Renting your Onekama cottage by the week? The township has rules now

If you own a place on Portage Lake and rent it for fewer than 30 days at a time, Onekama Township’s 2023 short-term rental ordinance may apply. The main requirement is simple: the township requires a rental certificate before the short-term rental begins.

First, know which Onekama you’re in. The Village of Onekama is the small incorporated downtown. The surrounding Onekama Township is a separate government with its own rule book. The two have worked through short-term rentals on their own timelines. So two cottages a mile apart can sit under different paperwork, depending on which side of the village line they fall. “Is it allowed, and what do I have to file?” gets a township answer, not a county one.

A certificate is valid through December 31 of the year it is issued unless it is revoked or the property is sold. That means owners renew on a calendar-year cycle, and a buyer should not assume the seller’s certificate carries over. The application also asks for the parcel, owner and local-contact information, sleeping capacity, parking, and a property sketch.

Before buying or listing, ask the township about the exact parcel and read the current ordinance and application. This is a plain-English overview, not legal advice, and local rules can change. The dependable answer comes from the township’s current documents, not from an old listing description.