Newbold town board continues work on tourist rooming house ordinance

The Newbold town board continued to work on a proposed tourist rooming house ordinance during its Dec. 12 meeting. The process of creating the ordinance, according to town chairman Dan Hess, began around April of this year.

Hess said ordinance will be on the board’s agenda again at a January meeting. 

The purpose of the ordinance is essentially for the town to be able to keep tabs on tourist rooming houses, which are properties typically rented to vacationers for weekend or extended trips and commonly advertised on websites such as VRBO or AirBnb. 

Hess indicated the ordinance the board is considering is very similar to ordinances the towns of Minocqua and Lake Tomahawk have in place, which requires renters to obtain a license or permit by the town for an initial fee and renewal fee each year after.

The fees, according to Hess, are also similar to Minocqua and Lake Tomahawk, which is $500 for the initial license fee and $500 for the renewal fee.

He said a public hearing needs to be held yet and, ultimately, the taxpayers need to give the board the go-ahead to approve.

Besides Minocqua and Lake Tomahawk having similar ordinances in place, Oneida County monitors short-term rentals as well. 

Hess said the board reviewed the county’s ordinance in this regard and “there’s a couple sentences we put in off the county’s (ordinance), but it’s basically the same as (the other towns).”

“I think it’s important because a lot of people want a quiet neighborhood and on these lakes and stuff, and I think you have to know what’s going on there to make sure the neighbors are happy and to make sure the people who are renting are happy,” he said. “So we haven’t had a lot of controversy on it in Newbold. We probably have between 20 and 30 of them.” 

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].