Page 8 — Thursday, March 21, 2024 — The Hastings Banner
Elaine Garlock
Next week on Wednesday, March 27, there
is to be a community meeting concerning
housing in the Lakewood area. It will con-
vene at 6 p.m. at Central United Methodist
Church. There will be a speaker from Ionia
County Habitat for Humanity. There will be
conversation, ideas and time for suggestions
on the issues that confront affordability and
other issues. This is open to the public.
The food truck which comes once eachmonth is always scheduled for the first Tues-
day of the month. They come to the parking
lot of Central United Methodist Church on
Third Avenue at 1 p.m. Recipients are advised
to bring their own boxes to hold the food that
is distributed. Registration is required.
St. Patrick’s Day was observed on Sunday.
Lots of green was showing. To properly
observe the day, Buddy’s on the Beach had as
its main course corned beef and cabbage.
Doubtless, there were many corned beef
sandwiches served later in the week there and
elsewhere. The village of Hubbardston in the
far northeast corner of Ionia County has a
perpetual calendar on the premises of Shiels
Tavern where the countdown is not to Christ-
mas but to St. Patrick’s Day.A house on the north block of Johnson Street
is now occupied after months of work done by
Brian Rohrbacher with new siding plus some
interior work. The house was once owned by
Wilbur Walter and occupied by him and his wife
Marie for many years. Since then, it had been
owned by a Yonkers and then others and used as
a rental property. With its new siding and other
improvements, it is an attractive place with cur-
tains at the windows and now new occupants.
According to the Farmers’ Almanac, we
can expect a full moon on the 25th. On the
25th, an eclipse of the moon occurs but the
appearance of the moon is barely changed.
The almanac also predicts that from the 21st
to the 31st we can expect rain and then colder
weather with snow.Luck of the Irish
405 N. M37 Highway
Hastings, MI 49058
http://www.firstchurchhastings.org
Sunday March 24, Palm Sunday at 10am - Open your hearts to
welcome Jesus as we recall our Lord’s celebratory entrance into
Jerusalem.Thursday March 28, Maundy/Holy Thursday at 7pm - We
remember the last evening Jesus shared with His Disciples which
celebrates His example of humble service and self-offering.Friday March 29, Good Friday at 7pm - We proclaim the good
news of salvation through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross.Additionally, all are welcome anytime from sunrise to sunset to
come walk our Labyrinth to reflect and pray.Sunday March 31, Easter Sunday at 10am - All are welcome to
come and share in the triumphant celebration of the Resurrectionof our Lord Jesus. Easter Brunch @ 9am Kids Easter Egg Hunt
@9:30am.Yankee Springs board approves
ban on commercial short-term
rentals in residential areas
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The Yankee Springs Township Board
Thursday passed an ordinance that bans
so-called “commercial short-term rentals”
from areas of the township that are zoned for
single-family residential use and requires
anyone looking to rent out a property they
own to get a permit from the township zoning
administrator beforehand.
The ordinance, which passed on a 4-1 vote,
will go into effect on March 24. It will allow
owner-occupied short-term rentals, which
would be defined as a “traditional short-term
rental,” in all residential-zoned districts in the
township, including those around Gun Lake.
Commercial short-term rentals would be
banned as a special exception use in the sub-
urban residential, residential single-family,
residential lakefront and Gun Lake residen-
tial lakefront zoning districts. They would be
allowed in all other zoning districts, accord-
ing to the ordinance language.
“Everything we do in our zoning says res-
idential areas don’t have commercial use,”
Township Clerk Mike Cunningham said.
“This is certainly, undeniably, commercial
use. To me, it doesn’t belong in a neighbor-
hood.”
Cunningham was joined in support of the
ordinance by Supervisor Rob Heethuis, Trea-
surer Deb Mousseau and Trustee Larry
Knowles.
The ordinance had been recommended for
approval by the township Planning Commis-
sion in February. An eight-member subcom-
mittee had proposed changes to the town-
ship’s short-term rental ordinance in the wake
of complaints by residents about noise late at
night, drunk and disorderly conduct, illegal
parking and littering, particularly near Gun
Lake.
The Township Board last October approved
a six-month moratorium on new STR permit
registrations while the township reviewed the
ordinance that was originally passed in March- The moratorium only affected new
permit applications but did not affect proper-
ties that already have such a permit. The
township had 32 properties registered as
short-term rentals last year.
The new ordinance would require each
owner of a short-term rental to designate a
local contact person “who has access and
authority to assume management of the unit
and take remedial measures.” That person
must be available 24 hours a day during the
rental period and must be within 45 minutes
of travel time of the property being used for
the rental, according to the ordinance lan-
guage.
In addition, the township will provide the
phone number of the local contact to all
neighbors within a 200-foot radius of the
rental property boundaries. All parking asso-
ciated with a short-term rental must be out of
the roadway and entirely on-site. No more
than three vehicles may be parked at a rental
at any one time during the rental period,
according to the ordinance language.
Trustee Dave VanHouten was the lone
no-vote on the ordinance. He suggested hav-
ing better enforcement of noise, parking and
safety regulations would be a better way to
address the concerns some residents have
expressed.
