Zoning change could allow more B&Bs in Geneva

Eleven more properties could be eligible to convert to bed-and-breakfast inns under a zoning change the Geneva city council is considering.

Meeting as a committee of the whole this week, aldermen favored removing a restriction on B&Bs that said driveways to the property could only be off arterial streets. The inns would still have to be located along Routes 38, 25 or 31, within 500 feet of a business district.

They also favored increasing the number of days a person could stay at such an inn from the present three days to a new maximum of eight days.

And they were all right with increasing the number of guest rooms from four to five.

First Ward Alderman Charles Brown, in whose ward many of the eligible properties lie, was the first to question the restrictions on the number of rooms and the length of stay. According to a city staff memo, when B&Bs were approved in 1995, the council did not want them to become boardinghouses, and so limited the stays.

And the access restriction was intended to keep them out of the center of residential neighborhoods, according to city planner David DeGroot.

The other 1st Ward alderman, Sam Hill, also favored the changes. “I think the marketplace will determine how many people really want to stay in B&Bs or hotels or anything like that,” he said.

Fifth Ward Alderman Craig Maladra voted against the measure. “When a property owner takes a risk in the business district, it is their risk; but in a residential area, that risk is borne by all the neighbors as well,” he said. “If you buy a house in a residential area you expect it to be a residential area, with no deliveries or guests coming and going.”

The council will take a binding vote on the matter Monday.