When Kyle Pfister lived in Madison, he would travel often for work. Rather than leave his apartment empty, he would rent it out to people visiting the city using AirBnB, a website that lists short-term rentals ranging from shared rooms to entire homes. He said renting his living space this way allowed him to share his love for his neighborhood and the city with others.
“I mean, I could sort of be their little guide when they were staying here in Madison,” he says. “So it was a fantastic experience for me.”
Pfister also says there's a financial component as well. He says it’s an easy way to make some extra money. But this arrangement exists in something of a legal gray area in Wisconsin. It technically falls under a section of state law that addresses tourist rooming houses, which require health permits and room tax payments.
On the local level, they often go unregulated, but that's changing as communities make an effort to pass and enforce regulations. In Madison, alders have proposed an ordinance that will place requirements on tourist rooming houses in the city. Alder Mark Clear said the spaces are neither allowed nor prohibited under current zoning law. “What we’re trying to do is create a framework where there’s lines – what’s legal and what isn’t – so that people can do it legally and responsibly,” Clear says.
Clear said when the city counted the number of these spaces a couple of months ago, there were around 100. He suspects it may have doubled by now. "The popularity is growing so fast it's hard to keep track,” he says.
Alders held a listening session this week for the proposed ordinance, which includes a requirement that hosts get a conditional use permit for the city. Clear said a permit applicant must also be the owner of the space.
Other communities in the state have already taken a look at this type of arrangement. For example, Green Bay has a similar ordinance on the books and there are some spaces with permits near Lambeau Field. In Door County, a commission called the Door County Tourism Zone is also making an effort to regulate short-term rentals.
Chairman Josh Van Lieshout said the commission actively searches for short-term rentals that do not have a permit. Websites like Airbnb are part of that search. When a space without a permit is found, the owner is contacted about getting one and paying room tax. “We have a very open, very proactive permitting process. We try not to punish people,” Van Lieshout says. “We want them to comply. That's how we approach them.”
Van Lieshout said the effort involved is worth it. In Door County, room tax goes to marketing the area and to municipalities within the zone.
