Niles

Short-term rentals are permitted in every zoning district where residential use is permitted by right or has been approved as a special land use — per Section 320 of the City of Niles Zoning Ordinance (effective 8/17/2025) ^[3].

In practical terms, STRs are listed as a principal permitted use in the R-1 (Traditional Residential) and R-2 (Moderate Density Residential) districts, and in other districts that allow dwellings. STR definition: a residential property rented to transient occupants on a nightly or weekly basis for no more than thirty (30) days ^[3].

The ordinance imposes three operating conditions directly in Section 320: (A) the unit must meet all applicable building, health, fire, and related safety codes; (B) signage is subject to Article 7 of the zoning ordinance; and (C) use of outdoor yard areas, decks, or pools that produce excessive off-site noise, odor, or other disturbance is enforceable as a nuisance under Article V of the City of Niles Code of Ordinances ^[3].

Click the map to open the full-resolution zoning map PNG.

Submission path: in person or by mail to the Building Safety Division at 1345 E. Main Street (the east end of the Niles Fire Station Complex) ^[4]. The City does not publish an online rental application portal. Call the division at 269-683-2374 (Executive Assistant: Monica Hibberd) to request the dwelling-permit application packet or confirm which forms apply to your unit.

No dwelling unit may be occupied by anyone other than the owner without a residential non-owner-occupied dwelling permit certifying that the property complies with the City’s Property Maintenance Code (2015 IPMC, Ordinance 476) ^[2]. No initial permit is issued until the Housing Maintenance Code Enforcement Officer (or designee) has inspected the unit ^[2].

The non-owner-occupied dwelling permit applies to both STRs and LTRs — Niles has not adopted a separate STR fee schedule ^[2].

Nuisance-style STR violations (excessive noise, odor, etc.) are enforceable under Article V of the City of Niles Code of Ordinances rather than the Property Maintenance Code ^[3].

Every new non-owner-occupied dwelling requires an inspection by the Housing Maintenance Code Enforcement Officer before a dwelling permit will issue; the City’s baseline is the 2015 International Property Maintenance Code as adopted and amended by Ordinance 476 ^[2].

Items actively enforced during rental inspections, per the City’s Code Enforcement Corner ^[5]:

• Smoke alarms — less than 10 years old, proper power source, inside each bedroom, audible outside each bedroom, and on every level. Ionization + photoelectric recommended.
• Windows — screens required spring through fall on operable windows; bedroom windows must stay open under their own weight (egress).
• Carbon monoxide alarms — required in buildings with three or more units, and in any home where renovations have taken place.
• Exterior property maintenance — grass limit 10 inches (beyond which the City mows and bills the owner), trash containers must not be at the curb more than 24 hours before pickup, vehicles must be operable and plated and parked on the driveway.

Because Niles folds most STR-specific obligations into existing general codes, the operator compliance checklist is essentially (1) pass the Property Maintenance Code inspection ^[2]; (2) avoid nuisance-level noise, odor, pool/deck disturbance (Section 320(C) + Code of Ordinances Article V) ^[3]; (3) keep signs within zoning ordinance Article 7 limits ^[3]; and (4) maintain fire-code compliance (smoke alarms, CO alarms, egress, addressing) ^[5].

• Quiet hours / noise. No STR-specific decibel threshold — off-site disturbances are enforced as a general public-nuisance matter.
• Occupancy. Governed by the IPMC minimum-floor-area standards adopted via Ordinance 476 rather than a per-bedroom STR formula ^[2].
• Parking and trash. Same exterior-property rules as any other residence in the City (see Code Enforcement Corner) ^[5].

Operators managing multiple Berrien-County properties should note that Niles’s regime is substantially lighter than neighboring Chikaming or New Buffalo — no cap, no dedicated STR portal, no platform-based complaint hotline — so in-person diligence (a pre-purchase inspection + a call to the Building Safety Division) is the primary way to surface issues before closing.

Niles has not adopted an STR permit cap, moratorium, or dedicated STR licensing program. Section 320 was codified in the Zoning Ordinance that took effect August 17, 2025, and treats STRs as a permitted residential use in every district that allows dwelling use ^[3].

The foundational rental-permit framework (the dwelling permit and inspection requirement) dates to the adoption of the 2015 IPMC under Ordinance 476 on March 27, 2017, effective April 17, 2017 ^[2]. No subsequent STR-specific amendment is on the City’s published ordinance list as of this guide’s last verification date.