New Buffalo Harbor Country Rules: Clerks, Not Occupancy Ranking

Thomas Garner
Aug 5
10 min read

Updated: 15 hours ago

New Buffalo Beach, New Buffalo, Michigan

Two Townships, Two Ordinances

The area commonly marketed as “Harbor Country” actually spans two separate municipal governments, each with its own short-term rental ordinance: New Buffalo Township, and Chikaming Township. New Buffalo Township is the town that carries Michigan's highest short-term rental nightly rate, at $649–680 a night. Chikaming Township sits just to the north and covers six smaller beach hamlets: Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, and Michiana.

These are not interchangeable regulatory environments, and treating them as one “Harbor Country” zone is the most common mistake a newcomer to this market makes. As of 2026, the two townships are in genuinely different phases: one still structured around a per-parcel cap with room that hasn't been definitively ruled out, the other hard-closed to new applications.

New Buffalo Township: A One-STR-Per-Parcel Cap

New Buffalo Township regulates short-term rentals through a per-parcel cap: one short-term rental permitted per parcel. That's a structurally lighter-touch approach than a hard numeric ceiling on total permits townwide — it doesn't cap the town's total STR count directly, it limits density at the individual-property level.

Whether that per-parcel structure has, in practice, resulted in New Buffalo Township reaching a de facto capacity limit is genuinely unconfirmed as of this guide. This is flagged deliberately rather than resolved with an invented number: anyone evaluating a New Buffalo Township property for STR use should confirm current permit availability and any waitlist or application backlog directly with the township office before assuming capacity is open. A per-parcel cap without a hard total ceiling can still functionally tighten up if enough eligible parcels have already claimed their one permit — that's a different failure mode than Chikaming Township's hit-a-number-and-stop approach, but it can arrive at a similarly constrained result.

Chikaming Township: A Hard 550-Permit Cap, Now Closed

Chikaming Township — the municipality covering Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, and Michiana — took a different regulatory path: a hard numeric ceiling on total STR permits townwide, set at 550. That cap was reached in April 2026. As of that date, Chikaming Township is closed to new short-term rental permit applications, with reopening not expected before February 2027.

The growth trajectory that led to the cap is worth understanding on its own, because it shows this wasn't a sudden or arbitrary limit. Chikaming Township's STR permit count climbed from 308 in 2018 to 517 by 2025 — steady, sustained growth over roughly seven years — before finally crossing the 550-permit line in April 2026. That's a market that grew into its own ceiling gradually, not one that got capped by surprise regulatory action.

One detail worth flagging plainly rather than treating as settled: the February 2027 reopening date itself should be reconfirmed directly with Chikaming Township before anyone relies on it for planning purposes. Permit-cap timelines are exactly the kind of regulatory detail that can shift — a township board can extend a closure, adjust the cap number, or change application procedures — and a date carried forward from a single point-in-time source shouldn't be treated as locked in without a current check. For a look at how this closure affects each of the six specific hamlet communities individually, see ourHarbor Country hamlet comparison guide.

What the Closure Means in Practice

For a buyer or host targeting Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, or Michiana specifically, the practical implication of Chikaming Township's closure is straightforward: a fresh STR application is not currently an option there. Anyone evaluating a purchase in these six communities right now should be looking at properties that already carry a valid, existing STR permit — not raw land or an unpermitted property with plans to apply, because that application path is closed until at least February 2027 and possibly later depending on how the township ultimately handles reopening.

That constraint changes the math on an existing permitted property. A permit that would have been routine to obtain before April 2026 is now a scarce asset — the township effectively can't create more of them at the moment — and a buyer should expect to pay a real premium for a property that comes with one attached, rather than treating the permit as an incidental detail of the sale. Existing owners in these six communities are, in effect, sitting on a more valuable asset than they were before the cap was reached.

