Trempealeau adopts tourist rooming house ordinance

A new ordinance in Trempealeau will allow officials to more closely regulate and track tourist rooming houses within village boundaries.

A tourist rooming house refers to houses that can be rented for days at a time, often through third-party businesses such as Airbnb or Vrbo.

The board unanimously approved the ordinance at its meeting last Thursday with little discussion. The topic has been in front of city committees since last summer.

“The goal of this chapter is to maintain the peaceful and safe atmosphere of the village, especially in residential areas,” the ordinance reads. “It also ensures that buildings are safe for occupants and requires liability insurance to cover any injuries or damages that might occur.”

Requirements in the ordinance include:

• Property owners must have a Wisconsin Tourist Rooming House license, a seller’s permit from the state department of revenue and a Village Tourist Rooming House license.

• Tourist rooming houses can only be rented 180 days per year without the village license.

• Tourist rooming houses cannot be rented for less than six consecutive days without the license.

• No added temporary lodging such as campers and tents is allowed.

• Liability insurance is mandatory.

• A guest registry must be maintained by the property owner/manager.

The board in June approved allowing a conditional use permit for such a property on Bank Street, and others previously existed in the village without permits. Creating the new ordinance will require properties to register with the village.

The village believes the “proliferation” of tourist rooming houses could cause depletion of affordable housing, noise and disturbance increases, traffic/parking issues and permitting problems, according to the ordinance.

Fines for violating the ordinance can result in fines between $270 to $750 and can lead to revocation of the tourist rooming house permit, which must be applied for each year.

Owners of such properties will be notified of the ordinance changes, and the required forms will be available on the city website, Administrator/Finance Director Isaac Pooler said Thursday.