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CITY ‘CAVING’ ON SHORT TERM RENTALS

 The modified ordinance being submitted by the ad hoc committee set up for that purpose to the plan commission, following entries to dilute the ordinance by that ad hoc committee, and then the city attorney went to the council on Monday night’s meeting of the whole.  No action was taken, other than to accept the fact that the ad hoc committee, the city attorney, and finally the plan commission are working on a final draft. What’s the problem with the modifications so far?

Fines for major violations (doing things completely disallowed by the ordinance) start at a mere $250 and there are mild increases for violations going all the way up to five.  After that, there might be a hearing to see if the STR is to have its license revoked. How about the fact that there are also a bunch of non-penalty (we told you not to do that so don’t do that again) kinds of actions written in there? What’s to be considered a minor violation? How about events that cause the police to have to come to the STR and take corrective measures?  That’s a minor violation.

Oh, and residents surrounding these special Mecca’s of trouble set into the very best of Lake Geneva’s neighborhoods, are encouraged to turn the places in for violations. If turned in, then the complainant must fill out a publicly available form which then becomes available to the STR owners. Owners who never have to be present, that is.  They can have operators living within 25 miles to manage the STR properties. What’s wrong with this whole developing mess of short-term rentals?

Hawaii had this problem and fixed it by making major violations punishable by a thousand-dollar fine, a second offense of three thousand, and a third offense, revocation. Police having to be called to the SRTs in Hawaii is considered a major violation. This ordinance specifically ignores the hiring of specialty firms that have risen to track and keep records on those homes that are being used for STR purposes.

Lake Geneva’s going to depend on the ‘snitch’ variation to provide some sort of accuracy to the situation. Like that’s going to work! If you haven’t figured it out yet, then let the investigative staff of the Geneva Shore Report help you. The SRT owners all have money. Lots of it. The neighborhood homes located around the STR properties are regular residents and citizens.  They do not have lots of money. Lake Geneva leadership responds to money, just like it does for the developers that cheat and don’t get inspected like it does for street and road repair operations that do the work and that work goes to hell in a handbag after a year or two. Except for elected leaders of Lake Geneva, the leaders of departments all average six-figure incomes when benefits are included. How much do you make?

Todd Krause came in like a fresh wind of relief in the last election, and so did several other city council members. Will they be enough to make a difference and help the citizenry protect itself from these carpetbagging outside forces set upon turning quiet Lake Geneva neighborhoods into ‘come home every evening to living hell’ sorts of places? Only the renter of the STR is going to be required to provide identification information, not all those staying in such places…and certainly not all those that will be attending the parties that have become endemic of this new brand. None of the rigid rules (developed over years of trial and error) that normal hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast operations must conform to are a part of this new ugly phenomenon.