Short-Term Rentals in Cheboygan County, Michigan

First, the resolved zoning picture: county-run almost everywhere, with real exceptions

Cheboygan County's own Planning and Zoning Department directly administers zoning for essentially all of the county's nineteen townships, with one confirmed, genuine exception: Burt Township has adopted its own township-level master plan and zoning ordinance, which controls within its boundaries instead of the county's. Because Burt Township has acted, its own zoning administrator -- not the county -- is the correct contact for a parcel there. Separately, and as in the rest of Michigan, the county's incorporated municipalities run their own zoning under home-rule authority: the City of Cheboygan, the Village of Mackinaw City, and the Village of Wolverine each administer a separate zoning ordinance independent of the county.

That structure matters most in practice for one specific use: short-term rentals. Because Mackinaw City sits outside the county's zoning authority entirely, its own ordinance is the one that actually governs vacation-rental use there -- and it takes a notably stricter approach than a generic Michigan township typically would.

Mackinaw City's short-term rental ban: outright, in every residential district

Mackinaw City's General Ordinances prohibit short-term rentals -- dwellings rented for under 30 consecutive days -- in the Village's R-1, R-2, and R-3 residential zoning districts. The Village Council's own stated rationale, written into the ordinance itself, is that short-term rental of dwellings creates commercial activity in residential areas that undermines the residential character of existing neighborhoods. In practice, that pushes all legal short-term rental activity in Mackinaw City into the Village's commercial zoning districts -- a genuinely different answer than a buyer might expect walking into this purchase assuming a typical tourist-town STR-friendly stance, especially given how central vacation lodging is to Mackinaw City's own economy.

For any rental dwelling that is allowed to operate (i.e., one in a qualifying commercial district), the ordinance requires annual registration with the Village Clerk on a form the Village provides, along with payment of a registration fee set by Village Council resolution rather than fixed in the ordinance text itself. Owners of rental dwellings already compliant under the ordinance are exempted from paying the annual registration fee again unless their registration information changes or the property changes ownership -- worth asking about directly if you're buying an existing, currently-operating rental rather than starting one from scratch.

The ordinance also requires that if the owner of a rental dwelling does not live within 60 miles of the Village, the owner must designate a responsible local agent who resides within Emmet, Cheboygan, or Mackinac County. That's a real, specific compliance obligation for an out-of-area or out-of-state buyer planning to operate a rental here -- not just a suggestion to have a local property manager, but an ordinance requirement tied to specific neighboring counties.

What this means before buying for short-term rental income here

1. Identify the exact jurisdiction first: a parcel inside Mackinaw City is governed by the Village's own ordinance described above, not the county's; a parcel in Burt Township is governed by that township's own ordinance; everywhere else in the county's nineteen townships, the county's own zoning applies.
2. If you're specifically evaluating a Mackinaw City property for short-term rental income, confirm its zoning district before assuming rental use is available -- R-1, R-2, and R-3 districts do not allow it under the current ordinance, regardless of how the property has been marketed or previously used.
3. If you're buying an existing, currently-operating short-term rental in a qualifying Mackinaw City commercial district, ask the seller for its current Village registration status -- a currently-compliant registration may carry a fee exemption that a new owner or a lapsed registration would not.
4. If you don't plan to live within 60 miles of Mackinaw City, budget for designating a responsible local agent within Emmet, Cheboygan, or Mackinac County as an ordinance requirement, not an optional convenience.
5. For a parcel anywhere else in the county's townships (outside Burt Township), confirm current short-term-rental rules directly with the Cheboygan County Planning and Zoning Department -- county-level rules can differ from Mackinaw City's ban and were not the focus of this page.