Short-Term Rentals in Leelanau County, Michigan

Leelanau Township: a 150-permit cap, bedroom-based occupancy, and a hard renewal deadline

Leelanau Township -- covering the county's northern tip, including Northport and the Lighthouse peninsula -- adopted its own Short Term Rental Ordinance (No. 3 of 2020) in August 2020, with the permit program taking effect January 1, 2021. Anyone operating or advertising a short-term rental in the township needs an annual permit from the Township, and the ordinance caps total permits at 150 per calendar year. Allowable occupancy is tied directly to the number of bedrooms approved on the property's Health Department or building permit, with a hard ceiling of 15 guests over age 5 regardless of bedroom count.

Permits run on a calendar-year basis and must be renewed annually -- a completed renewal application received on or before December 31 of the prior year is guaranteed to be approved provided the property still meets the ordinance's requirements, but a late or incomplete renewal is not guaranteed a slot back if the 150-permit cap has otherwise filled. For a buyer, that renewal mechanic matters as much as the initial permit process: confirm directly with the Township Zoning Administrator (leelanautownshipzoning@gmail.com or zoning@leelanautownshipmi.gov) both how many of the 150 permits are currently issued and whether a specific property's existing permit (if any) is current and in good standing before assuming it transfers cleanly with a purchase.

Elmwood Township's 93-license cap is already full

Elmwood Township, immediately south of Traverse City on the Grand Traverse Bay side of the peninsula, took a different numerical approach: its board capped total short-term rental licenses at 93, a figure deliberately set at roughly 4% of the township's total housing stock at the time of adoption. Unlike some other Leelanau jurisdictions, Elmwood allows short-term rentals in every zoning district, including straightforward residential districts, subject to the ordinance's parking, quiet-hours, and occupancy conditions -- and a license can be revoked after three violations in a single calendar year, or violations in each of three consecutive years.

The practical fact a buyer needs to know: as of February 13, 2023, all 93 Elmwood Township licenses had already been granted. Unless the township has since revoked or reclaimed a slot (worth confirming directly, since turnover does happen), a property in Elmwood Township without an existing, currently valid STR license may not be able to obtain one at all -- buying a non-STR-licensed property here specifically for rental income is a meaningfully different bet than buying one that already carries a valid, transferable license.

Suttons Bay Township and the Village of Suttons Bay: two different caps, right next to each other

Suttons Bay Township (the surrounding township, not the incorporated village at its center) runs its own permit program with a $200 annual fee and a 150-permit cap, administered separately from the village. The Village of Suttons Bay itself -- the walkable, commercial downtown core, and a genuinely distinct jurisdiction for zoning purposes -- takes a tighter line: village permits are capped at 45, with a currently higher legacy count (57 existing permits as of recent reporting) being grandfathered down toward that 45 cap through ordinary attrition rather than immediate revocation. The village detail worth flagging directly for any buyer: permits there are explicitly non-transferable -- if you buy a village property that currently holds an active STR permit, that permit does not survive the closing, and the property does not automatically requalify for a new one given the below-cap grandfathering process.

Because the township and village are separate jurisdictions sitting immediately next to each other, a property's exact address -- inside the Village of Suttons Bay versus the surrounding township -- changes both the applicable cap and, critically, whether an existing permit can pass to a new owner at all.

Cleveland Township's 2024 ordinance and the Village of Northport's registration system

Cleveland Township, in the county's northeast, adopted a new short-term rental ordinance in 2024 with enforcement beginning January 1, 2025 -- among the most recently active STR ordinances in the county. Its specific terms: one short-term rental per parcel, maximum occupancy of two guests per bedroom up to a hard cap of 12, no on-street parking for renters, a required 24-hour local contact person located within 30 miles of the property, and a mandatory notice to neighbors within 300 feet before a permit is issued. Because this ordinance is still in its first full year of enforcement as of this research pass, expect the township to continue refining specific administrative details -- confirm current permit availability and any waitlist directly with Cleveland Township rather than relying on an earlier draft.

The Village of Northport, at the peninsula's northern tip, takes yet another approach: any rental of a dwelling unit for fewer than 21 days is treated as a short-term rental requiring registration with the village before it can be rented, with that registration needing annual renewal. Northport's 21-day threshold is notably longer than the 30-day (or shorter) thresholds used elsewhere in the county, meaning a rental agreement here could trigger STR registration requirements at a point where it wouldn't in a neighboring township.

No statewide override -- yet, but bills are pending

As of this research pass, Michigan has no statewide short-term rental law overriding local ordinances -- the township-by-township and village-by-village patchwork described above is still how it works. That said, the state Legislature has multiple STR-related bills pending: a tax-parity package (House Bills 5138-5140 and a companion Senate Bill 965) that would tax short-term rentals more like hotels, a separate Senate Bill 983 allowing local governments to impose up to a 3% excise tax on STR stays, and House Bill 6026, introduced June 2, 2026, which would create a statewide short-term rental registry and database. None of these, as introduced, would preempt a township's ability to cap permits, ban STRs outright, or set its own occupancy and parking rules -- but a buyer relying on long-term STR viability in Leelanau County should keep an eye on this legislative area, since a registry requirement in particular could add a new statewide compliance layer on top of the local permit already required.

Before counting on STR income anywhere in Leelanau County

1. Identify the exact township or village -- Leelanau Township, Elmwood Township, Suttons Bay Township, the Village of Suttons Bay, Cleveland Township, and the Village of Northport each run a genuinely separate permit system with its own cap, fee, and occupancy rule, and this page did not confirm every remaining township's current STR ordinance (or absence of one).
2. If the parcel is in Elmwood Township or the Village of Suttons Bay, assume the permit cap is full or nearly full and confirm current availability directly before counting on being able to obtain a new permit at all.
3. If a listing advertises an 'existing STR permit,' confirm in writing with the township or village whether that specific permit is (a) currently valid and in good standing, and (b) transferable to a new owner at closing -- the Village of Suttons Bay's explicit non-transferability rule is not necessarily how every jurisdiction in the county handles this.
4. For any parcel, ask the specific township or village for its current occupancy formula, parking requirements, and local-contact rule -- these vary by jurisdiction (bedroom-based in Leelanau Township, a flat 12-guest cap in Cleveland Township) and affect how a property can actually be marketed.
5. Check recorded deed restrictions on the specific parcel regardless of the township or village STR stance, since a subdivision covenant can prohibit short-term rental use even where the local ordinance allows it.