Are short-term rentals like Airbnb allowed in Sterling Heights?

The zoning ordinance is silent on short-term rentals. Our review of the current codification found no section permitting, prohibiting, or licensing rentals by the night in residential districts; the closest regulated use is a boarding house, which requires lodging periods exceeding seven days and is a special approval land use only in the multiple family districts (Section 31.01; Section 6.02.G).

Silence is not a green light. A dwelling in a one family district must be used as a one family dwelling, and the city could read high-turnover nightly rental as outside that use. Other parts of the City Code, such as rental registration and property maintenance rules, may also apply to any rental.

Because this is unsettled text rather than a clear rule, ask the Office of Planning at 586-446-2360 for the city's current enforcement position before listing a property.