“It’s going to result in quite a loss of sales
at local businesses (that rely on vacationers
renting cottages during the summer),” Van-
Houten said. “I think it’s going to hurt entre-
preneurs, and that really hurts me because
that’s how I got my start ... I had five rentals.
I took care of my rentals, and it got me off into
business. This is really going to cut down on
really nice rentals (on) lakefront properties.”
John Cremer of Jenison, who owns and
operates three short-term rental properties in
the Gun Lake area, expressed similar disap-
pointment with the vote. He raised a particu-
lar concern about the township providing
neighbors within the 200-foot radius of an
STR with the phone number of a property
contact.
“If I got that letter, and I lived next door, I
may freak out, too, because it’s a freak-out
letter,” Cremer said. “It scares me to thinkthat there’s going to be scary stuff, here’s the
person to call if something scary happens. I
get that it’s going to happen. But the perspec-
tive that people have coming into this, a lot of
times, is from the 1969 (party) thing.”
Cremer said he ran into resistance from
some of his neighbors last Memorial Day
weekend when they learned he was renting
out his property and they got one of those
advisory letters.
“These are just regular families (who rent
my properties). They take good care of it, we
have a list of rules (they have to follow),” he
said.
The Yankee Springs board earlier this year
approved a one-year agreement with Grani-
cus, a private company that helps municipal-
ities enforce short-term rental ordinances, to
conduct ongoing monitoring of vacation rent-
al websites such as Vrbo and Airbnb to find
out what properties in the townships are
being made available to rent. The contract
will make it possible for lakeside residents to
call in complaints about problems at short-
term rentals to be investigated.
The board also approved a fivefold increase
in the annual permit fee for an STR, from
$100 to $500, to help cover the cost of con-
tracting with Granicus and address other
administrative expenses tied to regulating
STRs.Hastings students place
top five in statewide
culinary competition
Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
Hastings High School placed among the
top five teams in a statewide culinary com-
petition earlier this month.
Students Blake Barnum, Lexie Roberts,
Paxson Strong, Kimber Fenstemaker and
Ellie Smith secured a fourth-place finish in
the culinary category for Hastings at the
Michigan ProStart Competition, which took
place March 10 and 11 in Kalamazoo. Com-
peting against 27 other districts from across
the state, the Saxons were tasked with creat-
ing a three-course meal with only 20 min-
utes of prep time and 60 minutes to cook.
Competitors must also work under cer-
tain restrictions, working in a 10-foot by
10-foot workspace and using only butane
burners. Teams were asked to utilize cer-
tain knife cuts and present a printed menu
to judges before cooking.
Teams were judged not only by the taste
and presentation of their dishes but also by
several parts of the cooking process. Knife
skills, safety and sanitation, work skills
and organization are all parts of the criteria
used by judges to rank the teams.
It’s all an assessment of what students
have learned in the ProStart program, a
career-focused two-year program for high
school students that teaches the culinary
arts alongside hospitality and management
skills. The program covers many skills in
the industry. While Hastings students com-
peted in the culinary category, many other
categories were judged at this month’s
event as well. Other categories included
knife skills, nutrition, ServSafe knowledge,
tabletop design, as well as pasta and cake
cutting. Winners in each category head tothe national competition each year to com-
pete for scholarship opportunities.
This year alone, ProStart students look-
ing to study hospitality-related fields had
access to more than $500,000 in scholarship
opportunities through the program. In addi-
tion to learning the skills needed to work in
the field, students receive their ServSafe
certification and can receive college credit
while still in high school. A pre-apprentice-
ship program can also provide students with
on-the-job experience and jump-start their
careers after graduation.
Justin Straube, Hastings ProStart instruc-
tor and owner of Seasonal Grille, said he
was exceptionally proud of his students. In
the last 10 years of entering the competi-
tion, Straube said this was one of the best
performances he had seen yet.
“The team did really well,” he said.
“They communicated well together. The
dishes were presented great. I mean, every-
thing looked beautiful. It really did.”“Everything we do in our zoning says residential
areas don’t have commercial use. This is certainly,
undeniably, commercial use. To me, it doesn’t
belong in a neighborhood.”
— Mike Cunningham, Clerk, Yankee Springs Township
Hastings culinary students (left to right) Kimber Fenstemaker, Lexie Roberts,
Paxson Strong and Ellie Smith secured a fourth place ranking in a statewide culi-
nary competition earlier this month. (Photos provided)Lexie Roberts and Ellie Smith work together to prepare the team’s dishes. The
Saxons were one of 28 teams and 400 students representing school districts
throughout the state.The three dishes prepared by
Hastings students, plated and on dis-
play. Teams were tasked with creating
an appetizer, entree and desert for
judges.Attendees were treated to a blustery
St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown
Hastings on Saturday evening. The short
but spirited parade made its way down
South Jefferson, crossing over and head-
ing back down South Church Street to
complete a large, rectangular route. Brian
and Angel McGraw (pictured), owners of
Somebody Slap Me That’s Good BBQ in
Hastings, led the way as the parade’s
grand marshals. They were chauffeured
around in an antique vehicle courtesy of
Chief Noonday Car Park in the Gun Lake
area. (Photos by Jayson Bussa)