New position will be in charge of taking, investigating violations of the county’s ordinance
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
Walworth County is looking to crack down on short-term rentals with the hiring of a new enforcement position.
Michael Cotter, director of Walworth County’s Land Use and Resource Management Department, said Monday the department has a candidate selected to fill the position and is in the process of background checks.
Cotter said the new position would investigate complaints of those operating short-term rental operations in the county, in violation of the county’s zoning ordinance. Like what’s happening now, a phone number would be available where those with complaints would call and the new employee would then follow up on them.
The new position, Cotter said, would allow the county to more easily follow up on complaints about short-term rentals and in turn be able to better enforce violations of the county’s zoning ordinance in regards to short-term rentals.
Cotter said the concern of enforcement of the county’s ordinance, which does not allow properties to be rented for less than 30 days, was originally brought forth by the Walworth County Board of Supervisors.
“I think the County Board was frustrated that there wasn’t more enforcement going on,” he said. “It’s an issue that people are wrestling with statewide and the state legislature discussed the issue, but never passed any legislation regarding it in their last term.
“It’s a statewide issue, but it still remains a local issue to sort out and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Cotter said while staffing is the most expensive part of the department’s budget, it was able to allocate a small amount of money to fund an enforcement position.
Cotter said the position will be a limited-term, part-time employee, working primarily over the summer months with potential to extend into fall, when any related court cases would likely be slated for. He said the hours will likely be really flexible, working when needed.
However, the new position will not have jurisdiction over the entire county.
According to Cotter, the county’s zoning ordinance only covers unincorporated areas of the county and not cities or villages.
“It gets really confusing around Lake Geneva because there’s the City of Lake Geneva, Village of Fontana, Williams Bay, Town of Linn,” he said. “It gets confusing around there, not for us, but for people that live out there.”
Cotter said cities and villages set their own rules and regulations regarding short-term rentals and the county cannot enforce the ordinance in those municipalities.
Cotter said for those living in cities and villages with complaints about ordinance violations, their best course of action is to contact their local municipalities to determine who they need to direct their complaints to.
As for penalties, Cotter said there are two possibilities for those renting out their homes for less than 30 days: a citation or a long-form complaint.
Cotter said a citation would be $663 per violation of the zoning code.
A long-form complaint, according to Cotter, would be a full-blown lawsuit resulting in fines such as, for example, $200 a day, times the number of violations, times the number of days.
“So, back to back, when it’s a full-blown lawsuit, that’s when it gets very high,” he said. “A citation is more akin to a speeding ticket. You get caught for one incident, one time, here’s your fine.
“A lawsuit would be a full-blown civil proceeding in court where the stakes are then much higher.”
Cotter said a lawsuit would be reserved more for those who are running their property like a hotel, renting out repeatedly on a normal basis.
Options for renters
Cotter did say however for those running a short-term rental operation, there are options to keep it inline with the county’s ordinances.
Cotter said they have recently had several people go through the zoning process to either change the zoning district they live in or apply for the proper permits to transient rent or run something like a lodging house.
“If they do that, then great, they comply with the code and off they go,” he said.
