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County schedules Jan. 13 public hearing to update five food/pool/lodging ordinances; lodging rules to clarify vacation rentals
Summary
The board scheduled a single public hearing at 10 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2026, to update five ordinances (food protection, lodging, pools/spas, youth camps, manufactured home parks) reflecting a shift to the Prairie Lakes Community Health Board and to add language clarifying that vacation home rentals meet the lodging definition.
Otter Tail County set a public hearing for 10 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2026, to consider updates to five ordinances governing food protection, lodging, public swimming pools and spas, youth camps and manufactured home parks and recreational camping areas.
Land and Resource Director Chris Leclerc said the county is leaving its current community health board (Partnership for Health) and entering a new agreement with the Prairie Lakes Community Health Board, which requires updating ordinance language and some statutory references. Leclerc asked whether the board preferred one public hearing covering all five ordinance updates; the board agreed it could be combined into a single noticed hearing with separate comment periods on each ordinance.
Leclerc also said staff would add a line to the lodging ordinance to make clear that vacation home rentals (VHRs) meet the state statute definition of a lodging establishment, closing a perceived gap that some had argued exempted VHRs from licensing. "VHR is indeed a lodging ordinance or a lodging establishment," Leclerc said, and cautioned that the change could attract public comment. The board set the hearing for Jan. 13 at 10 a.m. and authorized moving the ordinances forward for notice and hearing.
