In mid-August, the City of Harbor Springs is going to open up the subject of STR’s again. Please attend the meetings and read below, for a new idea or two.

Here are some links that may provide valuable info on how to turn your Short Term Rental (STR) into a Flex Place that can help Harbor Springs employee housing shortage – AND give you a couple months to take a holiday, or see your family, or to take a break. Taking care of STR’s is hard work. Utilizing Mid-Term rental strategy, just might be an answer for you! Anyone listening in City Hall? How can we help STR owners and help Harbor Springs at the same time?

https://www.azibo.com/blog/mid-term-rentals-pros-and-cons-for-property-owners

How to Incorporate Mid-Term Bookings Into Your Short-Term Rental Strategy

The lack of housing for teachers, emergency services personnel, and young families in Harbor Springs is concerning and merits community attention. Bob Thoma, a Planning Commission member, sounded the alarm; if emergency services personnel can’t find housing near where they may be needed, we may all be at risk. However, the solution may be as simple as (and the same as) the solution to the lack of housing for our downtown employees. Both Jody Eubank of the Harbor Springs Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and Bill Mulder Chair of the Planning Commission believe the housing situation is dire and with too few housing opportunities the Planning Commission fears for the vitality of our community and the viability of a community that has reduced in population.

Specifically, it was in 2010 when Harbor Springs lost 386 residents due to foreclosures, the automobile fall-out when many Detroit executives sold their homes and may be homesteaded residents moving away or dying. Replaced by non-homesteaded residents, which would not decrease density, they are just not being counted in the census. It’s complicated and our very small community may not fit the formulas used for estimation.

After 2010, the population rises and falls a few people each year, but the census numbers that were used by the Planning Commissioner Bill Mulder does show a decrease of residents. Perhaps the increase in second home ownership answers the question of the missing 300- 500 residents Planning Commission Chair Mulder considers lost?

It’s unclear if homes were left vacant in Harbor Springs in those years, but the population of Harbor Springs is again on the increase. Second home ownership is popular with over 60% of our housing stock being owned by non-resident non-voters and continues to drive a population that increases 100% in the months of June, July and August.

Nonetheless further stressing the lack of homes could be due to the popular activity of buying properties as short term rentals (STRs). Many owners set aside their vacation weeks and allow renters to use their homes the remaining weeks of the year. Revenue enables homeowners to pay their utilities, often mortgages and taxes year-round. 63 homes in certain residential districts are licensed in Harbor Springs to be rented short term. There are also licensed STRs in the central business district.

One savvy approach could be taken to encourage owners to convert STRs to long term rentals. This inventory of homes, garages or guest cottages could address the need to find teacher, emergency services personnel and family’s immediate accommodation in Harbor Springs. A number of these STRs could be used for the high-season surge when employee rentals are needed.

STR owners have responsibilities of acquiring a home management service – at a 10-45% fee; lawn and snow plow care; firewood; and cleaning services. It is possible that if you are a STR owner going on now for 5-7 years of this care, some STR owners may be finding it difficult to keep going. It’s hard work being an STR owner. You will ask, what about the revenue? For long-term rentals, management fees decrease, maid services often are eliminated, and home care can be a negotiable item with the long-term tenant. Even using your home for the vacation weeks with your family is a negotiable item – some tenants are more than willing to find other accommodations when the homeowner wants to vacation.

HousingNorth in Traverse City and Cherry Republic have joined together to solve the employee housing issue through business solutions and using rental stock – STRs – as long and term solutions. As our Lt. Governor Gilchrist says “Houses are for people who live and work in a place. We can always find ways to accommodate visitors”. In our heart of hearts, how do you think the motel and hotel owners feel, losing the trade they have provided a town. Should we be asking the motels and hotels to house our employees?

How could it work? One idea is that if you are a current STR license holder – interested in helping with Harbor Springs employee rental problem, with the City’s help perhaps you could “bank” your license, so if the long-term employment solution doesn’t work out for you, you would have a runway back into the STR group. The management firm’s fees would transfer to a Long-Term Rental Solution Fees that are subsidized by lawn and building care, snow plowing, firewood and home repair. It’s a balance of business that just might solve some employee housing issues.

Changes to short term rental policy however appears to be another missing point from the proposed zoning proposal in any meaningful way. This affordable housing needs to be addressed sooner rather than later as it could provide an immediate answer to the housing needed for employees as well as families – the missing 300.

Harbor Springs has plenty of housing options already built, probably around the same as the number of homes as in 2000-2010 when the population was larger. But to address the distribution of that housing among the diverse needs of Harbor Springs immediate crisis both Ewbank and Mulder have emphasized publicly, businesses could work with the short-term rental community to find downtown accommodation opportunities. The City of Harbor Springs and the Planning Commission could work with the Short-Term Rental community in the residential districts to encourage a move from short term to long term rentals.

WeLoveHarborSprings.org and contact us for more information at WeLoveHarborSprings@gmail.com