City of Highland Park Plan and Design Commission met Sept. 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
I. CALL TO ORDER
At 7:30 PM Chair Reinstein called the meeting to order and asked Director Fontane to call the roll.
II. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Glazer, Hainsfurther, Kutscheid, Lidawer, Moore, Reinstein
Members Absent: Hecht
Director Fontane took the roll and declared a quorum present.
Staff Present: Fontane, Cross
Student Rep.: None
Corporation Counsel: Monteleone, Shuster
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
September 1, 2020 Regular Meeting
Chair Reinstein entertained a motion to approve the minutes of the September 1, 2020 meeting with corrections. Commissioner Lidawer so motioned, seconded by Commissioner Kutscheid.
Director Fontane called the roll:
Ayes: Moore, Lidawer, Kutscheid, Glazer, Hainsfurther, Reinstein
Nays: None
Motion passed 6-0.
IV. SCHEDULED BUSINESS
1. Informal discussion (pre-application) regarding amendments to Chapter 150 of the Zoning Code relating to short term rentals.
Planner Cross made a presentation for the above item including background, existing short term rental (STR) regulations, Village of Lake Bluff regulations, proposed code amendments and recommendation.
Commissioner Glazer stated he liked what staff had done to make it fit Highland Park. He asked about the proposed change for Lake Bluff’s regulation down to eight people in the house. They are anticipating two families of four and it would not be uncommon for two families of five to get together and someone might bring an extra friend. If they are going to invest the money in a rental eight is not more logical than ten. Even with an eight person limit people will bring ten. He did not understand the logic to limiting it to eight. He thought the approach regarding parking makes sense. He looked forward to this item coming back.
Commissioner Lidawer asked for clarification regarding whether the maximum of 45 days is the number of rentals they can have in a year.
Planner Cross stated yes.
Commissioner Lidawer liked the idea of a single family and the 180-day residence. She asked if they were proposing a limit on the number of properties that a resident can rent at any one time.
Planner Cross stated they are not looking at this right now.
Commissioner Lidawer stated she did not want Highland Park to go down that road and thought it was a good distinction. She asked if there was a minimum number of days so it is not a one-day event.
Planner Cross stated the Highland Park is proposing a minimum two-day rental period, similar to Lake Bluff’s provisions.
Commissioner Lidawer agreed with the eight to ten and wanted to be accommodating to families. She thought the two-day minimum is important. Regarding Air B&B and VRBO, she thought they had minimums of two to three nights. Part of this is to insure adequate cleaning, move-in/move-out conditions and to protect both sides. This also protects against transients.
Vice Chair Hainsfurther stated he had concern about enforcing this. The two-day minimum sounds great, but how do they enforce it. How do they enforce limiting the number of houses being rented at a given time because they do not report that back to the City. He wanted to know about the enforcement mechanism for all of this and it would be hard to enforce unless there is a problem. When there is a problem that is when they will hear about it and then it is too late.
Mr. Shuster stated there are different aspects to enforcement and one of the ways that is effective is the website advertising short term rentals will post on the website there is a two-day minimum. Staff can look at the website for a one-night party. The other primary mechanism is compliance. When the neighbors in the community see something not in compliance with the code they often report it. In Lake Bluff they had neighbors saying they did not like the fact that the house across the street was being used in this manner. That is the framework when something becomes an issue and the City can deal with it.
Director Fontane stated their methods of enforcement are varied and one of the key methods they will use in this situation is education and outreach. When they implemented the rental registration program they did an all property owners mailing and they did direct mailings every year for already registered landlords pertaining to rental registration and fire/life safety matters. That is a way they gained compliance through education and outreach and informing people what the new regulation is, registration required and the rules associated. They also provided fair notice of that. It is important to outreach otherwise it will take a while for people to find about it. The police have the ability to look at this with Community Development and see if there are violations. This proposal has a step fine associated with it.
Vice Chair Hainsfurther stated his daughter lives in the Chicago and her management company for her building, which was a rental, wound up doing short term rentals in her building and someone would rent it and 150 people would show up. At 3:00 AM they would have a big party going on. He thought they could enforce it because it is obvious, but he did not know how they could prevent it. He understood the families coming in. But it is someone who says they are going to have a party and rent this house for the party and everyone shows up and bad things happen. He thought that was what happened to generate this ordinance. He was curious why the City decided they wanted this. He would prefer not to have them. He asked for feedback from Council as to whether they discussed banning them.
