Fruitport Charter Township

Long-term residential rental of a single-family or two-family dwelling is allowed in Fruitport’s residential zoning districts as a standard residential use — the Chapter 42 dwelling definition covers conventional occupancy regardless of whether the occupant owns or rents the unit.^[5] Multi-family rental is allowed where multi-family residential is a listed use in the district. The codified Chapter 42 text and the township-published Zoning Map are the two documents to consult to confirm a specific district’s allowances.^[5][7]

For any specific parcel, pull the parcel number on the Muskegon County Property Viewer and confirm the listed zoning district against the township’s map.^[8] District-by-district permitted-use tables are inside the Chapter 42 PDF.^[5]

Long-term rentals in Fruitport are registered through the township under Ordinance 803 (Rental Unit Registration), amended by Ordinance 805 in 2025.^[3][4] Submission is to the township office at 5865 Airline Hwy — there is no online registration portal published; landlords contact the Clerk’s office at 231-865-3151 or aanderson@fruitporttownship.com for the current form and inspection scheduling.^[1][2]

Important honesty note: Ordinance 805 is published as a scanned-image PDF, and the text inside it is not machine-readable.^[3] That means the specific registration fee amount, inspection cycle, registration renewal interval, and exact list of which rental types are covered are not extractable from the public document and must be confirmed directly with the township. Get the current fee schedule and inspection timing in writing from the Clerk before relying on numbers from older versions of the ordinance.

Specific dollar amounts for the rental registration fee, late-renewal fee, and per-unit inspection charge are inside Ordinance 805’s scanned PDF and are not machine-readable from the public document.^[3] Call the Clerk’s office at 231-865-3151 or email aanderson@fruitporttownship.com and ask for the current rental registration fee schedule in writing — that is the only reliable way to confirm what you will pay this cycle.^[1]

For comparison, the Planning & Zoning fee schedule (last updated 2019) covers zoning permits, site plan review, and special-use permits and is published on the township site; it is a separate fee track from rental registration but useful if you are also changing use or adding a unit.^[6]

Rental Unit Registration under Ord 803/805 contemplates an inspection component — the title and structure of the ordinance is consistent with a periodic life-safety inspection of registered rental units.^[3] The specific inspection cycle (annual, biennial, on-turnover, etc.) and the inspection checklist itself are inside the scanned PDF and not machine-readable; the Clerk’s office can supply both on request.^[1]

Building permits and code inspections in Fruitport are administered through Michigan Township Services rather than the township directly — this is the office to coordinate with for any work that triggers a building, electrical, mechanical, or plumbing permit before or after a rental inspection.^[11]

Fruitport adopted Ordinance 824 in May 2026 covering anti-blight and junk vehicles, and it applies to rental properties the same way it applies to owner-occupied ones.^[12] Common rental-property triggers are accumulated household refuse, exterior storage of building materials, inoperable or unlicensed vehicles on the property, overgrown vegetation, and damaged exterior structures. Citations follow a notice-and-cure structure typical of Michigan township blight ordinances; repeat violations are a civil infraction.

For landlords operating in Fruitport from a distance, this is the ordinance most likely to generate a complaint between tenants — having a local property manager or a turnover-cleaning vendor with eyes on the exterior of the property pays for itself.

Landlord-tenant disputes from Fruitport rentals are handled by the 60th District Court in Muskegon, which serves the entire county. Michigan’s statewide Truth in Renting Act, the Security Deposit Act, and the summary-proceedings eviction statute (MCL 600.5701 et seq.) all apply in Fruitport — none of the township’s local ordinances override those state procedures.

Tenants and landlords looking for self-help materials are best served by Michigan Legal Help (michiganlegalhelp.org), which publishes county-specific eviction forms, and by Legal Aid of Western Michigan for income-qualified tenants. The township itself does not mediate tenant-landlord disputes.