A large part of the reason I ran for Eureka Springs City Council was to protect residential districts from unwarranted commercial intrusion. For years before running, I heard complaints from clients relating to approvals of Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) for bed and breakfast establishments and other businesses, ghost tours, tour homes, and trails across residents’ back yards, along the City’s unopened streets and alleys, all in our City’s residential districts.
I have been opposed to CUPs in residential districts because of my clients’ opposition, because of parking concerns, and because of the direct correlation between the increase in short term rentals and the greater shortage of affordable housing in the City. A greater shortage of affordable housing in the City makes it harder for citizens employed in our large service industry to continue to live and work among us.
Eureka Springs is much like a small New Orleans: most of the city is in historic districts. In 2016 New Orleans passed new regulations limiting short-term rentals in residential districts and banning them in the French Quarter. San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, San Diego, Seattle and other cities have experienced a shortage in affordable housing resulting from Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway platforms. Three U.S. Senators have asked the Federal Trade Commission to study the resulting housing shortages.
Our Victorian Residential District is a key to Eureka Springs’ charm, drawing tourists to our City. Eureka Springs must remain a living, breathing city, or become a Williamsburg or Disneyland. Our poorer residents need housing in the City – preferably closer to the business district so they can walk to work. Every time a CUP is issued, a long-term rental is removed from the market. It is not an issue of giving a property owner an opportunity for a home-based business; a long-term rental can do that, though perhaps not quite as profitably. It is an issue of a business intruding into a residential neighborhood where there once were neighbors respecting their neighbors’ peace and tranquility.
I am proud to have gotten a six-month moratorium on new B&Bs in residential districts passed in the first City Council meeting of my first elected term, the January 9, 2017 city council meeting. Unfortunately, City Planning was unable to get the support it needed to draft needed changes to the City Code, and that moratorium elapsed. I again got a moratorium on new B&Bs in residential districts passed in the May 29, 2018 City Council meeting, which moratorium was unfortunately rescinded in the next meeting. I also prevented the expansion of CUPs to tour homes in the July 23, 2018 city council meeting.
But when CUPs are discussed in City Council, the only citizens to appear and make public comments are owners of overnight lodging. Not surprisingly, the other members of City Council have been swayed by these public comments and have dismissed the Planning Commission’s efforts to rein in CUPs in residential districts.
Those comments include complaints that the Planning Commission never held public hearings where citizens could be heard. That is not the case. Sadly, no one attends the public hearings.
Well, now is your chance. The Planning Commission is going to hold a public hearing at The Aud on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 5 p.m. on the very important question of whether to discontinue the issuance of CUPs in the R-1 Victorian Residential Zoning District in the City of Eureka Springs. This would not affect existing CUPs, which would continue to be permitted if their owners comply with the conditions of their permits. Additionally, existing CUP permits could be transferred to purchasers of the real estate.
Please do not complain again to me if you do not take this opportunity to speak at this hearing or send a letter expressing your opinion. Also, please gather your friends and neighbors to join you.
Local politics can affect your happiness and wellbeing as much as what may happen on the national level, but you have so much more influence on local politics. All you have to do is talk to your local politicians about your concerns. The Planning Commission’s public hearing on the 28th is a perfect chance. Please grab it!
Kristi Kendrick