OUR PLACE
Short-term rentals are not going away.
Short-term rentals are, however, under serious attack across the entire United States and Canada. Places like New York, Honolulu, Sarasota, Santa Rosa, Aspen, Steamboat Springs, Palm Springs, Coeur d’Alene, and about thirty more heavily developed cities and areas have either banned short-term rentals or begun to severely restrict them (like requiring thirty-to-ninety-day minimum rentals). Twenty states have laws that do not allow much of any restriction on these rentals, Wisconsin is one of them. Try Ohio, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Alabama and more. It is interesting to note that most of these states are politically red states. The problems with short-term rentals are particularly important to pay attention to as this kind of temporary ‘vacation’ housing becomes more prevalent.
The City of Lake Geneva is remarkably sensitive to the huge expansion and then contraction of population between summer and winter periods. The city can go from having about six to seven thousand people circulating or staying in parts of the community during periods of contraction but expanding out to over thirty thousand during summer periods. Lake Geneva can be population-choked to the point of losing the very essence of ambiance and charm that attracts all the visitors in the first place. The new leadership is not going to be able to ignore solving this building problem, and somehow work around oppressive state laws written and voted on by people who are not and will not be affected by Lake Geneva’s rise and potential fall.
What a damned shame.
DasFest, held at the Walworth County Fair Grounds, will not be taking place this year. Das Fest USA, normally held the first weekend in August at the Walworth County Fairgrounds in Elkhorn, is a popular, late-summer fundraiser. The event will change names, change locations, and no longer benefit local charities. The bought-out DasFest Wisconsin will take place the first weekend of August at the Bavarian Bierhaus in Glendale (located on the western outskirts of Milwaukee).
United Way ran the event and used proceeds to benefit charitable organizations, it will not be involved in the Glendale event. The announcement came after the event came off the Walworth County Fairgrounds schedule and Dunn’s departure from United Way last August and numerous board members with United Way resigning in the last year. Following the 2023 festival, Dunn resigned from her position as executive director of United Way, taking the same position at the Walworth County Food and Diaper Bank.
Ward Phillips, a former board member and partner agency coordinator with United Way, confirmed that he resigned from the board last summer and said many other board members went with him. He said he decided to leave because of changes being made within the United Way organization, which included how many groups would receive funds from United Way. Walworth County Fairgrounds CEO and General Manager Larry Gaffey explained the timeline of the festival. He said he was waiting to hear what was going to happen regarding the festival from United Way. However, he was not contacted until later in the fall by United Way president Katherine Gaulke, who asked if the fairgrounds would be interested in taking over the festival. Gaffey went on to say that he asked for financial figures from United Way but did not receive them. Later, he was asked to join in a valuation meeting with other interested parties who might want to purchase the festival. The Bavarian Bierhaus, located at 700 W. Lexington Blvd., Glendale, reached out in January and said they were interested. The festival in Glendale would be called “DasFest Wisconsin”.
