Minnehaha County authorizes legal action against short-term rental operating without permit

Minnehaha County officials are prepared to use legal action to stop the use of a home they say is still operating as a short-term rental, without a permit months after an official letter demanding that usage cease.

The home in question sits in a small neighborhood just west of Laurel Ridge Barn, and is advertised for rent on the event venue's website, with links to both VRBO and Airbnb pages.

County planning staff learned about it in late 2022, when concerned neighbors reached out after hearing the home could be used as an event venue, which resulted in staff sending a letter to property owner Tyler Childress, who also owns Laurel Ridge.

That letter informed Childress he could apply for the home to be considered a bed and breakfast, which is how Minnehaha County currently classifies short-term rentals, but the property was not properly zoned for events.

Multiple neighbors said at a Jan. 23 meeting of the Joint Minnehaha County and Sioux Falls Planning Commission they didn't want to see the home, which was proposed as hosting up to 18 people often associated with weddings at Laurel Ridge, used as a short-term rental in their neighborhood.

Both commissions voted to deny the necessary conditional use permit at that meeting. But neighbors, and the county, say the house has been rented out regularly.

Tina Beck said she lives next to "new strangers every weekend," and said she was frustrated to be dealing with this in the place where she's lived since 1995. She and others have complained of noise late into the night, issues with garbage and a feeling she doesn't know who her neighbors are.

On Feb. 17, the county's planning department sent a letter to an LLC associated with Childress, saying they had received complaints regarding the usage of the home as a rental, noting the home still appeared for rent on VRBO and Airbnb.

More: New rules on 'short-term rentals' could be coming for parts of Minnehaha County

"Please stop all commercial rentals of the property as a bed and breakfast or vacation home," the letter read. "This would include removing the property from advertised location online."

After months of back and forth between the two sides at various city meetings, the Minnehaha County Commission voted Tuesday morning to authorize the Minnehaha County State's Attorney to "compel Mr. Childress to immediately cease, correct and abate the use of the property in violation of the joint ordinance."

Argument spills into meeting on short-term rental rules

Childress said he had no comment when reached Tuesday, though he spoke later that evening against a proposal that would add regulations to short-term rentals in the joint jurisdictional area shared by Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County, where his property sits.

Despite the property near Laurel Ridge not being the specific focus of the discussion, much of the public comment from meeting attendees revolved around it. That led Christi Childress, Tyler's wife, to stand up to the mic and call the neighbors "not nice and not inviting." She also claimed to have footage of one of the neighbors breaking into the property.

The ordinance would only apply to new short-term rentals in the area, and would require them to have a maximum occupancy of three people per bedroom, with a minimum parking requirement of one space per bedroom.

It was remanded back to the planning commission after the approval of an amendment brought by Councilor Greg Neitzert that would require a conditional use permit for a short-term rental in the joint jurisdictional area, which would provide a clearer path for revocation if it was decided that operators were not effectively dealing with complaints.

Councilor Alex Jensen said he'd like to see the formation of a task force that could take a few months to discuss the issue before making any changes to the ordinance.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Minnehaha approves legal action against problematic short-term rental