Director Fontane stated Council did discuss this at the COTW and they thought it was a reasonable use of property if properly done. It is a question of property rights for the owners in the community. There was the belief it made sense to allow people to do this in a reasonable manner. There are ways to say this is prohibited and Council has opted not to go with that approach but instead having strict penalties. This is where Council stands on this and the proposal before the Commission. They thought that Lake Bluff had struck an appropriate balance in their estimation. They wanted the Commission’s feedback before the public hearing.
Vice Chair Hains further asked how they got here.
Director Fontane stated they will make sure it is in the memo before the next hearing. This is not first time this has been spoken about and in 2018 they amended the regulations regarding rental registration to make sure short term rentals were included.
The purpose of that is there is a responsible party they can contact should there be issues. His understanding was that the property owner was responsive and came out at 3:00 AM. Through this ordinance they would have a greater ability to fine perpetrators. This allows people who do it the right way to do this in a reasonable manner. In all cases not allowing a single-family home to be primarily used for these purposes you have to be someone who lives in the home. They are not going to have empty houses just rented out. Enforcement can be challenging and they are looking into ways to have this monitored. These are violations and would face steep penalties.
Commissioner Glazer asked if it would be $5,000.00.
Director Fontane stated $5,000.00 is the penalty stated in the code. In terms of the codes they have penalties ranging from $50.00 to as high as a couple of thousand per day. You can have per code violations regarding zoning matters. This would be the highest single fine they have.
Director Fontane stated it goes to an administrative hearing officer and the judge would consider the case. If there is a finding of liability he would assess the fine accordingly. Whether it is for a single day or multiple days would be at the discretion of the hearing officer.
Mr. Shuster stated the Lake Bluff language states “shall be fined not more than $5,000.00.” There would be the ability to fine for other code violations.
Vice Chair Hainsfurther asked if there was a legal reason why is it up to $5,000.00 and not just fixed.
Mr. Shuster stated the language of “up to” is meant to give some discretion to the City and police.
Director Fontane stated it is common in all their codes and some fines start at $50.00 and go up to $2,000.00 and it depends on the type of infraction. The property maintenance code goes to $2,000.00. Depending on the type the judge decides. Staff makes recommendations for fines as the prosecutor of a case and they have made recommendations of minimum fines all the way up to the maximum.
Commissioner Kutscheid stated he would like to see a distance between short term rentals so houses are not clustered together having a group party.
Planner Cross stated this was similar to the recent discussion about cannabis dispensaries.
Mr. Shuster stated he had seen this and did not know of any in Chicagoland. This is a regulation that has appeared in various communities and they have the authority to do it.
Commissioner Kutscheid asked about maintenance being handled by the owner rather than the renter such as garbage removal. He would like to see the noise ordinance referenced in the overall ordinance. He asked if there was a way to reference it as part of the code within this section. He asked about the higher level of code compliance for fire suppression and they need to follow the higher levels required per stay.
Director Fontane stated it still functions as a single-family home. He asked if it should be another use category.
Commissioner Kutscheid stated if you have two families there short term it is a different use.
Director Fontane stated they are proposing it is as an accessory to single-family use.
Mr. Shuster stated they would have the authority to make short-term rentals comply. He would caution to study it carefully because they could also inadvertently cause it to not be practical for a lot of homes to operate a short-term rental. In a hotel you would have sprinkler and fire alarm regulations. If you impose this on a home the cost of the auto sprinkler would be cost prohibitive.
Director Fontane stated sprinkler and fire alarm installations could be $8,000.00 to $10,000.00. He did not think it was in the spirit in Council’s direction to include that kind of cost burden. He thought with the limitations on the number of people they would be alright.
Commissioner Kutscheid stated if someone had a home not up to standards there could be a concern.
Director Fontane stated the rental registration program provides information to landlords about the need for smoke alarms and fire detectors. For longer term rentals they mail the tenants the same information they give the landlords.
Mr. Schuster stated as an example, on page 6 of the Lake Bluff ordinance they have an inspection they do so when someone registers the Village and does a life/safety inspection. They could mandate there be some sort of inspection.
Vice Chair Hainsfurther asked about proof of insurance or a bond. Mr. Schuster stated they could require that.
Vice Chair Hainsfurther stated he would like to see this. Commissioner Lidawer agreed.
Director Fontane stated it is in the Lake Bluff ordinance and that is what they could use.
