Becky Gillette – Some of the more contentious recent public meetings in a town known for notorious contentious meetings have been regarding Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) to allow bed and breakfast (B&B) establishments in homes located in areas zoned residential. Most recently Eureka Springs Planning Commission Chair Steve Beacham resigned after city council overturned two votes by Planning to deny a CUP for a B&B at a house on Elk Street.
Beacham said he resigned because the city went against its own code in approving the Elk Street B&B. Code specifies that there can’t be a CUP issued if there is another similar establishment within 200 feet. The applicant on Elk St. had a grandfathered B&B nearby.
“I would still be on the commission had they not had a unanimous vote against the commission’s determination which followed city code,” Beacham said. “The council called it a fiasco. They were a big part of the fiasco.”
Beacham said that ruling opened up B&Bs to operating anywhere in residential areas. “They have basically done away with the 200-foot rule,” he said. “I think with no moratorium legally, you could challenge the 200-foot rule in any instance.”
Council instituted a six-month moratorium on new CUPs for B&Bs, and now alderman James DeVito is calling for a cap on the number of B&Bs in town. Currently there are 17 B&Bs in R-1 residential areas and another 10 grandfathered B&Bs in R-1 areas.
Beacham said he thinks a cap on B&Bs would be a good way to slow down commercial intrusion into neighborhoods.
In addition to the permit on Elk Street, there was also a very heated discussion about a B&B recently at a meeting where attorney Tim Parker was visibly angry while representing out-of-own property owners for 38 Prospect about whether the property still qualified to be a B&B since it has been under renovation for some time.
“The rules are stupid as hell… and you’re acting stupid,” Parker was quoted as saying.
DeVito said the cap on CUPs would remove a lot of bad feelings generated when CUPs become controversial.
“It is too contentious and we don’t need to put ourselves through this,” DeVito said. “If we were to cap at the level at which we have now, we don’t have to worry about parking and other issues. It simplifies the matter. It takes all the drama out of it. It takes away all the heated arguments. People who volunteer on Planning shouldn’t be treated in such a manner. Continue doing what we are doing doesn’t benefit anyone and puts the commissioners through the wringer. And there is no reason for that.”
DeVito said creating commercial zones in residential districts dilutes property values. “The mandate of the Planning Commission and city council is to protect the citizens of Eureka Springs. Protecting residential neighborhoods is imperative to the welfare of community. Allowing commercial interests into residential districts goes against having a sound neighborhood. If we lose the residential integrity of Eureka Springs, it may risk one of many draws we have because we are a living, breathing town with people who live and work here.”
DeVito also said it is important to preserve affordable housing for locals, especially given the number of homes being sold as second homes to out-of-town purchasers, and conversion of properties for B&Bs makes fewer homes available for families to locate here.
Pat Lujan, acting chair of Planning, said commissioners hadn’t had discussion on putting a cap on the number of B&Bs, as they are focused on cleaning up language in city code. There has been controversy about the word “similar,” in that no new B&Bs are allowed within 200 feet of similar establishments. The word similar may be taken out as far as the 200-foot rule.
“It is really a big mess,” Lujan said. “Variances contradict themselves. That is what we are trying to clean up. That is why in the past we asked for a moratorium because knew it was going to explode. I’m glad they did the moratorium because it gives us time to make sure the wording is done properly and we can protect residential areas and make sure there is affordable housing here in town.”
Other language commissioners want to clean up is defining “breakfast,” as some B&Bs are only providing oatmeal and cinnamon rolls as breakfast.
“To us, if it is not serving breakfast, it is nightly lodging,” Lujan said. “But I’m not sure how we can legally define what is required to serve a meal.”
Lujan said while residential areas need to be preserved, some older Victorian homes couldn’t be restored without some supporting income.
“We don’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we have some of these beautiful, old Victorian homes go to ruin because no one can afford to own one and restore it,” he said. “But if you look at the whole picture and what is available now, there are not that many of those. We do definitely have more B&Bs than other places. At same time, look at what is happening today. The younger generation coming into Eureka Springs wants privacy. They are more likely to rent a whole house versus a room in the house where they don’t have the privacy.”
Planning commissioner Melissa Greene said she would hate to lose the ability to grant CUPs.
“But I’m not against more regulations and more of a thoughtful process of granting them,” she said. “We have had a batch of applications lately, but often times it is years between new applications. I think since I’ve been on Planning, two to three years went by with no applications at all. I don’t think we are out of balance with B&Bs because we are losing more units as opposed to units we are approving. What’s happened in the past few years is we lost a lot of B&Bs that were five units. Let’s say we lost fifteen units and we only added eight. In whole scheme of things, we are actually losing units.”
Greene agreed that the day of the traditional B&B is changing. People want more privacy. And she doesn’t see that most of the properties that have applied for CUPs would provide affordable housing for locals as an alternative.
“We are past low-income cost with these homes,” she said. “The homes are too expensive.”