New Buffalo Township vs. Chikaming Township: The Practical Difference

Putting the two side by side: New Buffalo Township carries the corridor's headline $649–680 nightly rate and regulates through a per-parcel cap that may still have room, pending direct confirmation with the township. Chikaming Township — Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, and Michiana — is closed to new STR applications through at least February 2027 after hitting its 550-permit ceiling in April 2026, following growth from 308 permits in 2018 to 517 in 2025.

A buyer weighing where to invest in this corridor should treat that as the primary sorting question, ahead of price, ahead of proximity to the beach, ahead of almost anything else: is the property in a township that might still allow a new permit application, or is it in a township where the only realistic path in is buying an already-permitted existing property? Those are two fundamentally different transactions with two fundamentally different risk profiles, even though both properties might be marketed under the same “Harbor Country” regional label.

Verifying Before You Act

Because this report deliberately preserves several open questions rather than resolving them with assumed answers, here is the direct verification checklist worth working through with each township office before any purchase, application, or marketing decision: whether New Buffalo Township's per-parcel cap has reached practical capacity or a waitlist exists; whether Chikaming Township's February 2027 reopening date remains current or has shifted; and whether either township has adjusted its ordinance language, application fees, or enforcement approach since this guide was published. Michigan township ordinances of this kind are adopted and amended at the local level, and the fastest, most reliable source for current status is always the township office itself, not a secondhand summary — including this one.

For the full market picture this regulatory split sits inside of — including the confirmed $649–680 New Buffalo Township ADR and the wine-trail-and-rail demand story behind it — see ourNew Buffalo & Harbor Country STR Market Report 2026. For an investor weighing where within this corridor to buy given the current permit landscape, ourSTR investment guideworks through the township-by-township math in more depth, and ourhow-to-market guideandDIY vs. hire breakdowncover positioning strategy for owners on either side of the permit line.

Why Two Neighboring Townships Ended Up With Different Rules

Michigan short-term rental regulation happens almost entirely at the township and municipal level rather than through a uniform statewide framework, which is exactly why two adjacent townships along the same stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline can end up with meaningfully different rules. Each township board sets its own ordinance based on its own local conditions — density of existing housing stock, infrastructure capacity, resident feedback, and the pace at which short-term rental applications were actually coming in. Chikaming Township's steady climb from 308 permits in 2018 to 517 by 2025 gave that board years of data suggesting a hard ceiling made sense; New Buffalo Township's per-parcel approach reflects a different judgment about how to manage density without necessarily capping total permit count outright.

The upshot for anyone new to this corridor: there is no single “Harbor Country ordinance” to look up. There are at minimum two separate township ordinances, and a property's regulatory status depends entirely on which side of the township line it falls on — a distinction that isn't always obvious from a listing description or even a casual drive through the area, since the six Chikaming Township hamlets and New Buffalo Township itself blend together visually along the same general stretch of coastline.

What This Means for Marketing an Existing Permit

For hosts who already hold a valid STR permit in Chikaming Township — Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, or Michiana — the closure through at least February 2027 is worth naming directly in how the property is marketed and valued, not treated as an incidental regulatory footnote. A permitted listing in a township that currently cannot issue new permits is a structurally scarcer asset than it was a year ago, and that scarcity is a legitimate part of the property's value story, whether the owner is marketing nightly stays to guests or eventually marketing the property itself for sale.

For New Buffalo Township hosts and owners, the calculus is different: the per-parcel structure means the relevant question is less about townwide scarcity and more about whether a specific target parcel already has its one permit claimed, or whether a prospective buyer would need to confirm eligibility before assuming a permit is obtainable. That's a property-by-property verification, not a townwide one, and it's worth doing before any purchase or listing decision rather than after.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are New Buffalo Township and Harbor Country under the same short-term rental rules?

New Buffalo Township and Chikaming Township (which covers the Harbor Country hamlets of Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, and Michiana) are separate municipalities with separate STR ordinances. New Buffalo Township uses a one-STR-per-parcel cap; Chikaming Township uses a hard 550-permit townwide ceiling that was reached in April 2026. Chikaming Township — Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, and Michiana — is closed to new STR applications through at least February 2027 after hitting its 550-permit ceiling in April 2026, following growth from 308 permits in 2018 to 517 in 2025.