Mr. Schuster stated with the annual registration they have to provide proof of insurance that covers short term rental use in the amount of $1,000,000.00 per occurrence and a minimum of $2,000,000.00 aggregate. They also go on to say the requirement could not be met through coverage provided by the rental platform.
Commissioner Kutscheid asked if they had minimal rental requirements for regular term.
Director Fontane stated they do not. They happen as part of the leasing arrangement where the person leasing the home will be required by the landlord to carry rental insurance. He did not think these types of provisions would be practical to put on the renters. They will be talking to Council about these and there was not desire to create large barriers to do this.
Commissioner Kutscheid asked if the system of notifying neighbors was to put notice in City Hall. He wanted to see a system of notifying neighbors of short term rentals included in the amendments.
Commissioner Moore asked for clarification on page 16 in the packet where it says under the maximum number of short term rentals Lake Bluff says there is no more than six short term and the document says “Highland Park planning staff recommends increasing to 30 to make this limitation proportional to the number of units in Highland Park.” She thought Planner Cross stated they are not doing that.
Director Fontane stated that was the modification on the total number allowed in the City. They do seek feedback on whether or not there should be a limitation and they heard what was said in terms of that feedback. Council indicated they would like the Commission to implement Lake Bluff’s ordinance and modify it for what makes sense for Highland Park. Staff used the population differential to increase the number.
Planner Cross referred to the Maximum Number of Short Term Rentals in the City. Lake Bluff is limiting it to six and they are a smaller community. Staff has recommended a limit around the whole city. This does go back to registration and enforcement and something they will address.
Director Fontane stated they misspoke.
Commissioner Moore stated she just wanted to clarify the limit of 30.
Director Fontane stated right now there is no limit technically. This proposal would impose a limit of 30 based on the population difference adjustment between Highland Park and Lake Bluff.
Chair Reinstein stated this type of regulation is about playing defense. If a fraternity has been kicked off campus and they don’t have a house and they are looking for two nights at Ravinia. That is what this is about. He asked if Lake Bluff’s regulations are legal and he would not look to soften any of it.
Director Fontane stated Lake Bluff has not had much use of its ordinance and they had one or two. They did extend the ordinance for another duration and this was a test.
Mr. Schuster stated in the Lake Bluff debate a lot of the regulations were not based on fear of parties. It was also about what type of neighborhoods they wanted, shared driveways, parking and a lot of it was not meant toward a catastrophic situation. There were people in the community who wanted to do it and some families do not like staying in hotels.
Commissioner Glazer stated there is an up side and it is a great way for families not familiar with Highland Park to sample the community on a short term basis. They may decide they want to stay or refer others. It is an entryway to City and they should not be afraid of this. Council has asked them to help set this up. It is not a matter of if, but how they should do it. The idea they should impose high bond requirements or otherwise pull back on the welcoming feel of the community when there has not been a history of trouble is not something they should fear. This is a chance to welcome visitors and perhaps new residents. He was glad they are doing this.
Vice Chair Hainsfurther stated he understood and thought reasonable regulation was necessary. He did not think asking for insurance was draconian. He was looking at it from the standpoint of what if this wound up next door to me. He was not worried about a family, but about a fraternity that was got kicked out and wanted to go to a concert in Ravinia and party all night and disturb the neighbors. He wanted to have reasonable regulations.
Commissioner Lidawer stated it is a question of how and agreed with Vice Chair Hainsfurther regarding reasonable regulation. They have been charged with this and if they if can help people who live in Highland Park to make some income and welcome new families it is up to them to find a way to help. She did not want to become a HOA that is too restrictive that no one wants to be here.
Planner Cross thanked the Commission for their feedback.
V. OTHER BUSINESS
1. Administrative Design Review Approvals - None
2. Next Regular Meeting – October 6, 2020
Planner Cross stated there are two design review items, the findings for adult use cannabis and the short term rental regulations.
Planner Cross mentioned the meeting dates for 2021 and wanted to bring the resolution to the meeting.
Director Fontane stated it would be included in the packet.
3. Case Briefing - None
VI. BUSINESS FROM THE PUBLIC
None
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Reinstein entertained a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Kutscheid so motioned, seconded by Commissioner Lidawer.
Director Fontane called the roll:
Ayes: Moore, Lidawer, Kutscheid, Glazer, Hainsfurther, Reinstein
Nays: None
Motion passed 6-0.
The Plan and Design Commission adjourned at 8:25 PM.
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