Flowerfield Township

Flowerfield Township does not call out “short-term rental” as a defined use in its zoning ordinance. The closest analog is the township’s Bed and Breakfast definition, which the ordinance treats as a residential structure that provides temporary room and board as a home occupation within an owner-occupied dwelling.^[2] That means renting your primary residence room-by-room while you live there is reasonably analogous to a permitted Home Occupation in every residential district (AG, R-1, R-2, R-3).

What the ordinance does NOT clearly address is a whole-house, non-owner-occupied weekly rental. Because specific by-district STR permissions aren’t called out in machine-readable form, for any specific property you should verify zoning compliance via the township’s zoning map and confirm with the Zoning Administrator before listing on Airbnb or VRBO.^[6]

Districts and where they sit on the map:

• AG (Agricultural): Farms, single-family dwellings on lots of record, home occupations.
• R-1 (Rural Residential): Most restrictive residential district, large lots, home occupations allowed.
• R-2 (Medium Density Residential): Allows one- and two-family dwellings, home occupations.
• R-3 (High Density Residential): Multiple-family dwellings allowed as a Special Land Use.
• SWO (Surface Water Overlay): Lakefront and floodplain overlay; underlying district rules apply.
• B-1 (Business): Bed & Breakfasts and similar lodging uses can be considered.

There is no township-level short-term rental registration program in Flowerfield Township. The township does not issue an STR-specific permit, charge an STR registration fee, or maintain an STR list.^[2]

That said, an STR property still has to satisfy several non-STR requirements:

1. Zoning compliance. The use has to be consistent with the underlying zoning district. If you’re operating as a Bed and Breakfast under Home Occupation standards, the ordinance applies the home occupation rules in Article 4 of the zoning ordinance.^[2]
2. Septic capacity. A zoning permit for a dwelling cannot be issued unless a septic system permit has been obtained from the St. Joseph County Health Department (Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph CHA).^[3]
3. Building / mechanical / plumbing permits. Any renovation work requires permits through St. Joseph County’s building department.^[7]
4. State sales / use / accommodations tax. Michigan’s 6% use tax on rentals of less than 30 days applies regardless of whether the township has its own STR program.^[8]

There is no township-level STR registration fee in Flowerfield Township because there is no STR program. Costs you should expect to budget for if your property has a rental component:

• Zoning permit (any new structure or change of use): Set by the Township Board fee schedule. Call the Township Hall at (269) 646-9121 for the current schedule, since fees aren’t posted publicly online.^[9]
• County septic permit (new install or repair): Through the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency. Application and fee schedule are on the agency’s website.^[3]
• Michigan use tax (6%): Rentals of less than 30 days are subject to state use tax, collected by the operator and remitted to the State of Michigan.^[8]

Penalties for zoning violations are governed by Article 17 of the Flowerfield Zoning Ordinance. Each day a violation continues may be treated as a separate offense, and the Zoning Administrator may issue a notice of violation. Continued non-compliance can lead to civil infraction proceedings.^[2]

Flowerfield Township does not perform recurring STR safety inspections. Health and safety oversight is split among three agencies:

• Septic system: The St. Joseph County Health Department (Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency) issues new and replacement on-site sewage disposal permits, runs perc tests, and reviews septic capacity. The county has a Time-of-Sale septic evaluation program in some areas, with rules that can affect what a rental property has to fix before transfer.^[3]
• Building / mechanical / plumbing: St. Joseph County administers state building, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical codes. Any renovation visible on the exterior or affecting the building envelope is most likely a permitted work item.^[7]
• Well water: Private wells fall under the same county health department; new wells require a permit before drilling.^[10]

For rental safety on the operator’s side, plan for a working smoke / CO detector on each level, fire extinguishers in the kitchen, posted emergency contact info, and clear egress windows in any sleeping room. These are not township-enforced but are standard Michigan Residential Code expectations and are typical insurance carrier requirements.

Without a stand-alone STR ordinance, occupancy and operating rules in Flowerfield default to zoning district standards and any nuisance / noise rules the township board has adopted. Key rules from the zoning ordinance worth knowing:

• Minimum dwelling unit size: 960 square feet of gross floor area per single-family dwelling (750 sf ground-floor minimum for two-story homes).^[2]
• Parking: Off-street parking is required; the front yard setback cannot be used for parking, loading, or unloading.^[2]
• Accessory dwellings: Accessory dwellings (e.g., guest cottages, ADUs) require a Special Land Use Permit and must architecturally match the principal dwelling. Accessory structures cannot be rented separately as a stand-alone dwelling under accessory-use rules.^[2]
• Surface Water Overlay (SWO): Lakefront and creekside properties have an extra overlay-district layer: keep an eye on setback averaging from the water and impervious-surface limits.^[2]

Noise and nuisance complaints typically go to the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office for after-hours response, since Flowerfield Township does not have its own police force.^[11]

If you want a documented path to operate a short-stay lodging business in Flowerfield, the cleanest one is the Bed & Breakfast / Home Occupation pathway. The zoning ordinance defines a Bed and Breakfast as “a residential structure that, besides being a permanent home, provides temporary room and board as a home occupation,” which means:^[2]

• The operator lives in the dwelling as their permanent home.
• Lodging is incidental to the residential use.
• The use has to comply with the home occupation rules in Article 4 of the zoning ordinance (no exterior evidence of business, limit on non-resident employees, no nuisance from traffic or noise).^[2]

This pathway works well for owner-occupied properties offering 1-3 rooms. It is NOT a workable analog for whole-house, non-owner-occupied short-term rentals, which are not explicitly addressed by the ordinance. For those, the Zoning Administrator has discretion under the ordinance’s interpretation rules.^[2]

The currently effective Flowerfield Township Zoning Ordinance is Ordinance No. 46, adopted November 14, 2017 and effective December 29, 2017. The version published through the Energy Zoning archive is current as of June 8, 2022.^[2] No STR-specific text amendments have been published since adoption based on publicly indexed sources.

That said, the broader trend in southwest Michigan rural townships is that several neighbors have adopted or amended STR ordinances in 2023-2024 (Fabius Township to the southwest of Flowerfield passed a STR ordinance in 2024 with a 40-unit cap, and Park Township in Ottawa County also has a permit cap). Investors looking at Flowerfield should check meeting minutes on the township website for any short-term rental discussion items before assuming the status quo is permanent.^[12]