Short-Term Rentals Around Houghton Lake and Higgins Lake

Roscommon Township: licensed, registration required

Roscommon Township, home to the county seat and a stretch of Houghton Lake shoreline, adopted its own Short-Term Rental Ordinance (#81) on April 6, 2021, effective May 20, 2021. No one can operate a short-term rental in the township without first registering it and obtaining a license under the ordinance, which the township frames as protecting public health, safety, and the general welfare, and preserving the non-transient character of residential neighborhoods. Applications go to the township directly (PO Box 610, Houghton Lake, MI 48629), either in person or by mail.

Markey Township: licensed, capped, and specifically fee-scheduled

Markey Township runs its own separate short-term-rental licensing ordinance (adopted March 2024), with a $100 one-time application fee and a $500 annual license fee. Renting a dwelling (or part of one) for anywhere from 1 to 29 nights counts as short-term rental use under the ordinance and triggers the licensing requirement. Contact the township's Short-Term Rental Coordinator (currently Kirstie Russo, (989) 529-2733, ordinance@markeytownship.org) to apply.

The practically important detail for a buyer: Markey Township appears to cap the total number of STR licenses it issues -- the township has posted public notices when a single additional license becomes available -- rather than licensing every qualifying property on demand. If you're buying specifically to operate a short-term rental in Markey Township, confirm directly with the township whether licenses are currently available at all before assuming a purchase will convert into a rentable property.

Lake Township: prohibited outside two business districts

Lake Township -- another of the townships bordering Houghton Lake -- has gone the opposite direction. Under the township's zoning ordinance, short-term rentals are prohibited in every zoning district except the B-1 Local Business and RB Residential Business districts. The township board has reaffirmed this prohibition by consensus rather than moving to loosen it, so a Lake Township property in an ordinary residential or lakefront-residential zoning district is not a legal short-term rental under current rules, regardless of what's allowed a few miles away in Roscommon or Markey Township.

Lyon Township (Higgins Lake): an ordinance rescinded and now being rewritten

Lyon Township, on the Roscommon County side of Higgins Lake, adopted its own Short-Term Rental Ordinance (#65) in 2024, with licensing, occupancy caps, parking and septic requirements, a local contact-agent requirement, posting requirements, and a required separation distance between licensed rentals, and a townshipwide cap on the total number of licenses issued. That ordinance was then rescinded following a change in township board leadership, and as of this research the township's own site lists its short-term-rental ordinance as "on hold" while a new one is drafted and considered.

That makes Lyon Township the clearest example in this county of how quickly the rules can move: a licensing framework that existed in 2024 may not be the one in force by the time you close on a property here. Confirm the current status directly with the township rather than relying on the 2024 ordinance text, even though it's still the most recently published version available.

What this means if you're buying for rental income

Before you assume a lakefront or near-lake parcel in Roscommon County can be rented short-term, identify its specific township and confirm that township's current rule directly -- not a neighboring township's rule, and not last year's version if the ordinance has been amended, rescinded, or replaced recently, as has happened at least once here already. Where licensing is capped (Markey, and potentially the township that eventually replaces Lyon's rescinded ordinance), also confirm whether new licenses are actually being issued, since a capped program can mean the practical answer is "not currently available" even where short-term rental use is nominally allowed.