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Residents urge owner-occupancy rules for short-term rentals, caution against ADU deed restrictions
Summary
Three residents told the commission that absentee short-term rentals have created neighborhood nuisances and urged owner-occupancy rules; one resident supported zoning updates to increase housing but cautioned about deed restrictions on ADUs that could limit financing.
Three residents at a Royal Oak City meeting urged the commission to consider owner-occupancy requirements for short-term rentals and to be cautious about ADU deed restrictions that could hinder financing.
Alex Morford, a Royal Oak resident and volunteer with a county implementation group, said he supports zoning updates that would make the approval process clearer and enable more homebuilding. He praised proposals to reduce off-street parking requirements and to update multifamily density formulas, but he cautioned against adding ADU owner-occupancy deed restrictions without benchmarking other municipalities. "I did mean more objective," Morford said when correcting a slip of phrase in his remarks; he asked staff to show visual examples during public engagement so residents can see projects that would be allowed under new rules.
Ray Lenovich (3028 Elmherst) flagged short-term rentals as a potential problem if left owner-absent, saying absentee short-term rentals ‘‘are not residential use’’ and can operate like a hotel. He told commissioners he supports requiring owner presence for short-term rentals and questioned whether current diagnostic language implied limiting owner absence. "If you're going to have short-term rentals, is it your position you want the owner presence to be required or not required?" the moderator asked; Lenovich replied, "Yes, I want it to be required."
Cindy Litfenovich (3028 Elmherst) described an absentee short-term rental next door that she said generated "all night rockers parties, garbage on the ground, street parking issues," and said she supports owner-occupancy requirements for short-term rentals. Her testimony tied neighborhood quality concerns to the broader goals of encouraging more housing that is occupied by residents rather than as absentee commercial rentals.
Those public comments were recorded during the meeting's public-comment period; the transcript shows no immediate policy action or vote on short-term rental owner-occupancy during this session. Commissioners later discussed maintaining discretionary review (the planning commission's role) for projects that may have "meaningful off-site impacts" and emphasized that the code rewrite should balance clearer, more objective standards with the need for case-by-case judgment where appropriate.
