EDWARDSVILLE — The Edwardsville City Council unanimously approved a special-use permit Tuesday, allowing a Godfrey couple to open a bed-and-breakfast at 223 N. Kansas Street, two blocks east of North Main Street.
1. Approval is in the name of the applicant only and the special-use permit would not be transferrable;
2. The applicants will use background check software, decibel monitoring software and external security cameras to monitor guests and property activity to limit nuisance potentials;
3. The applicants will provide four off-street parking slots for guests;
4. The applicants will subtract one bedroom from the home, making a total of three bedrooms
Erin Long and Joseph Mays came to the city and presented their plan to clarify the difference between this proposed bed-and-breakfast and ones already in operation in Edwardsville, following each step according to city rules. Other, similar establishments opened without consulting the city first.
“We have several of these [unlicensed BnBs] operating in the city,” City Planner Emily Fultz said. “We’ve sent letters to them, we’ve notified owners that they’ve got to come in for special-use permits and if they don’t, they must cease-and-desist operations; citations may follow if they don’t.”
There is another tangent to the subject: the distinction between traditional bed-and-breakfasts and online platforms, such as Airbnb. Alderman William Krause wanted to draw a distinction between Airbnb and traditional bed-and-breakfast with a sign in the front yard displaying the name of the site and a welcoming atmosphere versus a house without a sign and a never-ending merry-go-round of visitors. He described Airbnb as an electronic platform that allows people to reach a wider audience, comparing it to renting a home using Zillow.
The Long and Mays model embraces the traditional bed-and-breakfast while using technology such as security cameras and decibel detectors, to market their site to potential customers. Guests will stay between two and 90 days at a time. The homeowners would not be onsite during guests’ visits and they anticipate as many as seven people would occupy their house at any given time. Guests would also have access to the home’s two-car garage.
Long said, since they live 20 minutes away, they have an on-call team “of boots on the ground” to assist them — cleaners, mechanics and handy people and if a major problem arose, they would depend on the local police.
Fultz said while bed-and-breakfasts are defined in the city’s zoning code, there is no specific zoning code section that deals with them. Edwardsville is one of the few Metro East communities that lacks legislation covering Airbnbs and the illegally operating bed-and-breakfasts, Krause noted. Aldermen instructed Fultz to create an ordinance to update the definition of a bed-and-breakfast and regulate Airbnbs within city limits before the next administrative and community service (ACS) meeting on June 10.
Kim Goodner, co-owner of 222 Artisan Bakery, a retired Air Force Nurse and a disabled veteran, came to speak for the proposed bed-and-breakfast.
“When I travel alone or with my family, we tend to stay at Airbnbs, guest houses or even hostels.”
Airbnbs are not like most people think, she said. She said she has stayed in places ranging from a few days to a few months.
“I feel safer and more comfortable in those places than I do in hotels,” she said. “And that is how the world is turning and changing, folks,” she noted.
“I know some of you are saying not in my town [but] we have had home-away-from-homes going on for years. The Goddard House was a BnB, as were other places, along Route 66 here in town,” she said. Krause agreed with her on that point.
Alderman SJ Morrison, momentarily advocating for his employer, Madison County Transit (MCT), said he often fields calls from tourists who want to stay near one of MCT’s bike trails. MCT’s Watershed Trail is the nearest one to the North Kansas address.
“Downtown Edwardsville has so much to offer [but] there’s no place to stay, within walking distance,” he said.
Shaunalyn Boad, founder of Amazing Grace at Logan Place, was in attendance to answer any questions about her planned unit development and to ensure the process went smoothly. Fultz gave an overview of the proposal, describing the renovation and addition plans for the former Metcalfe Mansion leading up to a 2024 opening. An adjacent one-story bungalow at #6 Logan Place, will either be razed or moved by September 2023. A 36-slot parking lot will replace the cottage home. The aldermen unanimously passed the plan.
The next Edwardsville City Council meeting is June 15 at 7 p.m. at city hall, 118 Hillsboro Ave.
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Bed-and-breakfast coming to North Main Street - The Edwardsville Intelligencer
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