Whether a short-term rental must be your primary residence depends on the municipality. Georgetown Charter Township requires the STR/bed-and-breakfast to be the owner's principal residence. In Holland, owner-occupied STRs (your primary residence) are allowed in any zone, while investor-owned whole-home STRs are tightly capped.
Ottawa County sets no primary-residence rule; individual units do. Georgetown Charter Township's zoning ordinance (Section 20.4) requires that a short-term rental / bed-and-breakfast be the homeowner's principal residence, so you cannot operate one from a second home there. The City of Holland draws a line between owner-occupied and investor-owned rentals: an owner-occupied STR is the owner's primary residence and is allowed in any zone district, whereas non-owner-occupied (investor-owned) whole-home rentals are limited in residential districts to a citywide maximum of 25 properties with a 500-foot separation between them. Park Township effectively forbids non-resident STRs by banning them in all residential districts. The practical effect across much of the lakeshore is that primary-residence hosting is favored and pure investment STRs are
Operating a non-primary-residence STR where the municipality forbids it is a zoning violation enforced by the city or township, with municipal civil infraction fines and, in Holland, denial or revocation of the certificate. Georgetown enforces the principal-residence condition through its
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Ottawa County, MI
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See how Ottawa County's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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