Blue Earth County adds short-term rental ordinance

Tim Krohn, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Jan. 25—MANKATO — Blue Earth County has added regulations to the handful of short-term rentals in rural areas, following complaints about some that were run poorly.

The County Board on Tuesday also approved new standards to cover the very large propane tanks that are more frequently being installed on farms.

In rural parts of the county there are only about a dozen or so known short-term rentals, which are furnished living space available for a few days to several weeks. The rentals are often listed on websites such as Airbnb and used by people vacationing or visiting someone in the area or perhaps by a construction worker looking for a place to live while working on a nearby project.

The new ordinance does not include any new regulation of long-term rental units.

Members of the Planning Commission and county staff long discussed the ordinance's language and earlier held a public hearing, where two people asked questions but didn't oppose an ordinance. The commission members said they worked to develop rules that would not make it difficult for good rental operators.

Commissioner Kip Bruender said he appreciated the work put in on fashioning the ordinance. "It was a great undertaking."

Commissioner Kevin Paap applauded the time taken to write the ordinance. "I appreciate a lot of discussion on this."

Paap noted the rentals are varied, with some owned by someone who doesn't live in the county while others are right next to the owner's property, where they can better keep an eye on it.

Under the ordinance, which was approved unanimously, the owner of a short-term rental will have to fill out an application and pay a $700 fee. The county will do an in initial inspection of the rental, but county staff said there wouldn't necessarily have to be ongoing inspections unless there is an issue with a property.

In another change to zoning rules, the board approved new standards for the construction and placement of liquid propane storage tanks with capacities of 10,000 gallons or more.

Increasingly farmers are using larger propane storage tanks, which are used for heating buildings and for running dryers that dry down corn in grain bins after the fall harvest.

Smaller residential tanks people are accustomed to seeing near rural homes are usually 500 gallons.