Hey BP!!! I do not personally own any STR properties in Apple Valley and lucky for me, none of my clients do either. The STR Market in Apple Valley is not your typical STR market, as this is just an average suburban community with no major tourist appeal. we have a smattering of lakes that could potentially be a vacation draw, however none of the lakes are typically considered recreational lakes. This being known, there are still a few people who have successfully run STR businesses in the area catering to a different customer base. Most short term rentals in Apple Valley are catering to people visiting the area for family or life events that hotel stays just aren't ideal. A family member in the hospital? a grandparent passes away? your cousin getting married? all of these events bring families together geographically and these STR's in Apple Valley allow larger families to congregate, celebrate, break bread together sharing a private yet common space unlike what is available at your typical hotels. With this particular customer base, you tend to get fewer "parties," rowdy tenants, and generally neighbor disturbing activities. Apple Valley however seemed to have a knee jerk reaction to a few neighbors of one particular STR having their own personal vendetta against either the landlord or the idea of STRs in their neighborhood and voted 4 to 1 to change the local ordinances. this resulted any rental of less than 30 days being illegal in apple valley. Apple valley has never had any ordinance preventing STR, however claimed that it was always illegal, and that they were just updating the ordinances to make this fact evident. I don't believe this to be true, as the only provision that could possibly deem STR illegal was that commercial use of a residential property was prohibited, however based on MN Statute, Short term rental is not considered a commercial activity and STR properties are considered residential properties (this is statute change in the past few years).
Do you think that the city should have the ability to rewrite an ordinance "in an effort to clarify an existing rule" even though by the letter of the law, there was previously no provision?
I know this seems like a rant (and it likely is) but I am interested in leveraging all resources at my disposal as a Realtor and as a member of the Apple Valley Community and attempt to fight to overturn the vote to change these ordinances.
It seems to me that there are likely some negative things about STR that Apple Valley likely will want to prevent, but banning STR in general instead of regulating it, or enacting new ordinances with public support to protect our cities seems like a blatant overreach of government.
if you want to get involved to help me make a positive change in the Real Estate investment community in the south metro (or the entire state) please feel free to add your comments below and reach out to me directly with any recommendations of additional resources I may be able to pull from to help me get this done!
Also, if you disagree with me and think that STRs should be illegal in a community like Apple Valley, please provide that constructive feedback to me and let me know your stance on this topic.
