The people spoke, and the board listened. Denying 3 out of 4 Airbnb exceptions

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — To Airbnb or not to Airbnb, that was the question asked at October’s Tippecanoe County Area Board of Zoning Appeals.

For months, members of the community have been pleading with the board to stop its support of allowing homeowners to turn their properties into full-time, short-term rentals in residential communities.

For months, residents had complained that their pleads were not being heard by the board.

Over the past year, the board saw an increase in homeowners filing requests asking for a special exception on their property that would allow for a transient guest house. This designation allows the owner to rent out the property to guests for a short period and also to operate as a guest house 24 hours per day, seven days per week within a Residential 1 zone.

And for the past year, the board approved almost every exception that appeared on its agenda.

During September’s meeting, the board began to express a hesitance towards Airbnbs, only approving two out of the seven requests that appeared in front of them.

The board echoed the voices of complaints when, at October’s meeting, it decided to deny three out of the four requests for that special exception.

All four of the properties were either located in or near the city of West Lafayette, but the community only spoke out against three of the properties.

Several representatives appeared at the meeting to speak against the special exceptions. Those representatives were, West Lafayette City Councilors David Sanders and Kathy Parker; Yue Yin, a school board member for the West Lafayette Community School Corporation; and Erin Easter, the next mayor of West Lafayette.

“When the city adopted ordinance 3522, which was sponsored by me (David Sanders) and Mayor Dennis, the goal was to ensure that the area board of zoning appeals would listen to the voices of neighbors who wished to preserve the integrity of their neighborhoods,” Sanders said.

“Among their concerns, which I share, are the effects of transient guest houses upon the availability of housing for people who wish to live in West Lafayette full time and upon the stability of the student population served by the West Lafayette School Corporation.”

BZA-2118 Henju LLC

The first request to be heard was from James G. Michels, the owner and operator of an Airbnb in the Shale Crescent Drive neighborhood.

Before requesting an exception, Michels had been renting out his property as an Airbnb for several months by the time of last month’s meeting, when he initially attempted to earn an exception.

However, he did note that he didn’t know Airbnbs were not allowed to exist within R-1 zoning areas and when he found out, he immediately applied for an exception.

“There were a lot of concerns and complaints last meeting about our property, none of which had anything to do with our home. I think the perceived problems that the residents have with our home is. they’re confusing it with the long-term rentals. Those are the homes with the major issues,” Michels said.

“No one even knew we had a short-term rental until our sign was placed or if they looked them up themselves.”

He shared with the board positive reviews that his previous guests had provided about his Airbnb before handing over the floor of discussion to those in opposition to his request.

Amanda McKinney, a concerned neighbor, stepped up and explained to the board that there was a large portion of the neighborhood that was strongly against the idea of an Airbnb operating in their neighborhood, especially since it had been operating without the prior permission of the board.

But when the neighborhood found out about Michels’ business, they came together to alter the neighborhood’s HOA constitution to restrict Airbnbs in the neighborhood moving forward.

“Since last month’s meeting, our neighborhood came together and passed a special vote to amend our community covenants and restrictions,” McKinney said.

“The amendment that we passed strictly prohibits any short-term rental of less than 30 days, which does include the transient guest home definitions and Airbnbs. And it also limits the total number of rentals to 20 percent of homes and requires six-month leases or greater.

“There are zoning ordinances in our county for a reason. Single-family home residential areas are classified as residential for a reason. Voting in favor of requests for exception to the county zoning ordinance is detrimental to the purpose and existence of zoning ordinances and this board.”

After hearing testimony from his neighbors, Michels told the board that if they granted him the exception, he would ask his HOA to give his property an exception to the new amendment and grandfather him in.

The board ultimately voted against providing him an exception, 4 to 3.

BZA-2119 Imran Kaze

The second petitioner to approach the board was Imran Kaze, who owns property in the Ravinia Road neighborhood.

Kaze explained to the board that he was hoping to receive an exception for his property and turn it into an Airbnb as a way to have more control over the property.

He explained that the property was his childhood home and that he wanted to keep it in his family, even though he did not live in it and his mother did not live in it anymore. He lived in a different property in West Lafayette and his mother now lives in Arizona.

He told the board that the house needed repairs after renting it out to students, and that renovations were difficult to maintain on a long-term rental basis.

Renting it out as a short-term rental would give him the flexibility to repair the house, have a flow of cash to reinvest in the place, and the peace of mind that the house's condition will stay intact.

Although many in the audience could understand Kaze’s desire to keep his childhood home in nice condition, they didn’t believe that was enough of a justified reason to take away the opportunity for a new family to either rent or buy the property from Kaze.

Many of the concerns discussed at last month’s meeting were echoed in October by those in opposition.

Since this property would be operating as an Airbnb in single-family, Residential 1 zoning areas, community members were concerned that it could have a negative long-term effect on the growth of the area and the West Lafayette school district.

Many highlighted the statewide recognition of the West Lafayette school district and how because of that academic success, houses in these neighborhoods are incredibly desirable to live in.

They were also worried that if the Airbnb exception kept getting approved, it might affect the property values of the neighborhood and raise the cost of rent in the area.

“(West Lafayette) city staff has been hard at work to address housing in our community for the past three years. Certainly, with our bumper crop of students and also the continued growth of the university, we recognize that there are housing challenges within our community that are very dire,” Easter said to the board.

“The rental housing report put out by the area planning commission annually has put that we are at a 1 percent vacancy rate within our community. I would argue while that is a rental vacancy, that would probably translate pretty appropriately to the houses for sale within our communities as well.

“So, we have a limited amount of space, and we take that very seriously.”

After hearing from both Kaze and the community, the board voted against providing him an exception, also 4 to 3.

BZA-2129 Cedric and Zandra D’Hue

The third and final request that was denied by the board was presented by Cedric D’Hue, the owner of the property within the U-Farm neighborhood and operator of a couple of Airbnbs within the community.

D’Hue explained to the board that he wished to turn this property into an Airbnb, and he would be installing cameras and noise gauge to ensure those who rent the property stay within the rules of the property.

However, later on in the hearing, it was determined that D’Hue initially purchased the property with the hopes that his mother-in-law would move into the home to live near D’Hue and his family. However, according to D’Hue, his mother-in-law didn’t like the property and refused to move there.

He wanted to turn it into an Airbnb to earn some revenue from the property while allowing his mother-in-law to visit the property and hopefully, over time, she would come to like the property and move in.

He also mentioned to the board how the city of West Lafayette had several vacant units and how those in opposition were not concerned by that.

Although a recent housing study conducted by the Greater Lafayette Commerce did highlight that there were around 1,500 vacant housing units in the county, the study did not specify whether those vacancies were apartments or houses.

It was also this point that many in the neighborhood wanted to address.

The idea of turning a home in the U-Farm neighborhood into an Airbnb did not sit right with many in attendance. They explained how desirable the neighborhood was to live in due to its proximity to the West Lafayette Elementary and parks.

Many shared how they had to wait years to purchase a home within the neighborhood and how by turning it into an Airbnb, rather than selling it or renting it out as a long-term rental, D’Hue would be depriving people who want to live in their neighborhood the opportunity to do so.

Many also shared their concerns regarding the safety of the area by allowing an Airbnb into the neighborhood. As of now, no Airbnbs are operating within the neighborhood.

After hearing from both D’Hue and the community members who spoke, the board voted against providing him an exception, this time 5-2.

Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.comand follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: The people spoke, and the board listened by denying Airbnb exceptions