Roosevelt Park

Roosevelt Park’s 2002 Zoning Ordinance does not separately define or permit short-term rentals. The closest analogous uses are Bed and Breakfast and Hotels/Motels/Rooming Houses, and both are restricted to Special Land Use (SLU) approval rather than permitted by right ^[4].

• R-1 and R-2 (residential): Bed-and-Breakfast inns are SLU. The operator must occupy the dwelling as their principal residence; guest rooms are capped at 3 (plus 1 additional per 3,000 sq ft over 12,600 sq ft of lot, max 6) ^[4].
• CBD (Central Business District): Hotels, motels, rooming and boarding houses are NOT permitted ^[4]. B&B is SLU.
• C-E, C-NW, C-NE, C-SE (commercial): Hotels, motels, rooming and boarding houses are SLU ^[4].

For a non-owner-occupied Airbnb-style operation in a residential district, neither the Bed-and-Breakfast use (requires owner occupancy) nor the hotel/motel use (residential districts: not permitted) is a clean fit. Confirm intent and feasibility with the City Clerk before purchase.

Open the official Roosevelt Park Zoning Map (PDF) to identify a parcel’s district.

Any non-owner-occupied dwelling rented to others, regardless of lease length, must be registered with the City and inspected before tenants move in ^[2][3]. Roosevelt Park does not run its own rental program; inspection and registration are administered by Muskegon Charter Township under contract.

Submit the rental registration form and applicable fee by mail to the Township:

Once the property passes inspection and any owed fees are paid, the City issues a Certificate of Compliance authorizing rental occupancy ^[2].

Rental registration fees are calculated per property, not per total units owned ^[5].

Forms submitted without fees or required information are returned unaccepted and the property is not considered registered ^[5]. Operators of hotel-style or apartment complexes also need a separate annual City business license — see the Hotels/Apartments business registration form linked in Resources.

All non-owner-occupied rental property in Roosevelt Park must pass an inspection before a Certificate of Compliance is issued, and all such properties are inspected every year on an ongoing basis ^[3].

• Muskegon Charter Township staff schedule the inspection by mail after receiving the completed registration form. The owner or an adult occupant must be present at the scheduled time ^[3].
• Single-family inspections typically take 15–20 minutes ^[3].
• If code violations are found, a written notice goes to the owner/manager. The owner is responsible for correcting the issue, even when the violation was caused by the tenant ^[3].
• If the inspector does not arrive within 10 minutes of the scheduled time, owners are directed to call the Township at 231-777-2555 ext. 1131 to confirm the appointment ^[3].

Roosevelt Park does not publish a separate Good Neighbor Policy for short-term rentals. The standing rental code requires:

• Local responsible agent. If the property owner does not reside within a 30-mile radius of the City, a local responsible agent must be designated to handle code-compliance issues; official notices served on the agent are deemed served on the owner of record ^[3][5].
• Code compliance is the owner’s responsibility. Tenant-caused violations remain the owner’s burden to correct ^[3].
• Bed-and-Breakfast operating standards (if SLU is granted in a residential district): the operator must occupy the dwelling, meals are served only to the operator’s family, employees, and overnight guests, and accessory retail uses are prohibited ^[4].
• Parking for B&B: 2 spaces for the establishment plus 1 additional per guest room; no parking permitted in the required front yard ^[4].

General quiet hours and noise complaints fall under the City’s nuisance ordinance and are enforced by the Roosevelt Park Police Department.

The current Rental Dwelling Ordinance (No. 19-04) was adopted April 15, 2019, replacing prior rental registration provisions ^[2]. The City has not adopted a stand-alone short-term rental ordinance and the Zoning Ordinance has not been substantively updated since 2006 ^[4].

Investors evaluating an STR play in Roosevelt Park should treat the regulatory picture as undefined rather than permissive: the silence in the code is not the same as approval, and the existing zoning categories that come closest (Bed-and-Breakfast, hotel/motel) both require Special Land Use approval and either owner occupancy (B&B) or commercial zoning (hotel). Confirm intended use with the City Clerk before underwriting an STR-dependent purchase.