Maple Grove City Council approves short-term rental ordinance

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (FOX 9) - The city of Maple Grove passed new rules for homeowners who list their property for short-term rentals like Airbnb or Vrbo. 

The Maple Grove City Council passed the ordinance on Monday, with the rules set to go into effect on Sept. 1. City administrators plan to find offenders by looking for online listings that are not licensed.

Current city ordinance requires property owners to get a license to offer a home as any rental. However, according to Maple Grove Community and Economic Development Director Joe Hogeboom, "We know by looking at the websites that at any given time there are about 50 of these that are operating. We only have two licenses right now that are out for short-term rentals."

"Are we really making a mountain out of a molehill here?" citizen Brandy Logan said. She started a petition that brought in a variety of opinions online.

"The majority I saw is that there should not be any type of ordinance governing people in how they want to rent their home, specifically if they pay their taxes and there’s no laws being broken," Logan said. "Of course, nobody wants a party house, and nobody wants to have anyone trashing the property, but there is also a fine line between over-policing and not allowing them to do what they want with their property."

"I know some of them have actually written to city council, so they’ve taken those concerns into account," Hogeboom said later. "It’s just a real big challenge to get folks to apply for these licenses that have short-term rentals."

Part of the hesitancy may be financial. Under the proposed short-term rental ordinance discussed at Monday’s city council meeting, property owners would have to pass annual inspections, Maple Grove Police Department safety training, pay a $200 annual fee, and pay a one-time $400 conversion fee. 

"I find that astronomical amount ridiculous," Logan said. "We are in a time of inflation, and people are trying to find extra ways to bring income into their home. This is just another blockade."

The ordinance says after two instances of disorderly conduct, short-term rental properties will have their licenses revoked for at least one year.

A short-term rental is a property that's rented for 30 days or fewer.