Marcellus Township

Marcellus Township has no separate STR ordinance. Whether short-term rental of a dwelling is permitted on a given parcel is determined by the parcel’s zoning district under the Marcellus Township Zoning Ordinance (revised October 2007) ^[2]. The ordinance allows single-family dwellings as a permitted use in each residential and agricultural-residential district; the ordinance does not separately classify or restrict STRs.

The 2007 zoning ordinance is distributed as a scanned 289-page PDF that is not text-searchable ^[2]. Specific by-district permissions, lot-size minimums, and accessory-use rules need to be read directly from the PDF. For any specific property, verify the zoning district on the map below, then confirm dwelling-use permission with the Township Zoning Administrator before listing the property.

Click the image to open the official Marcellus Township Zoning Map (PDF).

Marcellus Township does not have a short-term rental registration program. There is no STR application form, no registration fee, no rental hotline, and no local-agent designation requirement at the township level. Hosts do not file anything with Marcellus Township to begin operating an STR.

STR operators in Marcellus Township still need to handle these items independently:

• State of Michigan use tax (lodging tax). Michigan imposes a 6% use tax on rentals of less than 30 days. Hosts register with the Michigan Department of Treasury via Form 518 and remit through Michigan Treasury Online (MTO) ^[7]. Many platforms (Airbnb, Vrbo) collect and remit this on the host’s behalf — confirm collection with the platform.
• Septic / well inspection if the property is not on municipal sewer/water. The Van Buren / Cass District Health Department (VBCDHD) accepts a dedicated Short-Term Rental inspection application ^[5].
• Building & zoning permits for any construction, addition, or accessory structure. Marcellus Township uses paper applications submitted to the township office ^[8].

The township charges no STR-specific fees. The fees that may apply to an STR property are:

Township penalties for zoning violations are enforced under the Zoning Ordinance’s general violations section, which authorizes municipal civil infraction citations ^[2]. There is no STR-specific fine schedule because there is no STR ordinance to enforce.

Most rental properties in the township rely on a private well and a private septic system — there is no municipal sewer or municipal water serving Marcellus Township parcels outside the Village of Marcellus. The Van Buren / Cass District Health Department (VBCDHD) operates a dedicated Short-Term Rental inspection program for properties on well or septic ^[5].

• STR Inspection Application: Apply and pay online through the VBCDHD environmental-health portal.
• Cass County Office: 302 S. Front Street, Dowagiac, MI 49047 — (269) 782-0064
• Home Loan Inspections are also available through VBCDHD when buying or selling a property with septic.

Septic capacity is the most common surprise on older Cass County rental properties — a system designed for a family of three may not handle a 6-occupant rental load. Confirm the most recent septic inspection record before relying on advertised occupancy.

There is no township short-term rental operating ordinance. STR operators in Marcellus Township are bound by these baseline rules instead:

• Cass County ORV Ordinance. Off-road vehicle operation on county roads is regulated by Cass County, not the township ^[3]. STR hosts marketing to ORV riders should review the ordinance — not every road is open to ORV use, and renter violations on rented machines remain the renter’s liability.
• State noise / nuisance law. Michigan has no statewide quiet-hours statute; nuisance and disorderly-conduct enforcement on STR properties falls to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff non-emergency dispatch is the contact for after-hours noise complaints.
• Zoning Ordinance signs and accessory-use limits. Property advertising signs, accessory structures, fences, and parking are constrained by the underlying zoning district ^[2].
• Building maintenance. Michigan’s adopted property maintenance code (most jurisdictions reference the International Property Maintenance Code) governs habitability — functional smoke alarms, working egress windows, no exposed wiring, no peeling lead paint on pre-1978 properties.

None. Marcellus Township has no STR permit cap, no moratorium, and no STR ordinance amendment under public consideration as of the verification date on this page ^[9]. Township meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 6:00 PM at the Township Hall — STR-related agenda items would surface in the published minutes if the township began considering one.

Investors should still confirm at the time of underwriting that no STR ordinance has been newly proposed: the Village of Marcellus did adopt its rental ordinance in 2024 ^[6], and rural Michigan townships across Cass and Van Buren Counties have been increasingly considering STR registration as Lake Township-style ordinances spread inland.