Ashwaubenon Village Board approves short-term rental ordinance requiring a 6-night minimum stay

ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (WBAY) - After two meetings of the Ashwaubenon Public Works and Protection Committee and a meeting of the Ashwaubenon Village Board, short-term rentals are changing. During its meeting Tuesday night, the Village Board unanimously passed an ordinance requiring short-term rentals to be rented out for six nights, seven days.

According to the Village Board agenda, the proposed ordinance amendment would require a minimum 6-night consecutive stay at non-owner-occupied Ashwaubenon licensed one- and two-family short-term rental units. Owner-occupied one- and two-family short-term rental units that are licensed by the Village of Ashwaubenon would not be subject to the 6-night minimum requirement.

This ordinance is also not applicable to any short-term rental licenses for single-family and two-family homes of record and in good standing during the licensing period between July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023, for a period of one year or until July 1, 2024. This shall be voided if the license is not renewed or upon any change of ownership or sale or transfer of the property of the dwelling unit.

Village Manager Joel Gregozeski said with this particular ordinance, the licensing period that they’re presently in expires on June 30, 2023. It would go into effect on July 1, 2023.

The current ordinance does not have any minimum night stay requirement, although the Village is authorized to require up to a minimum 6-night stay under Section 66.1014 of the Wisconsin Statutes.

Gregozeski said Wisconsin State Statute has limits on residential dwelling rentals. A political subdivision (city, village, town) may:

• Prohibit rentals for less than seven consecutive days
• Not prohibit rentals of 7-29 days
• Limit the total consecutive days they rent (180 days minimum)
  • During Tuesday’s meeting, the Village Board voted to strike the word consecutive from the record for current licensees
  • New licensees as of July 1, 2023, must follow the 180 consecutive days requirement
• Require local permit
• Provide regulations not inconsistent with Wisconsin State Statute 66.1014

Wisconsin State Statutes do not allow the Village to limit the number of short-term rental licenses permitted or to limit the location of short-term rental licenses based on zoning.

The proposed amendment prohibits rentals for less than seven consecutive days (licensed single and two-family dwellings), limits the total days they rent to 180 consecutive days, requires a local permit for any short-term rentals who rent for more than 10 nights a year, adds additional building regulations to include GFCs, and removes the license fees from Municipal Code and places the fees within Village adopted Fee Schedule.

On April 5, the Public Works and Protection Committee voted to send the ordinance back to staff. Committee members asked to hear from more residents who have complained or have been impacted by the short-term rental units.

On May 2, the committee unanimously passed the ordinance to the Village Board with the propositions that are listed above and were presented at the meeting Tuesday night.

Following the NFL’s announcement Monday that the 2025 NFL Draft will be coming to Green Bay, Gregozeski said the Village can by resolution/ordinance temporarily suspend provisions of the Code to accommodate this extraordinary circumstance.

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