City Council Considers Pause on new Short-Term Rental Permits

DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth City Council held a first reading on an ordinance proposing a 12-month pause to new short-term rental permits.

City officials report that the number of vacation rentals has increased rapidly, resulting in the conversion of many single-family homes into short-term rentals. The proposed pause would give the city time to think about how these rentals are affecting housing availability, neighborhoods, and the local hospitality industry.

“Our Planning and Economic Development staff came and said, hey, this is kind of like just grown over time without a lot of intention or direction, and we would like to bring forward a 12-month moratorium where we just pause on creating new vacation rentals that so that we can kind of get our arms around where we’ve been, where we’re at, and more probably, most importantly, where we’re trying to go,” said Mayor Roger Reinert, City of Duluth.

The ordinance will be on the agenda for next week’s city council meeting for the public to attend and learn more about.