Emails uncovered during a lawsuit may bolster the argument of property owners who are fighting a township’s ban on short-term rentals.

Officials of Ottawa County’s Park Township voted in late 2022 to enforce a long-dormant ban on short-term rentals. Property owners sued the township, saying the 1974 ban had never been enforced, as CapCon has previously reported.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs obtained through the discovery process a July 2018 email that had been sent to Ed DeVries, the township’s zoning administrator. It asked DeVries which areas of the township had a zoning category that allowed for “Vacation Homes/rental on a weekly basis.”

DeVries replied, “We do not currently regulate rentals, either long term or short term.”

The township website has an FAQ section that asks if any short-term rentals are allowed under a grandfather provision. “In the case of short-term rentals, this was never a permitted use in Park Township, so grandfathering isn’t applicable,” it reads.

But the township allowed short-term rentals for years, said Kyle Konwinski, an attorney for Park Township Neighbors, the nonprofit formed to oppose the ban.

Konwinski said the township is trying to ban short-term rentals by saying they were never legal under the zoning ordinance. “The township’s position is contrary to the plain terms of its own zoning ordinance, as demonstrated by the township’s 50 years of allowing short-term rentals in the township,” Konwinski said in a statement.

A Dec. 21, 2021, email from a Park Township code enforcement employee reads in part:

“The issues with the rentals, I will bring up to Howard Fink, the Township Manager. There (are) currently no ordinances on short term rentals in Park Township as the board has not addressed this issue.”

Three months later, a township press release said: “Short Term rentals are currently illegal in Park Township, and have been since the Zoning Ordinance was adopted on February 7, 1974.”

The township does not comment on current litigation.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation claimed in a June 18 social media post that eight out of 10 Americans want an electric vehicle.

“Who wants an EV? Actually 81% of Americans,” reads a post from the state agency in charge of handing out corporate subsidies. It continues, “81% of Americans say they would consider buying one, with benefits like cleaner air, lower carbon footprints, and quieter roads.”

Survey respondents were asked: “What would make you consider buying an electric vehicle?” They could pick from a list: “Lower prices,” “More access to charging stations,” “Improvements to their range,” “Improvements in maintenance costs,” “Tax rebates when buying or leasing,” “Other,” or “I would never consider buying an electric vehicle.”

Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained the survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, from the state through an open records request. 

About 19% of respondents picked the last option: “I would never consider buying an electric vehicle.” 

Wakefield Research subtracted those 19% out of 100%, concluding that 81% “WOULD CONSIDER BUYING AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE (NET).”

In other words, if EVs were cheaper, if their driving range increased, if there were more charging stations, and if maintenance were cheaper, then 81% of Americans would consider buying an EV.

Danielle Emerson, the state agency’s public relations manager, told CapCon the survey included 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults ages 18 and older, with an oversample of 250 Michigan respondents.

“One of the survey questions asked respondents ‘What would make you consider buying an electric vehicle?’ 81% of respondents listed factors that would allow them to consider buying an EV, while 19% said they would never consider buying an EV,” Emerson wrote in an email. “The MEDC is committed to working with our partners in state and local government to secure investments from businesses up and down the supply chain such that more people can consider EV ownership in the future.”

Other recent polls have found different results.

A 2023 Pew Research poll found that 38% of respondents “are very/somewhat likely to seriously consider an electric vehicle the next time they purchase a vehicle.”

 A March Gallup poll found that of Americans surveyed, “9% are seriously considering buying,” 35% “might consider [a purchase] in [the] future,” and 48% “would not” buy an EV.

The MEDC and Gallup surveys were taken in March 2024, and both polled around 1,000 people. The MEDC survey asked 250 Michiganders and 750 Americans from other states. While the MEDC survey found that 19% of Americans would never consider buying an EV, Gallup found that almost half of people polled — 48% — would not buy an electric vehicle in the future. The latter number was up from 41%, recorded in 2023.

A July McKinsey report found that 46% of EV-owning respondents said they were likely to select a gas-powered vehicle for their next purchase.