Is Chikaming Township still accepting new short-term rental applications?

Chikaming Township hit its 550-permit cap in April 2026 and is closed to new STR applications, with reopening not expected before February 2027. That reopening date should be reconfirmed directly with the township before being treated as final, since permit-cap timelines can shift. As of that date, Chikaming Township is closed to new short-term rental permit applications, with reopening not expected before February 2027.

What is New Buffalo Township's short-term rental cap?

New Buffalo Township limits short-term rentals to one per parcel. Whether that structure has resulted in the township reaching practical capacity is unconfirmed as of this guide and should be verified directly with the township office. Whether that per-parcel structure has, in practice, resulted in New Buffalo Township reaching a de facto capacity limit is genuinely unconfirmed as of this guide.

Can I still buy a short-term rental in Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, or Michiana?

You can buy a property in these Chikaming Township communities, but new STR permit applications are closed until at least February 2027. A buyer targeting these six hamlets should look for properties that already carry a valid, existing STR permit rather than plan on obtaining a new one. For hosts who already hold a valid STR permit in Chikaming Township — Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Grand Beach, or Michiana — the closure through at least February 2027 is worth naming directly in how the property is marketed and valued, not treated as an incidental regulatory footnote.

How many STR permits does Chikaming Township allow?

Chikaming Township caps short-term rental permits at 550 townwide. Permit counts grew from 308 in 2018 to 517 in 2025 before the cap was reached in April 2026. Chikaming Township's STR permit count climbed from 308 in 2018 to 517 by 2025 — steady, sustained growth over roughly seven years — before finally crossing the 550-permit line in April 2026.

Where can I confirm the current permit status for these townships?

Directly with each township office. New Buffalo Township and Chikaming Township both administer their own STR ordinances, and township staff are the most reliable, current source for permit availability, waitlists, or any ordinance changes since this guide was published. Because this report deliberately preserves several open questions rather than resolving them with assumed answers, here is the direct verification checklist worth working through with each township office before any purchase, application, or marketing decision: whether New Buffalo Township's per-parcel cap has reached practical capacity or a waitlist exists; whether Chikaming Township's February 2027 reopening date remains current or has shifted; and whether either township has adjusted its ordinance language, application..

What the Closure Means in Practice?

This guide lays out what's confirmed, what still needs verification directly with each township, and why the two-township split is the single most consequential fact for anyone evaluating this market in 2026. For the full market picture this regulatory split sits inside of — including the confirmed $649–680 New Buffalo Township ADR and the wine-trail-and-rail demand story behind it — see ourNew Buffalo & Harbor Country STR Market Report 2026.

Why Two Neighboring Townships Ended Up With Different Rules?

That's a real gap, because the rules in this corridor genuinely differ from one township line to the next, and getting that distinction wrong is the kind of mistake that costs a buyer or host real money. There are at minimum two separate township ordinances, and a property's regulatory status depends entirely on which side of the township line it falls on — a distinction that isn't always obvious from a listing description or even a casual drive through the area, since the six Chikaming Township hamlets and New Buffalo Township itself blend together visually along the same general stretch of coastline.

What This Means for Marketing an Existing Permit?

Regulatory facts about the New Buffalo and Harbor Country corridor are scattered across a lot of existing coverage — a line here about a permit cap, a mention there about a per-parcel rule — but there hasn't been one place to land for the full, current regulatory picture. Because this report deliberately preserves several open questions rather than resolving them with assumed answers, here is the direct verification checklist worth working through with each township office before any purchase, application, or marketing decision: whether New Buffalo Township's per-parcel cap has reached practical capacity or a waitlist exists; whether Chikaming Township's February 2027 reopening date remains current or has shifted; and.