(Published Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:53:19 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Chris Schultz Gazette staff
WILLIAMS BAY-Residents here are upset that some houses are being rented as if they were resort properties.
Houses and condos in quiet neighborhoods frequently turn up on Web sites such as www.vacationrentals.com, complete with descriptions and weekly rental rates.
But renting those houses by the week is illegal.
A Williams Bay ordinance prohibits renting houses in residential areas for less than 30 days. Only licensed hospitality businesses, hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfast inns, can rent for a shorter period.
Resident Diane Allen wrote to the village board to complain about the practice in her neighborhood, which is close to Williams Bay beach. Other residents turned up at a village board committee meeting earlier this month with the same complaint.
In a telephone interview, Allen said that within two blocks of her home at least four houses are being rented on a short-term basis.
She said such rentals have become more noticeable in the past two or three years, and the number of houses being sold and converted to rentals appears to be on the increase.
"The single most disturbing aspect of this is I don't know who lives next door to me," Allen said. "We have people who move in today and move out five to six days later."
Williams Bay building inspector Chris Chirafisi is trying to crack down on the vacation rental business. He said when there are complaints, he starts knocking on doors.
"But all they have to do is say 'I'm a cousin' or 'I'm a friend' and there's nothing I can do," Chirafisi said.
Having houseguests, he said, is not illegal.
Chirafisi caught one owner illegally renting last year, but the $159 municipal fine isn't much of a detriment to homeowners collecting up to $2,500 in rent a week, he said.
So Chirafisi is trying a new approach.
"This year, instead of sending tickets, we're going to circuit court," Chirafisi said.
So far, the village has named one property owner in a complaint seeking injunctive relief. That complaint, filed June 29, asks a judge to stop Aaron and Danelle Bartz of Lake Barrington, Ill., from renting out their home at 70 Jewel Drive on a weekly basis.
The complaint claims the Bartzes have used the property as a vacation rental since May 1, 2006.
The Janesville Gazette was not able to reach the Bartzes for comment.
Allen suggested the village consider ramping up the fine for such rentals to $200 a night, which would make it harder for homeowners to ignore.
She said the short-term rentals put stress on full-time residents because those renting homes by the week are on vacation. They stay up until 1 or 2 a.m. to party, she said, while some of those who live in the neighborhood have to get up to go to work.
