Kent County imposes no primary-residence rule for STRs. Some cities do. Grand Rapids allows short-term rentals only as owner-occupied home occupations, effectively requiring the host to live in the home being rented.
Michigan has no statewide primary-residence mandate for short-term rentals, and Kent County adds none. Whether a host may rent a non-owner-occupied property is decided by the city or township. Grand Rapids permits short-term rentals only as a Home Occupation, which by definition is incidental to a residence the operator occupies, so an owner-occupancy expectation applies there. Other Kent County municipalities may permit non-owner-occupied STRs or restrict them by zoning district. Because proposed statewide legislation (e.g., HB 5438) preserved local control rather than preempting it, the governing answer is always the city's or township's ordinance where the property sits.
Enforced municipally; in cities requiring owner occupancy, operating a non-owner-occupied STR can result in license denial or revocation and civil-infraction penalties.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Kent County, MI
Kent County has no ordinance using the word 'hoarding,' but its adequate-care, sanitary-condition, and cruelty provisions let Animal Control seize animals ke...
Kent County, MI
Kent County's Animal Control Ordinance does not address feeding wild animals. Deer and elk baiting and feeding are regulated statewide by the Michigan DNR, w...
Kent County, MI
Kent County requires licensing and leashing only for dogs, not cats. Cats are still covered by the ordinance's adequate-care and cruelty provisions, and by M...
Kent County, MI
Kent County sets no general household pet cap, but any establishment keeping three or more dogs for sale, boarding, breeding, or training for pay is a 'kenne...
Kent County, MI
Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in Kent County. Michigan law bans yard clippings from landfills, and the Kent County Department of Public Works...
Kent County, MI
Kent County has no artificial-turf ordinance. Whether synthetic grass is allowed in a front yard is a city or township zoning and property-maintenance questi...
See how Kent County's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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