Allegan

The 2025 Zoning Ordinance (Ord 529, adopted 7/14/2025) does not define a ‘short-term rental’ use category ^[4]. A standalone STR (no on-site owner, whole-house rental, no breakfast service) is therefore neither expressly permitted nor expressly prohibited by district — it sits in the same legal posture as any other rental dwelling and is governed by the Rental Inspection Program plus the principal use of the parcel.

Bed-and-Breakfasts are explicitly listed as a Special Exception Use in the TN-1 Traditional Neighborhood, TN-2 Transitional Neighborhood, and MDR Mixed Density Residential districts and require Planning Commission approval under Articles 23 and 24 ^[4]. Hotels, Inns, and Resorts are commercial-district uses.

For any specific property: pull the zoning district from the official zoning map, then confirm STR-style operation with Lori Castello, the city’s Zoning Administrator (PCI), before listing or purchasing on STR-cashflow assumptions.

📄 Open the Zoning Map (PDF, dated 7/31/2025)

Submit the rental registry information in writing to the City of Allegan Building Official, who works through PCI in Dorr ^{[1] [2]}. Allegan does not currently maintain a public online rental application portal; the program operates through contract with Professional Code Inspections of Michigan, who schedules inspections and issues Certificates of Compliance under the city ordinance.

Fee posture is unusual: the current Rental Inspection Program ordinance places inspection-fee responsibility on the city, not the landlord — that is precisely the language Ordinance 528 (tabled March 24, 2025) tried to flip ^[3]. Until and unless a new ordinance is adopted, the fee schedule referenced in the city’s adopted budget is published as ‘Per PCI’ for Rental Inspection Registration, Inspection, and Re-Inspection ^[5].

The fee schedule itself is set by City Council resolution and confirmed by PCI on a per-inspection basis. Call PCI’s Dorr office or City Hall for a current quote before scheduling.

The standard the inspector uses is the 2015 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), adopted by reference ^[6], plus the current fire prevention, building, and zoning codes. PCI performs the inspection on the city’s behalf ^[2].

Common items the building official will check:

• Working smoke detectors and CO detectors as required by code.
• No peeling exterior paint, no exposed wiring, no missing electrical covers (typical IPMC pass/fail items).
• No open or expired building permits on the parcel.
• Egress windows in bedrooms; functional heating; no roof/structural defects.
• If a pool is present, it must be fenced consistent with the building code.

Multifamily dwellings: for buildings with 20 or fewer rental units, every unit is inspected; for buildings with more than 20 units, PCI inspects 20 randomly selected units. Each unit with a violation triggers an additional unit added to the inspection sample ^[1].

If the property fails inspection: PCI issues a notice of violation with a timeframe to correct. The certificate can be revoked, and if conditions are hazardous the building official may require the unit be vacated. The city can also seek to escrow rents under state law where a certificate has been suspended ^[1].

There is no separate STR Good-Neighbor / occupancy ordinance in Allegan. STR operators are bound by the same general city ordinances as any other resident: noise & nuisance, property maintenance (IPMC 2015), trash and refuse, and the parking provisions of the underlying zoning district ^{[4] [6]}.

• Occupancy: the 2015 IPMC sets minimum-area-per-occupant standards (typical Michigan municipal default — every habitable room must have at least 70 sq ft of floor area, and bedrooms occupied by more than one person require additional area per occupant). Operators advertising occupancy levels in excess of what the IPMC allows risk a code-enforcement complaint.
• Parking: off-street parking must satisfy the parcel’s zoning-district minimums; on-street parking is governed by the city’s general traffic and parking ordinances.
• Noise & nuisance: general city noise/nuisance ordinances apply citywide. Disturbances can be reported by neighbors to the Allegan Police Department or via the city’s Report a Concern channel.
• Tenant complaints & code-enforcement reports: the City of Allegan publishes a Tenant Complaint Form for issues with a rental property — useful for both tenants and neighbors of an STR with persistent problems.

If the owner of a rental unit does not personally manage it, an Agent must be designated in writing — and that agent must reside in Allegan County or an immediately adjoining county (Barry, Kalamazoo, Van Buren, or Ottawa) ^[1]. An owner who lives locally can serve as the agent. The agent must be authorized to oversee the unit, respond to calls from renters and the city, and accept service of legal papers on the owner’s behalf.

For out-of-state STR operators, this is the practical constraint: you cannot operate a long-distance whole-home STR in the City of Allegan without lining up a local agent before registration. Property managers in Allegan County qualify.

Allegan’s rental rules are in mid-update — read this before underwriting.

• October 2023: the city restarted its dormant Rental Inspection Program under a fresh contract with PCI, after identifying inconsistencies with the older ordinance text ^[2].
• February 24, 2025: staff first presented draft Ordinance 528 to the City Council, proposing a full rewrite of Chapter 7, Article II and a shift of inspection-fee responsibility from the city to the landlord ^[3].
• March 10, 2025: first reading of Ord 528 held; public hearing and second reading scheduled for March 24 ^[3].
• March 24, 2025: at the public hearing, Council voted 7-0 to table Ordinance 528 ^[7]. The motion to table came after public comment from local landlords and an Allegan-area resident. As of this guide’s verification date the prior version of the ordinance remains in effect.
• July 14, 2025: separately, the city adopted a full Zoning Ordinance overhaul (Ord 529 — 2025 Zoning Ordinance) ^[4]. This is the document that now governs the use-table side of the rental question.