- Tuesday the city planning commission met to discuss a sunset provision regarding short-term rentals.
- Jamie Robinson, an owner of Airbnb, met with me to discuss the impact.
- Video shows the central business district in downtown Mason.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Will short-term rentals be staying in the City of Mason?
Jamie Robinson is the owner of Bestsellers, a bookstore in the central business district of Mason.
"Airbnb is what I have," said Robinson.
She has multiple rental properties above her bookstore, directly facing the Ingham County Courthouse.
"We actually worked with the city of Mason code enforcement and planning commission to bring a partial change to the code to allow for short-term rentals."
Since the city approved short-term rentals in 2019, Robinson says people from across the country have rented her apartments.
"These people are coming from other states and sometimes even internationally to stay in the central business district."
But the approval was a sunset provision, meaning it had a set expiration date.
Now, the commission is holding a public hearing to discuss whether to get rid of the sunset provision and allow short-term rentals permanently.
"What we considered tonight is recommending to the city council to drop the sunset provision. We haven't had any problems," said Scott Preadmore.
Robinson said short-term rentals have been denied in residential areas, but she believes they’ll stay in the central business district.
"Right now, I mean, keep it the same. It's been going really well for five years," said Robinson.
If this doesn’t pass, Robinson says she and visitors would lose a valuable option.
"We don’t have hotels in Mason. The closest hotels are in Okemos."
Mason City Council will meet Monday to make the final decision.
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