Mendon

Short-term rentals in Mendon are governed by the Village of Mendon Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance No. 33, reprinted November 2015 with later amendments).^[3] The ordinance establishes three residence districts (A, B, and C), a Business district, a Commercial/Light Industrial district, and an Office district. Principal permitted uses in Residence A are limited to one-family dwellings; Residence B adds two-family dwellings; Residence C additionally allows mobile home parks and subdivisions.^[3] Short-term rentals are not listed as a separately regulated use anywhere in the ordinance.

The ordinance does, however, define Bed and Breakfast Facility, Lodging House (including “tourist homes”), and Boarding House as distinct use classes.^[3] None of these uses appear in the principal-permitted-use lists for the residence districts, which means a use that walks and talks like a B&B or tourist home is not by-right in a residential zone and would need either (a) a Village Zoning Administrator determination that the rental is a permitted residential use of a dwelling unit, or (b) a Special Use Permit under Article 22.^[3] 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’s interpretation controls the final answer.

Before listing or buying, pull the parcel in the St. Joseph County FetchGIS viewer to confirm the zoning district and parcel boundaries,^[7] then contact the Village Office for written confirmation that the planned use is allowed on that specific parcel.^[2]

There is no Village of Mendon short-term rental registration program. Mendon does not require STR operators to obtain a separate Village permit, pay an STR registration fee, or file an annual renewal as of the verification date on this guide.^[2][3] 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,^[8] county septic and well approvals on parcels not served by Village utilities,^[4] and property insurance covering rental use.

If a planned use is borderline residential/commercial — a bed-and-breakfast with on-site owner, an event venue rental, or conversion of an accessory building to a rentable unit — it should be brought to the Village as a Special Use application under Article 22 of the Zoning Ordinance.^[3] Use the Village’s Ordinances Drive folder to pull the most current ordinance text and any application forms, and route them to the Village Office for placement on the Planning Commission agenda.^[9]

No Village of Mendon short-term rental registration fee is currently published, because no STR program exists.^[2][3] The only Village-side fees a short-term rental operator is likely to encounter are the underlying building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permit fees that apply to any work on the structure — these are administered through the Village’s appointed inspectors (see the Inspections accordion).^[2]

If a property owner converts a use without obtaining the Special Use Permit that the Zoning Ordinance would require for a B&B, lodging house, or boarding house in a residential district, enforcement is through Article 39 (Penalties) of the Zoning Ordinance — typically civil infraction citations with daily fines until the use is brought into compliance, plus the cost of bringing the structure up to code.^[3] On the lodging side, operating without a Michigan sales/use tax license for stays under 30 days exposes the operator to penalties and interest under Michigan tax law.^[8]

Mendon does not run a Village rental-inspection program, so short-term rentals are not subject to a recurring Village safety inspection on a fixed cycle.^[2] The Village’s safety-of-construction oversight runs through four appointed inspectors who handle building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work whenever permits are pulled:^[2]

• Building: Joe Wickey, (269) 816-4951, jwickey00@gmail.com — uses the Village’s Building Permit 2024 form.^[10]
• Electrical: Ron Bellaire, (269) 663-3429, rbellaire65@gmail.com — uses the Village of Mendon Electrical Application.^[11]
• Mechanical: John Dobberteen, (269) 625-7648.^[2]
• Plumbing: John Dobberteen, (269) 625-7648.^[2]

For rentals on parcels not connected to Village water and sewer, septic and well approvals run through the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph (BHSJ) Community Health Agency under its Environmental Health Code; new construction, additions, and changes in use that increase wastewater load all trigger BHSJ review.^[4][5] Smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms are required under the Michigan Residential Code and should be installed and tested before any guest stay regardless of whether a Village inspection is required.

Day-to-day operating rules for a short-term rental in Mendon come from three places. First, the Village Zoning Ordinance. Off-street parking is governed by Article 21, and the schedule in the Ordinance specifies one off-street space per dwelling unit and, where the use is a Boarding/Rooming House or Bed & Breakfast Facility, one off-street parking space per sleeping room.^[3] Dwelling-unit density and lot-area minimums vary by residence district under Articles 4–6.^[3] Second, the Village’s general code of ordinances — published in the Village’s Ordinances Drive folder — covers noise, nuisance, and property maintenance rules that apply to any occupied dwelling, regardless of rental status.^[9] Third, county and state law: St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police handle late-night noise calls outside the Village’s part-time police presence.

Maximum occupancy for a single-family dwelling defaults to the standard “family” definition in the Zoning Ordinance and the Michigan Residential Code; group living arrangements above that threshold push the use into Boarding House or Lodging House territory, which is not a principal permitted use in any Mendon residential district.^[3] Operators should publish a house rules document covering quiet hours, parking limits, and pet/smoking policies, and post the Village Office number for guest emergencies.^[2]

State taxes: Michigan applies a 6% sales/use tax to transient accommodation stays of less than 30 days; operators must register with Michigan Treasury and remit through the Michigan Treasury Online (MTO) portal.^[8] St. Joseph County does not levy a separate local accommodations excise tax, so the typical short-term rental tax stack in Mendon is the 6% state sales tax plus annual real property tax (Village + County + school + special assessments) billed through the Village Office on parcels inside the Village limits.^[2][12]

Utilities: Most parcels inside the Village limits are on Village water and sewer billed through the Village Office; outlying parcels may be on private well and septic and fall under the BHSJ Environmental Health Code.^[4][5] Trash and recycling are handled per the Village’s Public Works schedule.^[13]

Local agent / 24-hour contact: Mendon does not currently require a designated local agent for short-term rentals (because there is no STR ordinance), but in practice the Village Office (269-496-4395) is the daytime point of contact for code, utility, and ordinance questions; after-hours guest emergencies should reach a 24/7 contact reachable inside the Village or an adjacent township.^[2]