Short-Term Rentals in Harbor Country: New Buffalo's Ban, Upheld on Appeal

New Buffalo's ban, and the federal court fight over it

The City of New Buffalo moved from requiring short-term rental permits, to a moratorium on issuing new ones, to an outright ban on new short-term rentals in residential districts -- a progression documented in the city's own council actions and covered by the New Buffalo Times. A group of homeowners who had purchased New Buffalo properties specifically to renovate and rent them to vacationers sued the city, arguing the permit requirement, moratorium, and eventual ban violated their constitutional rights. The case reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit as Moskovic v. City of New Buffalo; the court sided with the city, holding that because the homeowners applied for short-term rental permits only after the moratorium was already in place, they never had a legitimate claim of entitlement to those permits and therefore no protected property interest the city's denial could have taken.

The practical upshot for a buyer today: New Buffalo's prohibition on new short-term rentals in residential districts is not just a local ordinance sitting untested -- it has been challenged in federal court and upheld on appeal. A property in a New Buffalo residential district without an existing, already-permitted short-term rental use should not be assumed to be a viable STR investment; the city's ban, as litigated and affirmed, applies.

Chikaming Township: a separate, ongoing moratorium

Chikaming Township -- immediately south of New Buffalo along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and confirmed in this site's Berrien County hub as having its own zoning ordinance with specific Critical Dune Area provisions -- has separately enacted its own 90-day moratorium on new short-term rental licenses, according to the township's own posted information. A moratorium is, by definition, a pause rather than a permanent rule, so its exact current status (whether it has lapsed, been extended, or been replaced by a permanent ordinance) needs direct confirmation with the township rather than assumption based on the original 90-day term.

A broader local pushback against state preemption

Beyond individual local ordinances, multiple Berrien County municipalities have organized opposition to state legislation that would preempt local short-term rental regulation entirely -- reporting describes several Berrien County towns actively opposing such a bill. That's a meaningful signal for anyone assuming state-level reform might eventually override New Buffalo's ban or Chikaming's moratorium: local governments in this specific area have been vocal advocates for keeping that regulatory authority local, which makes near-term state preemption less likely to simply erase these rules than it might be in an area without organized local resistance.