Centreville

Short-term rentals in Centreville are governed by the Village of Centreville Zoning Ordinance, which is published as a set of PDFs in the Village’s Zoning & Planning Commission Information Drive folder rather than on the main site.^[4] The ordinance establishes the standard agricultural, residential, commercial, and public-facility districts you would expect for a county-seat village of about 1.5 square miles, and it does not contain a dedicated short-term rental chapter or list STRs as a separately regulated use. In Michigan, short-term occupancy of a dwelling as a residential use is generally permitted in residential zones unless an ordinance specifically restricts it (MCL 125.3201(2)), but the Village Zoning Administrator’s interpretation controls the final answer.

Because the village is small and most parcels are in residential districts, there is no district-by-district STR map. Before listing or buying, pull the parcel in the County’s FetchGIS viewer to confirm the zoning district and parcel boundaries,^[6] then contact the Village Zoning Administrator (Michelle Singleton) through the Village Office for written confirmation that the planned use is allowed on that specific parcel.^[2]

There is no village short-term rental registration program. Centreville does not require operators to obtain a separate STR permit, pay a registration fee, or file an annual renewal as of the verification date on this guide.^[2][5] Operators are still responsible for state-level requirements that apply to any transient lodging: a Michigan sales/use tax license for stays of less than 30 days,^[7] county septic and well approvals on non-sewered parcels (most of the village is on village utilities but some outlying parcels are not),^[8] and proof of property insurance covering rental activity.

If a planned use is borderline residential/commercial — for example, a bed-and-breakfast with on-site owner, an event venue rental, or conversion of an accessory building to a rentable unit — it should go to the Planning & Zoning Commission as a Special Use application. Use the Applications & Permits Drive folder to pull the current Special Use, Variance, and Site Plan forms, and route them to the Village Office for placement on the Planning Commission agenda.^[5][11]

$0 — there is no published Village of Centreville short-term rental permit fee, application fee, or annual renewal fee on file.^[2][5] Building-related fees follow the Village’s adopted building-permit fee schedule, which depends on construction scope rather than rental status; the current schedule and the building inspector contact are confirmed through the Village Office.

Penalties that can apply to a poorly run rental flow from the general code of ordinances published in the Village’s Code Ordinances / Bylaws Drive folder.^[3] Typical exposure includes municipal civil infractions for noise, nuisance, and property-maintenance violations; a zoning violation can additionally trigger a stop-rental notice from the Zoning Administrator and, in escalated cases, district-court citations heard at the St. Joseph County 3B District Court in Centreville. Repeat violations are the fastest way to draw scrutiny on otherwise-permitted use, so a tight house policy and a posted contact for noise complaints matters more here than a dollar amount on the books.

No routine STR safety inspection is conducted by the Village. Inspections are triggered only by (a) construction work permitted through the Village’s building inspector, (b) a complaint filed against the property, or (c) a sale/refinance where the lender or insurer requires one. For day-to-day safety, every short-term rental in Centreville should meet baseline standards every responsible rental should carry: hard-wired or interconnected smoke detectors in each bedroom and on each level, a carbon-monoxide detector outside each sleeping area where fuel-burning appliances or attached garages are present, a 2A:10-BC (or larger) fire extinguisher in the kitchen, clearly marked egress windows, and posted emergency contact info for guests.

If the property uses a private well or septic system — common on parcels at the edges of the village — confirm the system passes a current Time-of-Sale inspection through the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency (the local health authority for septic and well in this county).^[8] BHSJ also publishes the county’s Environmental Health Code, which sets minimum standards for water and waste systems.^[9]

Centreville’s general code of ordinances includes the standard municipal noise and nuisance provisions you would expect for a small county-seat village; the current text is published in the Code Ordinances / Bylaws Drive folder.^[3] Practical rule of thumb: keep amplified outdoor music off after 10:00 p.m., post quiet hours from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. in the guest agreement, and write a stricter house policy than the ordinance technically requires — outdoor music and large gatherings are the most common complaint drivers in residential districts.

Parking should be off-street and on the rented parcel; the village has limited on-street parking, and adjacent owners notice quickly. Police response for the village is handled by the Centreville & Constantine Police Department, with non-emergency dispatch through Central Dispatch at 269-467-4195.^[10] If you operate a property here, post that number in the house guide so guests and neighbors can route concerns through the right channel instead of escalating directly to 911.

Michigan applies a 6% use tax to rooms or lodging furnished by hotels, motels, or other persons for stays of less than 30 days; this is the state-level transient lodging tax that applies to short-term rentals, and operators register and remit through the Michigan Department of Treasury.^[7] St. Joseph County does not impose a separate county-level lodging or accommodations tax on top of the state use tax.

Water, sewer, and trash for properties inside the village are billed through the Village Office at 109 E Main St; the Department of Public Works handles service calls at 269-467-6409 during business hours.^[12] Centreville does not require operators to designate a 24-hour local agent by ordinance, but for any out-of-area owner the practical recommendation is to either live within roughly 30 minutes of the property or contract with a local property manager who can respond to a guest lockout, utility outage, or police call within an hour — the same neighbor-protection standard most counties are moving toward.