(Arnolds Park)– The lack of control cities in Iowa have over short term vacation rental properties was a topic of discussion at Wednesday evening’s Arnolds Park City Council meeting. A resident who lives next to a vacation rental aired her concerns with city leaders. In addition to noise, pollution and other concerns, she says vacation rentals are also having a negative impact on the remaining resorts in the Iowa Great Lakes…
“I’ve noticed that some of the resorts are now having for rent that they never have before which means that these vacation rentals, daily, nightly, two-three days, whatever, are taking business away from them. Our other concern is they have monitors or they have people that take control the noise, the trash, all of that. When it’s a house next door there’s no one that controls that. Also, do these places get inspected by anybody? Do they pay any fee of any sort? Do they have to get a permit? I mean any other retail business has to have a permit if they aren’t under a storefront type thing.”
She added she has another concern as well…
“I don’t feel safe any more because I don’t know who’s there, you know?”
Mayor Jim Hussong lamented with the concerns saying such an operation is in his neighborhood as well. Unfortunately, he says there’s little the city can do about as the result of action taken several years ago by the Iowa Legislature…
“In the past we had it that you had to have to stay for a full month. Now Iowa that took that from us to be able to say that you can do that or not do that and so we basically kind of lost control on it and the state has taken over.”
Hussong and several council members urge those with concerns over vacation rentals to contact state lawmakers.
