambulance workers who put in 60 hours a week and are paid overtime still earn less than $16 an hour.
He said 27 paramedics and 10 emergency medical technicians have left over the past five years.
Koon said about 40 percent of those departures occurred this year.
“We have a problem,” he said.
There have also been turnover for higher pay. Boyd said he hasn’t lost any patrol officers but could if the raises don’t close the gap enough with the $10,000 or more in higher pay they can earn at some of the other surrounding police departments. “We have to keep up with what those agencies are paying. If those agencies can afford it, we certainly can afford it,” he said.
Council president Randy Novak said the $21 million in federal dollars county government that was received under the American Rescue Plan could be used to further boost pay.
However, he said once those dollars are spent, there’s no other revenue stream in place right now to maintain higher pay levels.
“It’s not sustainable,” he said.
Novak and other decision makers hinted at the possibility of raising the county income tax to generate additional money for salaries.
More income tax revenue, though, could be nullified if talk of state tax cuts materializes next year.
Novak said that would mean about a $3 million loss in annual revenue from downstate.
The county commissioners have recommended bonuses of anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 in addition to the pay hike for each employee to help ease turnover.
Novak said bonuses will be considered by the council at a special meeting Dec. 13.
