Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
A bed-and-breakfast business model gaining popularity across the country but new to the city of Shawano was recommended for approval by the plan commission Wednesday, but it turns out the recommendation will have to go back for reconsideration next month.
Assistant City Administrator Eddie Sheppard said a new public hearing will have to be held on a request for a conditional use permit to allow an Airbnb at a residence at 420 River Heights.
Airbnb is an online marketplace that enables people to list, fin, and then rent vacation space for a processing fee. The privately owned and operated company was founded in August 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
The Airbnb marketplace connects hosts and travelers via its website.
Though referred to as a bed-and-breakfast, there’s actually no breakfast involved. Many of the bookings involve out-of-towners needing a place to spend the night.
James and Deborah Lonick had been running an Airbnb at their home on River Heights for several months before learning the operation required a conditional use permit.
Several of the Lonicks’ neighbors, however, told the commission they were opposed to a business operation in their residential district.
A chief concern was not so much with the Lonicks, but a conditional use permit attached to the property that could be passed down to new owners in the future.
Sheppard said Thursday he gave the plan commission incorrect information when he said commissioners could attach a condition to the permit that would restrict it to the Lonicks.
He said he since learned that such a condition would be in conflict with the city’s ordinance and would not be allowed.
There was no legal counsel at Wednesday’s meeting to address that question.
Sheppard said he couldn’t in good conscience pass the commission’s recommendation on to the Common Council for approval due to the misunderstanding.
Instead, the commission will hold a new public hearing on Oct. 5.
The Lonicks are proposing to make available a small studio apartment overlooking the river, with a maximum occupancy of three people, based on Airbnb guidelines.
Deborah Lonick said she and her husband, who have traveled and stayed in Airbnb’s elsewhere, decided to make their home available after their three children, now adults, moved out.
She said experiences at those accommodations had been wonderful and that the Shawano location would be unique.
“Shawano is a friendly place in the world where the world is a little bit hostile, ” she said. “Ours is a sanctuary, a quiet place.”
She added that parties, pets and children are not allowed.
James Lonick said the Airbnb would draw people who would otherwise not come to Shawano.
“These are people who would not come to Shawano unless it was Airbnb network,” he said. “They’re not going to stay in one of the hotels in town. This is a different kind of person. They’re quiet, nice people.”
Lonick noted that guests are background-checked by Airbnb, just as the Lonicks were to be able to offer the space.
The Lonicks offered their home as an Airbnb site in June and July before being informed by the city that a conditional use permit was required.
They provided the commission with signatures from neighbors who were unopposed to the idea.
However, one of their neighbors, Sam Santacroce, said he was concerned that a business operation in the residential neighborhood could decrease the value of his property.
“I don’t think this is the place for just the third bed-and-breakfast in Shawano,” he said.
The city has issued special exceptions for two other traditional bed-and-breakfast operations, though only one — located at Franklin and Green Bay streets — followed through by operating one.
Several bed-and-breakfasts are in operation outside the city limits in the town of Wescott.
Fred Crook, another neighbor, had good words for the Lonicks, but reservations about the Airbnb.
“I consider the Lonicks an above average neighbor, an above average property,” he said. “I would be happy to let them have the permit. I would have no objection at all because I know they would handle that great, but this passing (the conditional use permit) on to the next person concerns me because we have no idea how that person is going to handle it.”
Plan commission member Robyn Shingler said she has stayed at Airbnb properties and has always had a good experience.
“This is new to Shawano, but it’s certainly not unusual at all to have an Airbnb property today, ” she said. “The fact that we’re taking it up and this is our first experience is what I guess is unusual.”
She said even if the commission denied the request, others would eventually come along.
Shingler said, however, that the potential of transferring the conditional use to new property owners was a concern.
Commission member Chad Kary said the Airbnb represented a new business model that the city should embrace.
“This is the new economy,” he said. “People travel in this way now. We have an opportunity to say we’re friendly to this kind of business.”
Kary said he realized some people don’t like having things in their backyard, but, he said, “I don’t see this as one of those negatives that we necessarily need to keep out of our backyard.”
The recommendation for approval passed on a 6-2 vote, with Tim Schultz and Dick Felts voting against. Both had raised concern about setting a precedent for business operations in residential districts.