Councilmember Mahr urges moratorium on single‑family rentals; council refers proposal to Planning and Zoning

Councilmember Mahr proposed that the city impose a moratorium on future single‑family homes being licensed as rental properties, saying the community "has more rentals than single family homes with owner occupied residents." The proposal responded to Mahr's concern that corporate investors are buying affordable homes and converting them to rental units.

City Administrator Bill Petracek told the council these buyers are often absentee corporate owners and can be difficult to engage on maintenance and licensing issues. City Attorney Kurt Glaser advised that "the City can’t restrict homeowners from selling to these corporations, but the City can put restrictive barriers in place to make it difficult for these companies to rent these properties," citing the City of Wabasha's rental property ordinance as a tested example. Glaser also stated that existing single‑family homes that are licensed and rented "would need to comply with any new regulations that are incorporated into the rental housing ordinance." The council reached consensus to refer the proposal to the Planning and Zoning Commission to study and return a recommendation to the City Council.