St. Joseph City Commissioner Michael Fernandez says short-term rentals have a role in the community, but he believes they should be limited to specific areas to protect neighborhoods for year-round residents.

Speaking on the WSJM Morning Show with Ken & Friends as part of a candidate interview series, Fernandez said the city has historically managed rentals through zoning, preventing the kind of turnover seen in other coastal communities.

“We’ve been able to avoid becoming a city where almost nothing but short-term rentals exist,” Fernandez said. “That’s been instrumental in keeping families here.”

In St. Joseph, a short-term rental is a dwelling unit rented for periods less than one month (or less than 30 consecutive days), as opposed to longer-term residential rentals which are for

See Full Page