A popular vacation spot in Minnesota is clamping down on rowdy Airbnb guests after receiving a slew of complaints from local homeowners.
Otter Tail County, a picturesque area around two hours from Minneapolis, is known for its breathtaking waterfront views in a county that boasts of being home to ‘more-than-1,000 lakes’.
But in recent years, it has slowly become a hotbed for rowdy lake parties and riotous bachelor parties that go on long into the night.
Following backlash from homeowners who miss their lost sense of peace and quiet, the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners voted this week to crackdown on rental occupancies and noise levels.
Minnesota’s most lake-filled county is cracking down on large, loud vacation rental homes
The patio from one of the huge eight bedroom, eight bathroom home set on Clitherall Lake – for $1,000-a-night
On the popular rental site Airbnb, stunning lakeside homes are available to rent for up to $1,000 a night, with many featuring hot tubs and piers for jet skis and boating. Overall, Otter Tail County boasts more than 300 vacation homes through the app.
However, the upscale accommodations are in stark contrast to the social media footage showing revelers drinking on many of Otter Tail County’s lakes, reports the Star Tribune.
Local homeowner Steve Eriksson told the paper that his next door neighbor put their home up for rental, which brought a fleet of unruly guests that partied into the early hours of the morning.
‘It’s sort of in the back of my mind, anytime any place goes up for sale, I am concerned that it becomes an Airbnb,’ he said.
Eriksson’s neighbor garnered the most complaints of any of the hundreds of vacation homes dotted around the lakes, and he said guests would routinely party on the water and set off fireworks as late as 1 am.
Christopher LeClair of Otter Tail County Land & Resource Management pushed for stricter Airbnb reforms to come into effect
This cabin in Battle Lake, Minnesota, is available on Airbnb for $649 a night and features five bedrooms and three bathrooms
Stunning lakeside views offering beauty and tranquility abound on this two-acre wooded lake-front property on First Silver Lake in Minnesota
Following a barrage of complaints, this week the Board of Commissioners pushed through a host of new regulations.
This included mandating quiet hours from 10 pm to 7 am, prohibiting the use of RVs, tents or fish houses for extra guests, and restricting the number of occupants by the number of beds or size of the home’s septic systems.
The maximum number of guests is also stipulated throughout the day, instead of just at night, to bring the number of people out on the lakes down.
Chris LeClair, the board’s land and resource manager, said of the changes: ‘Those vacation rental owners need to be cognizant of disturbing the peace of the neighbors, so we’re trying to make sure that these can coexist.’
However, some locals feel the move is overkill.
When the new measures were voted on this week, only one member of the board, Commissioner Dan Bucholz, voted against the moves, fearing it could scupper the town’s summer tourism boom with the new laws set to come into effect July 1.
Bucholz said if the ordinance was to be instated, he would want to wait until at least January 2025, as he felt the measures could impact Airbnb users who already had bookings for the summer and who may have to uninvite guests to fit the policies.
‘It’s like moving the 40-yard line,’ he told the Star Tribune. ‘And I don’t think that was fair.’
Another local resident who owned a rental home on the lakes, Chris Buttke, added that the vote ‘seems to me like it’s more ammunition for the angry neighbor that doesn’t want it.’
‘Not all guests are good guests, but you don’t know that until you’re there,’ Buttke said. ‘It’s just no different than somebody’s kids throwing a party when they’re gone. I mean, you don’t have a lot of control over that.’
Only a fraction of the hundreds of on vacation homes that go online end up being problematic – but it’s those few that have resulted in the need for regulations.
Neighbors living next to vacation home rentals are hoping a new law to be instituted on July 1 will bring some reprieve after years of large, loud parties
‘Those vacation rental owners need to be cognizant of disturbing the peace of the neighbors, so we’re trying to make sure that these can coexist,’ LeClair said.
Noncompliance with any of the restrictions could result in license suspension or revocation.
One couple rent out their lake cabin with only seven guests allowed at their two-bedroom property.
‘There’s a lot of things that we don’t allow on our own vacation home rental anyway, so most of it won’t impact us,’ Franci and Dan Gleason said.
However, their main concern is that they could beheld liable for any civil or criminal penalties that are incurred on behalf of renters.
‘Somehow or another I’m going to be responsible and someone can come sue me and take my property because of some stupid frisbee or that the dog got loose,’ she said.