Addressing issues with short-term rental properties
JOEL HOILAND
For two years, Lake Geneva has been working to bring order, fairness, and transparency to the fast-growing world of short-term rentals (STRs). It hasn't been easy. At times, it has been contentious.
But it has also been an important example of how a community learns, adapts, and ultimately improves.
Now, with the 2025 peak season behind us and a new staffing and management structure in place for 2026, Lake Geneva is finally positioned to turn hard-learned lessons into lasting progress. The effort to modernize STR oversight began in late 2023, after years of resident frustration over nuisance properties, inconsistent enforcement, and lack of clear communication.
Recognizing this, I volunteered to assemble a ShortTerm Rental Ad Hoc Committee, a diverse group of residents, STR owners and operators, an alderman, and the Building & Zoning Administrator.
Our mission was simple: update the ordinance, strengthen enforcement tools, improve communication, and restore trust. This was the beginning of a community conversation that needed to happen.
Even establishing the committee became a lesson in political resistance. Four council members opposed its creation, largely over whether the Building & Zoning Administrator should be allowed to vote.
Rather than amending the proposal, they attempted to stop the committee altogether. The motion failed 4–3.
But by March 2024, with more careful discussion and clarity around roles, the council unanimously approved the committee. For the first time, residents and STR owners had a structured way to sit at the same table to work toward shared solutions.
Over several months, the committee reviewed the ordinance line by line, examined best practices in other communities, and identified the core drivers of STR-related complaints. Our recommendations were practical, balanced, and rooted in real-world experience. Here's what the committee recommended:
1. Improve Communication & Transparency a. Create a public FAQ to separate fact from fiction.
b. Offer orientations for STR owners before the peak season.
c. Provide a single place for residents to report problems.
2. Strengthen Enforcement Tools a. Use modern STR tracking and monitoring software.
b. Assign a designated staff member to champion the program.
c. Establish consistent, predictable enforcement processes.
3. Prepare Early for the Peak Season a. Announce changes well ahead of time.
b. Ensure staff, software, and procedures are ready by spring.
c. Keep both residents and STR owners informed throughout.
These were not controversial ideas. They were common-sense approaches to a problem the entire city understood.
After thoughtful markup and many discussions with the mayor and staff, the revised STR ordinance was passed on Nov. 25, 2024.
It strengthened definitions, clarified occupancy limits, tightened penalties, and added a formal resident reporting mechanism. It was a turning point—Lake Geneva finally had an ordinance equal to the scale of the challenge.
Unfortunately, the rollout that followed was plagued by circumstances that undermined the intent of the ordinance.
In October 2024, within weeks of adoption, the Building & Zoning administrator was terminated. The position remained vacant while the city searched for a new city administrator.
In February, the Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer, who was expected to guide STR implementation, also departed.
The new Building & Zoning Director arrived in April 2025 with an already overwhelming workload, and a contracted code-enforcement firm came on board in early June, just as the busy season began.
A Strong Ordinance, but a Difficult Rollout – The result was predictable: delayed renewal notices, confusion among STR owners, unanswered resident complaints, slow implementation of the software, and a fractured enforcement system that struggled to keep pace. Many STR owners complied, but many did not. Residents were rightfully frustrated. The STR season launched without the infrastructure needed to support it.
Yet even in this turbulence, two things went right. First, the software, though delayed, did help identify illegal operations. Second, when significant violations were discovered, the city issued citations, including two major cases now moving through municipal court.
Here's what we learned. 2025 was not a failure, it was an education. It revealed exactly what Lake Geneva needs in order to run a legitimate, fair, and effective STR program:
1. A dedicated STR staff member.
2. Clear, early communication with both residents and STR operators.
3. Consistent enforcement grounded in the ordinance, not staffing availability.
4. Modern software fully deployed before peak season.
5. A predictable, transparent process that the community can understand and trust.
These lessons have directly shaped the city's 2026 approach. In the 2026 budget, the council approved a new full-time position: Short-Term Rental Code Enforcer & Zoning Coordinator.
This is a major step forward. For the first time, Lake Geneva will have one trained professional responsible for licensing, inspections, software management, complaint tracking, operator communication, and coordination with the Police Department and Public Works.
This single change addresses the largest operational gap exposed in 2025.
Layered onto that will be a new system of early communication, public dashboards, owner orientations, and a streamlined licensing process.
These improvements will not only benefit residents but also give responsible STR operators the clarity and consistency they have long asked for.
Short-term rentals are a part of modern tourism and visitor lodging, and when properly managed, they can coexist with our neighborhoods. But they require active oversight, skilled staff, and a commitment to fairness.
Lake Geneva took an important step with the 2024 ordinance, stumbled during the 2025 rollout, and learned valuable lessons from the experience.
Now, with stronger staffing, clearer processes, and renewed leadership, 2026 offers an opportunity to get STR management right, and to rebuild community confidence in the process.
If we continue forward with transparency, planning, and a respect for both residents and responsible STR operators, Lake Geneva will be far better positioned to manage STRs for years to come.
STR Ad Hoc Committee Members included: Chair: Joel Hoiland, Emily Hummel, Tom Keefe, Caroll Pearson, Luke Pfeifer, Neal Kolb and Jason Smolarek.
Joel Hoiland, 3rd District alderman
