Park Township, MI Fights to Kill STRs It Allowed for 50 Years

Park Township, a Lake Michigan beach community just five miles from downtown Holland, is now fighting in federal court to extinguish every short-term rental in its residential neighborhoods, and the legal strategy it used to get here is what has hosts and property rights advocates alarmed. The township did not simply change its rules going forward. It declared, retroactively, that STRs had never been legal at all, a move that plaintiffs say was designed specifically to strip hosts of any right to keep operating.

What Happened and Why It Matters

Park Township's zoning ordinance has been on the books since 1974, and the lawsuit points to documented statements from township officials going back to 2003 telling property owners that short-term rentals were permitted under it. The township never issued a single citation for operating an STR, even when neighbors filed complaints asking for tickets. By 2022, more than 200 homes were being rented on a short-term basis in the township.

Then the Township Board changed course. Rather than amend the zoning ordinance prospectively, which would have allowed existing operators to claim nonconforming-use rights and keep renting, the board reinterpreted the existing ordinance to claim STRs had never been permitted. In November 2022 the board voted to begin enforcing that reinterpretation for the first time. The practical effect: no grandfather clause, no transition period, no nonconforming-use protection. Every existing rental could be shut down in one stroke.

"This revisionist reading served a calculated purpose: if STRs had been illegal, then property owners could not claim nonconforming-use rights, and the Township could extinguish every existing rental in one stroke," Grand Rapids attorney Kyle Konwinski wrote in a court filing on behalf of the property owners.

The Legal Fight So Far

Property owners first challenged the ban in Ottawa County Circuit Court. A judge upheld the ban in November, and the township immediately began notifying STR owners that enforcement action was coming. The owners then filed a federal lawsuit, arguing the township's maneuver violated constitutional protections.

The township is now asking a federal judge to dismiss that case. Its attorney, Charles Bogren, argued in a court filing that the federal suit is simply an attempt to relitigate what the state court already decided. "Plaintiffs have appealed the ruling of the state circuit court and now look to use this Court as a means to hedge their bets against another state court ruling against them," Bogren wrote.

The township's position is that STRs, defined as rentals of 28 days or fewer, have been allowed only in the C-2 Resort Commercial District, near Lake Macatawa and Holland State Park, and that residential areas have been off-limits since at least 1974.

The Core Argument for Hosts

The property owners' legal team is framing this as a constitutional question about what the government owes citizens when it reverses decades of official guidance. "This case is about what the Constitution requires when a municipality reverses decades of official guidance, contradicting centuries of historical practice in the process, and punishes citizens for doing exactly what it told them they could do," Konwinski wrote.

That argument cuts to the heart of why this case matters beyond Park Township. If a municipality can retroactively reinterpret its own ordinance to eliminate nonconforming-use rights, any STR host in any jurisdiction faces the same risk, regardless of how long they have been operating or what local officials told them.

What Hosts in Park Township Should Do Now

• Assume enforcement is active. The township began notifying STR owners after the November state court ruling and has signaled it will act.
• Document everything. If you received any written or verbal guidance from township officials stating STRs were permitted, preserve those records. They are central to the legal argument.
• Follow the appeals closely. The state court appeal and the federal motion to dismiss are both pending. Either ruling could shift the landscape quickly.
• Consult a Michigan land-use attorney before listing or continuing to rent. Operating while enforcement is active carries real legal and financial risk.

Park Township sits on some of the most desirable Lake Michigan beachfront in the state, and the outcome of this case will likely influence how other lakeshore communities handle the same pressure. For now, residential STR operators in the township are in legal limbo, caught between a state court ruling against them and a federal case that is still alive.

For the complete Park Township compliance guide including tax calculator, checklist, and daily monitoring, see Park Township, MI STR Regulations.