Duluth is weighing a potential ban on short-term vacation rentals in single-family homes.
As the city's temporary pause on short-term rentals ticks down toward its end in October, 2% of Duluth's residences have already been taken up by vacation rentals.
City staff recently proposed dropping the existing rental caps in favor of an outright ban on converting single family homes into these types of rentals, and it's an idea backed by Mayor Roger Reinhart.
"We've really seen the impact of vacation rentals be more acute in places like Park Point around the UMD campus area, and a couple other specific parts of town," explains Reinhart. "And this resident who happens to live close to the UMD campus said, I'm in a neighborhood that no longer has neighbors."
Now, citing a tight housing market and a growing need for residential inventory, local leaders are reviewing new guidelines that would permanently eliminate caps while banning future conversions of detached homes into a rental space.
Reinert says it would still allow homeowners to use "accessory dwelling" units to make some extra cash under the new rules.
"That might be a unit above a garage or maybe a converted basement, could even be a tiny home in your backyard that allows a homeowner to make a little extra income in order to help make that mortgage payment," Reinert says. "But for quality of life and neighborhood purposes, you still have an owner-occupied residence."
The City Council is expected to debate these policy updates before the current temporary moratorium on short-term rentals expires in October.
