FERRYSBURG, MI – A new software program being considered by the Ferrysburg City Council could help bridge the gap between complaints from residents and short-term rental owners.
The City Council tabled the vote to pay $9,625 for rental management software during Monday night’s council meeting. The contract would be concluded with Granicus, specialized in government management software.
Council members indicated they wanted to give residents more time to provide feedback on the software option.
Residents could call a 24/7 hotline to report problems, which would be immediately passed on to the property’s owner or management company.
City Manager Craig Bessinger said a Granicus employee answers that phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“If there’s a party at 2 a.m., the neighbor can call this software number,” Bessinger said.
Violations of the city’s rental ordinances can include loud noise, leaving trash cans, parking on lawns, and individuals renting for periods of less than seven days.
Each short-term rental must be rented for a minimum of seven days and a maximum of 28 days at a time.
There are more than 200 rental properties in Ferrysburg and 70 of them are short-term rentals.
The majority of complaints from residents this year about short-term rentals were for units rented for periods of less than seven days, Bessinger said.
“That would be another party renting the property every night or every other night,” Bessinger said. More complaints were filed during the summer than any other time of year, he said.
Each rental unit must have a rental permit from the city. They can be taken away for the rest of the year if a unit has three violations.
“I think this is a good idea, I think it’s a way to monitor our Airbnb issue that we’re having because a lot of the complaints are that they don’t have a way to report complaints,” said Councilman Jerry Sias . “I think this will solve most of the problems.”
Councilman Mike DeWitt suggested involving police, suggesting that simply contacting the property owner may not be enough to address rowdy parties.
Bessinger said he would explore that idea.
The Council also tabled the increase in rental inspection fees from $75 to $150 per unit per year to give residents “more notice of the rent increase,” Bessinger said.
The council will revisit both the rental management software and the proposed increase in rental inspection fees at its Jan. 6 meeting.
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