Elk Rapids Planning Commission to discuss hotel zoning

Mardi Link, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
Updated ·2 min read

Jul. 22—ELK RAPIDS — Planning commissioners Tuesday are again scheduled to discuss changing or amending zoning regulations for inns, hotels and motels.

Currently, inns with 20 rooms or fewer can be permitted in B2 —the central downtown business district —with hotels and motels zoned for the commercial business district and required to have at least one private parking space per room.

In two previous regular meetings, planning commissioners have discussed eliminating or increasing the downtown room number restriction and adding a parking requirement.

"B2 does not have any parking requirements," Sara Kopriva, of the Village's planning and zoning administrator, told planning commissioners in June.

Some commissioners said they favored a market-driven approach, and using private and public parking combined to meet the needs of overnight visitors staying downtown, while others said this was a business' responsibility.

"The B2-zoned areas I think you have to have, provide, private parking for the guests staying at your facility," Planning Commission Vice-Chair Blaine Campbell said during the June meeting. "Not spilling into public parking — that really hamstrings the Village into using that public parking."

Later in the meeting, Barb Mullaly, who represents the Village Council on the planning commission, said no other business downtown is required to provide parking.

"No other coffee shop, no other restaurant, no nothing . . . I like the idea of going with .5," Mullaly said, meaning a half parking space per overnight room downtown. "There's enough place, right now, to be able to do that."

The possibility of allowing overnight parking on Cedar or River streets, using valet parking and the parking needs of a downtown inn's employees were also previously discussed.

The Dexter Hotel, completed earlier this year in the B2 district, is currently the Village's only downtown hotel — put "Elk Rapids, MI" in a travel site search, and results will show short-term rentals, the Lakeshore Inn on U.S. 31 and the Grand Traverse Resort.

The Dexter Hotel, owned by Elk Lake Inn, LLC, has 20 rooms and a bar, The Rider's Club, which is open to the public Wednesday through weekends and has a tavern license to sell beer, wine and seltzer.

In Michigan, a hotel must have at least 25 rooms to apply for a B-hotel liquor license, allowing for the sale of spirits and mixed drinks, and some residents during public comment have expressed concern its this requirement that sparked recent efforts at zoning changes.

The planning commission's next regular meeting is tonight in person in the Government Center, 315 Bridge Street, or remote via Zoom, with instructions on the agenda, and begins at 7 p.m.