A Neenah neighborhood. PC: Fox 11 Online
NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A Neenah ordinance requiring that only “primary residence” owners can offer short-term rentals was overturned Wednesday by a state appeals court.
Neenah passed a “Tourist Housing Ordinance” which prohibited owners of residential property from obtaining the necessary permit for renting that property unless it is their “primary residence.”
The Wisconsin Realtors Association sued, arguing that provision was illegal because exceeded the city’s authority under state law. A circuit court judge ruled in the city’s favor, so the WRA appealed the decision.
In a 10-page decision, the appeals court sided with the WRA, and overturned the ruling.
“Although it does not define the term “primary residence,” the term clearly excludes some residential dwellings—those residences that are non-primary—and thus the ordinance prohibits short-term rentals of at least some residential dwellings. It is evident that this logically conflicts with the statute’s prohibition against local limitations on the short-term rental of “any” residential dwellings,” the ruling states.
“Because we hold that the Ordinance is in logical conflict with WIS. STAT. 66.1014, and satisfaction of a single prong of the DeRosso Landfill test is sufficient to constitute preemption, we need not address whether the Ordinance defeats the purpose of or violates the spirit of the state legislation. We reverse the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment for the City and direct the court to issue a revised order declaring the Ordinance preempted and therefore void,” the decision states.
The courts also rejected the city’s arguments that the WRA did not have standing to file the challenge.
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