A popular Minnesota vacation spot is clamping down on rowdy Airbnb guests after receiving a number of complaints from local owners.
Otter Tail County, a scenic area about two hours from Minneapolis, is known for its stunning ocean 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 of rowdy lake parties and wild bachelor parties that last well into the night.
Following backlash from homeowners who miss the lost sense of peace and quiet, the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners voted this week to crack down on rental squatting and noise levels.
Minnesota’s most lake-filled county is cracking down on big, noisy vacation rentals
The patio of one of the huge eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom houses on Lake Clitherall, for $1,000 a night
On the popular rental site Airbnb, stunning lakeside homes can be rented for up to $1,000 a night, many of which feature hot tubs and docks for jet skis and boating. Overall, Otter Tail County has over 300 vacation homes through the app.
However, the luxury rooms are in stark contrast to social media images showing revelers drinking at many of Otter Tail County’s lakes, the star tribune.
Local landlord Steve Eriksson told the newspaper that his next-door neighbor put his house up for rent, attracting a fleet of unruly guests who partied into the early hours of the morning.
“It’s kind of in the back of my mind: Every time a place comes up for sale, I worry about it becoming an Airbnb,” he said.
Eriksson’s neighbor received the most complaints of all the hundreds of vacation homes scattered around the lakes, and said guests routinely partied on the water and set off fireworks until 1 a.m.
Christopher LeClair of Otter Tail County Land & Resource Management pushed for stricter Airbnb reforms to go into effect
This cabin in Battle Lake, Minnesota, is available on Airbnb for $649 per night and has five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Stunning lake views offering beauty and tranquility abound at this wooded two-acre lakefront property on First Silver Lake in Minnesota
After an avalanche of complaints, this week the Board of Commissioners pushed through a series of new regulations.
This included requiring quiet hours from 10 pm to 7 am, prohibiting the use of RVs, tents or fish houses for additional guests, and restricting the number of occupants based on the number of beds or the size of the house’s septic systems. home.
The maximum number of guests is also set during the day, rather than just at night, to reduce the number of people visiting the lakes.
Chris LeClair, the board’s land and resources manager, said of the changes: “Those vacation rental owners need to be aware of disturbing the peace of neighbors, so we’re trying to make sure they can coexist.”
However, some locals consider the measure excessive.
When the new measures were voted on this week, only one board member, Commissioner Dan Bucholz, voted against the measures, fearing they could ruin the city’s summer tourism boom with new laws that go into effect on 1st of July.
Bucholz said that if the ordinance were implemented, he would like to wait until at least January 2025, as he felt the measures could affect Airbnb users who already had reservations for the summer and who might have to uninvite guests. to comply with 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 in the Lakes, Chris Buttke, added that the vote “seems to me like more ammunition for the angry neighbor who doesn’t want it.”
“Not all guests are good guests, but you don’t know that until you’re there,” Buttke said. ‘It’s no different than someone’s children throwing a party when they’re gone. I mean, you don’t have much control over that.’
Only a fraction of the hundreds of vacation homes that connect to the Internet end up being problematic, but it is those few that have generated the need for regulations.
Neighbors who live next to rental vacation homes hope a new law instituted July 1 will bring some respite after years of big, loud parties.
“Those vacation rental owners need to be mindful of not disturbing the peace of the neighbors, so we’re trying to make sure they can coexist,” LeClair said.
Failure to comply with any of the restrictions could result in license suspension or revocation.
A couple rents their lake cabin and only seven guests are allowed in their two-bedroom property.
“There are a lot of things we don’t allow in renting our own vacation home anyway, so most of them won’t affect us,” said Franci and Dan Gleason.
However, their main concern is that they could be held liable for any civil or criminal penalties incurred on behalf of the tenants.
‘One way or another I’m going to be responsible and someone can come sue me and take my property because of some stupid frisbee or because the dog got loose,’ he said.