It is critical that you participate in the public hearing this Tuesday where severe restrictions will be considered making your STR very difficult to operate. If you are not able to be at the meeting in person, you can write to the Village Board and Plan Commission. Here are talking points. You can also encourage those you hire to help run your STR to speak up.
Here is a summary of the last Tuesday’s Village Board meeting…your efforts are making a difference:
A number of board members questioned the problems we are trying to solve with this wide range of new restrictions. They tabled a vote on approving the new restrictions until they have time to study the proposed revisions. The village administrator was requested to create a spreadsheet of problems they are having and how proposed restrictions address them. However, there are other board members that support these severe restrictions and without further understanding of the negative impacts, are very likely to support the vast majority of the restrictions.
Here is a quick summary of the worst of the restrictions:
7-night/180-day – this is the most restrictive to STRs and businesses. How will this impact our local businesses in Sister Bay?
- Our restaurants, bowling alley, coffee shops, stores, taverns, grocery stores, cleaning services, plowing services, gas stations and more right here in Sister Bay depend on STR rentals to keep them able to pay our local people a livable wage for year-round employment. And they need to have visitors to our STRs in the winter to do that
- A 7-night minimum will cause a significant decrease in the number of people who visit our local businesses — most people don’t shop multiple days in our stores, eat multiple nights in the same restaurants, attend our drive-in, theater performances and musical performances multiple nights while they are in Door County. Two stays of 3/4 nights in a week will possibly double the visitors who will be supporting our local businesses. Our local cleaning folks will have their businesses cut in half if we have a 7-night minimum and many will go out of business.
- The proposed restriction of a “minimum 7 day rental” is NOT resolved by allowing “ONLY ONE RENTAL in 7 days.” Most rentals are only for 3-4 nights. If only one rental is allowed during a 7 day period, this still reduces by 50% the number of guests that can stay in STRs and patronize individual business.
- Fewer STRs available to guests will make Sister Bay significantly less attractive to tourists because this is a preferred type of lodging (families like to stay together). Today 30+% of guests stay in STRs.
Please see our talking points regarding other restrictions on:
-Parking (limit to two cars visible)
-Legal protection for owners (LLC restriction)
-DATCP Inspection
-Violations of Nuisance Ordinances
Please see the Home Hosts website home page for further details outlined in earlier emails.
Note: There are two sets of regulations changing. One is the zoning and the other is the ordinance. This public meeting is about the zoning but feel free to express your opinions about both sets of changes. They overlap considerably.
Amendments to the Village of Sister Bay Municipal Code, Ch. 66, Zoning, can be viewed, here.
It is essential that the meeting is attended by Sister Bay
STR Owners
&
Village Business Proprietors
Thus far, STR owners have made a significant difference in the debate, and Home Hosts thanks you, but our work is far from finished. We need your help in attending the meeting yourself and encouraging village business owners to attend the meeting to speak out against the proposed 7/180 rule and share how it will negatively affect their livelihood.
ACTION ITEMS:
- Attend the meeting on May 23 at 5:30 PM. We encourage STR owners to show up in numbers! We need you to be there.
- Here are some talking points that will be helpful in structuring your comments.
- Speak to business owners hire and those whose business you patronize and share this email with them. Please speak to Village Business owners and ask them to show up at the meeting to let their opinions be heard; they want a thriving local economy and one way to accomplish this is to stop the 7/180 change to the ordinance.
- Write directly to the Village Board and the Plan Commission members listed here. Here is a sample letter one member wrote.
- Learn more about what Home Hosts is doing to represent STR owner’s with local governments. Become a member of Home Hosts. We take a partnership approach with towns and villages, but if they break the law, we will take legal action to stop them.
- Join our Sister Bay Action Team by contacting Michael Servais at Michael Servais We have 4 municipalities considering more restrictive STR rules. We don’t have enough volunteers. Now is the time to step up!
Details on meeting:
Tuesday, May 23, 2023, Plan Commission, 5:30-8:30 PM
Sister Bay-Liberty Grove Fire Station – Large Meeting Room
2258 Mill Road, Sister Bay, Wisconsin
You can NOT attend via ZOOM.