HOLLAND TWP. — The Holland Township Board of Trustees voted to ban the sale of recreational marijuana, and denied a request to allow short-term rentals.

Public hearings took place Thursday night, Feb. 7, for marijuana and short-term rentals. Nobody spoke during public comment for recreational marijuana before the first reading took place that night to amend the Township Code of Ordinances to include recreational marijuana prohibition.

"This is the same direction most governmental units have taken in this area," said Holland Township Supervisor Terry Nienhuis.

Crockery Township is the only municipality in Ottawa County that has not banned recreational marijuana facilities.

The Township board also voted 5-2 during the Feb. 7 meeting to deny an application to allow short-term rentals.

Short-term rentals are currently prohibited in Holland Township. This has not been enforced, according to several township property owners who said they have been renting out their homes on a short-term basis with the township's knowledge.

Township staff are now in a position of working toward compliance with the current ordinance that prohibits short-term rentals, according to John Said, community development director. There are 12-15 properties being rented on a short-term basis that they are aware of, Said added. The timeline of enforcement has not been decided.

"The township will be handling this in a very measured way, not punitive, just working toward compliance," he said. "This has been an evolving issue, one of those things where I don't know the township had a lot of knowledge previously."

Said called it a "transitional effort."

The short-term rental discussion started with an application submitted to the planning commission by Steven Wasiura to consider allowing short-term rentals.

The planning commission recently voted to deny Wasiura's application, but forwarded the decision to the township board for further direction.

Wasiura is one of multiple property owners who spoke during the public hearing and said he was renting out his home short-term with the township's knowledge.

Wasiura said he works outside of Holland Township for months at a time, and renting out his home on a short-term basis is the only way he can keep his home. He said he supports any regulations the township thinks is necessary, but "to just shut it down I think is irresponsible and unnecessary."

Two property owners who live together were the only people to speak against short-term rentals at the meeting.

"We don't see it as a benefit to the majority of the residents," said a woman during public comment. "Who wins? It's really the property owners who make the money, and platforms like Airbnb. The ones who lose are residents like us."

Board members were largely against the notion of allowing short-term rentals.

Trustee Norman Nykamp voted against allowing short-term rentals, and said he personally has had bad experiences living next to a property rented out on a short-term basis.

"You have got a group of people asking for forgiveness for a problem they created," Nykamp said. "They are a small percentage (of Holland Township.)"

Nykamp said he is not against seasonal renters, who are more like residents of the community.

"My whole point here is why are we going to bend to a small group of people?" Nykamp said. "I think we have to consider the larger group of people and have to protect that large group. Look at the big picture and who to think of the most."

Trustee Russell TeSlaa voted against denying the petition. He said he was in favor of more study of the situation, and said he has stayed in Airbnbs and had positive experiences.

"We have set a precedent where we have allowed (short-term rentals.) This has apparently been knowledgeable to the staff and has been the reason people have bought properties," TeSlaa said.

Luiz Costa, one of the property owners who spoke in favor of short-term rentals, said he tried renting out his home long-term, but found tenants were not respectful of his property. Then he discovered services like Airbnb.

"It has been awesome," Costa said. "We have been serving people from the Netherlands and renting to people from all over the world."

Costa has been renting out his home on a short-term basis for three years, and believes the home-sharing mindset is a more sustainable way for people to travel.

— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelKate.