Especially in the current difficult housing market, it is not surprising to learn that some property owners are doing some initial thinking about turning their houses into Bed & Breakfasts.
Evanston City Code § 8-22-1 defines a Bed and Breakfast Establishment as "an owner-occupied, single-family or two-family dwelling providing accommodations for a charge to the public with no more than five (5) guest rooms for rent, in operation more than ten (10) nights in a twelve (12) month period. ... Only the breakfast meal may be provided to registered guests. ... The service of food to the public for a charge is otherwise prohibited. ... Bed and breakfast establishments shall not include motels, hotels, boarding houses, or food service establishments." In City Code §202, "Owner Occupied" is defined to mean, "A dwelling unit occupied by an owner of the building and or unit titleholder of the property including 'those who have any undivided, joint, or survivorship interest by specific devise or by any recorded document whether that interest is an entire ownership interest or less than an entire ownership interest'".
Bed and Breakfast Establishments are Special Uses in Residential District R-1.
According to City Code 6-3-5-1, "Special uses are those uses that, because of their potential adverse impact upon the immediate neighborhood and the City, as a whole, require a greater degree of scrutiny and review of site characteristics and impacts to determine their suitability in a given location...."
Application for a Special Use is made to the City's Zoning Administrator. Once complete, the Zoning Administrator attaches the application to a report from by Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee about the proposed Special Use and sends both to the Zoning Board Appeals (ZBA) for a hearing that is held after appropriate public notification. The decision of the ZBA is forwarded to the City Council which may approve the Special Use with or without conditions, or deny it.
City Code 6-3-5-15 (C) states generally that, "a Special Use shall be deemed to relate to, and be for the benefit of, the use and lot in question, rather than the owner or operator of such use or lot." This is a unique and permanent feature of a Special Use. If an owner operates a property as a Special Use and then sells the property, the property retains its Special Use status, even if the next owner does not keep promises made earlier, say about appearance or signage, or operates the property adversely.
"Owner-occupied" is also potentially tricky. The City Council may someday be asked to consider if shareholders or managers of a Limited Liability Corporation are considered "owners occupying" if they domiciled themselves temporarily in a Bed & Breakfast. This doesn't appear to fit the definition of "Owner Occupied," but a situation might develop in which the Council would find otherwise. If you have an opinion about this, let your Alderman know. This question may come before the City Council quicker than you think.
