Ordinance to mirrior one approved by OT County

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A new rental ordinance will soon put in place basic regulations for vacation homes in the heart of lakes country. 

During its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, April 17, the Ottertail City Council formally adopted a new vacation home rental ordinance. The city’s hope was to follow the county’s guidelines and not cause any additional hardships for vacation home rental property owners in the city limits. 

The new vacation home program, which follows Otter Tail County’s vacation home ordinance, establishes a licensing program for vacation homes and sets minimum standards for vacation home rental properties to meet as a way to attempt to mitigate possible adverse impacts to the public’s health, safety and general welfare, as well as hardships for neighboring properties.

As part of the ordinance, any vacation rentals located within the city limits will need to file an application with the county who will then inspect the rental property and ensure it meets a minimum set of guidelines for renters. There will be a $25 annual fee that will need to be paid prior to the vacation home being rented out to the public.

“The ordinance requires a lodging license, which will be issued from Otter Tail County Public Health,” said city clerk/treasurer Amanda Thorson. “They will review the home, they will have to do a water sample. They have to do an inspection of the septic system and make sure that is all in compliance and then once that is issued they will issue them a lodging license that they will then present to the city. The city will then issue the license and the license will run January through December.”

Thorson said the goal behind Ottertail’s vacation home rental was simply to follow the county’s lead and not put additional barriers in place for vacation homes located within the city limits. For example, once the county approves the vacation home rental application, Thorson said property owners will need to just bring in that approval and license to the city office in Ottertail. 

“We did not want to burden vacation home rental owners with more paperwork. We feel like if you have done the lodging license through the county and the public health inspections that is really the big concern of ours is making sure it won’t be an issue to neighboring properties and public health,” said Thorson. “What we are issuing as the ordinance will be just more of a way we can regulate the use.”

In other news

• Heard the mobile collection of the Household Hazardous Waste in Ottertail will be held on June 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Approved a conditional use permit for 143 Thalmann Road to relocate an existing 24×28’ garage from 140 Lueders Road to a parcel at 143 Lueders Road. The parcel already contains a stand-alone garage and the plan is to place new siding on the garage so it looks similar to the existing building on the property. 

• Approved a quote from Brandon Communications to purchase seven pagers with a two-year standard warranty with charger and battery. The total cost for the pagers will be $2,100.

• Approved the hiring of Bryan Loch and Mike Stein as new members of the Ottertail Fire Department. 

• Heard the Henning Ambulance Service will be remounting an ambulance in 2026. According to a letter from the Henning Ambulance Service, the ambulance service will take the box of a current ambulance that will then be put on a new chassis. The move will save approximately $100,000 over the cost of a new ambulance. Ottertail’s share of the remounted ambulance will be $9,048, which would be due in 2026. Thorson said the city has been putting money in reserve in anticipation of needing to cover a portion of the cost of a new ambulance.