Oscoda board approves short-term rental cap, postpones accessory-structure and blight ordinance reviews

The Charter Township of Oscoda board approved an amendment establishing a cap on short-term rentals and passed a resolution to establish a Corridor Improvement Authority at its Oct. 28 regular meeting, while postponing final action on related accessory-structure and blight ordinance updates pending corrected documents.

At the meeting, the board approved the short-term rental amendment, with five members voting in favor (Mr. Tasior, Mr. Sutton, Mr. Wusterbarth, Mr. Spencer and Mr. Palmer) and one member voting no (Ms. McGuire); one member (Mr. Cummings) was absent. Board members discussed counts of short-term rental units in the township; Mr. Palmer said 37 were currently identified, and Mr. Spencer noted enforcement relies on registration and complaint-based reporting. The ordinance update as approved establishes a registration and fee structure and sets a cap on the number of licensed short-term rentals; the ordinance text in the packet was the subject of board questions during the meeting.

Also on the agenda, the board approved Resolution 2024-27 to establish a Corridor Improvement Authority; that resolution passed by roll call vote with no recorded opposition. The board chose to postpone consideration of an accessory-structure amendment and the Blight Ordinance final review after staff acknowledged the wrong version of the blight ordinance had been included in the meeting packet and some board members raised concerns about the accessory-structure language as drafted. Ms. McGuire said she preferred retaining a prior "1%" visibility requirement for certain lake-adjacent accessory structures; other members supported delaying action so the Planning Commission and staff can present a clarified, consistent text.

The board’s action on the short-term rental amendment and the corridor-authority resolution are formal outcomes recorded by roll-call votes in the meeting minutes; the accessory-structure and blight items were explicitly postponed for later reconsideration when corrected materials are available.

What happens next: The township will present corrected ordinance language for accessory-structure and blight provisions at a future meeting for further consideration. The short-term rental amendment and the Corridor Improvement Authority resolution are effective per township procedures, subject to standard publication and recording requirements.