CAPE CHARLES, Va. — The Cape Charles Town Council, during a work session on June 13, directed town staff to develop measures to limit the number of occupants in rental homes. The council reached a consensus that a maximum of two people per bedroom and no more than 10 people over the age of five per property would be appropriate.
The proposed occupancy limits aim to address concerns from residents about overcrowding and the impact on local resources. “You’re not going to change it. It’s too late,” said Vice Mayor Steve Bennett.
Council rejected Councilman Follmer’s call to use taxpayer funds to hire another consulting firm to do their job for them.
In addition to the occupancy limits, the town council also discussed the necessity of implementing parking regulations to manage the increased number of vehicles associated with rental properties. Potential regulations could include designated parking areas and limits on the number of vehicles per rental home. Town staff were instructed to research and propose specific guidelines for future consideration.
Opinion: The Mirror sees both sides of the argument, and both sides have valid points, but that ship has sailed. STRs are an integral part of the town’s fabric, for better or worse. They are not going anywhere. Most of the Town Council should be commended for handling a no-win scenario the best they could. They found a middle-ground solution without wasting taxpayer funds on a consulting firm. There has been some low-bandwidth commentary about there not being an ordinance allowing for STRs. The town could create an ordinance to limit or ban them, however, without any form of ordinance in place it reverts to a bundle of sticks.
CCM: Council rejected Councilman Follmer’s call to use taxpayer funds to hire another consulting firm to do their job for them.
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Good for him!
This country is turning into a “consultantocracy,” where unelected “consultants” accountable to exactly no one are running our towns for the benefit of their own pockets, which is a great deal for them.
CAPE CHARLES, Va. — The Cape Charles Town Council, during a work session on June 13, directed town staff to develop measures to limit the number of occupants in rental homes. The council reached a consensus that a maximum of two people per bedroom and no more than 10 people over the age of five per property would be appropriate.
APPROPRIATE ????? You got to be kidding…!!!!
PRESENT: All the Justices
MELINDA NORTON, ET AL.
v. Record No. 201028
OPINION BY JUSTICE CLEO E. POWELL
MAY 27, 2021
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF FAIRFAX COUNTY
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY
Michael F. Devine, Judge
Melinda Norton, Cecilia Gonzalez, Amjad Arnous, John A. McEwan, Laura Quirk Niswander, Nagla Abdelhalim, Robert Ross, Helen Ross, Sanjeev Anand, Anju Anand, Melinda Galey and Travis Galey (collectively the “Hosts”) appeal the decision of the Circuit Court of Fairfax County dismissing their challenges to certain amendments to the Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance and the imposition of a Transient Occupancy Tax.
I. BACKGROUND
The Hosts own or possess homes within Fairfax County.
Prior to March 20, 2018, the Hosts used various online marketplace platforms to rent out their individual homes for short periods of time.
Some of the Hosts would vacate their homes and rent the entire home; others would remain in the homes and only rent a portion of the property.
On March 20, 2018, the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County (the “Board”) adopted a resolution (the “Resolution”) that stated, in part, “short-term lodging uses are typically referred to as the rental or occupancy of a dwelling or portion of a dwelling for transient occupancy of fewer than 30 days, a use currently prohibited in any dwelling pursuant to the definition of a dwelling in Article 20 of the Zoning Ordinance.”
Also included in the Resolution was a statement recognizing that online marketplace platforms had caused a proliferation of short-term lodging in Fairfax County.
The Resolution noted that short-term lodging “could have impacts on the character of established neighborhoods and the quality of life of residents” and further advised that the Board would be conducting a public hearing “during which the Planning Commission and the Board will consider the proposed Zoning Ordinance and County Code amendments as recommended by staff” concerning short-term lodging.
At the time the resolution was adopted, Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance § 20-300 defined a dwelling as:
A building or portion thereof, but not a MOBILE HOME, designed or used for residential occupancy. The term ‘dwelling’ shall not be construed to mean a hotel, rooming house, hospital, or other accommodation used for more or less transient occupancy.
(Hereafter, the “Original Definition.”)
There can be little doubt that a residential property used for short-term lodging falls squarely within the definition of “other accommodation used for more or less transient occupancy.”
Notably, the definition of hotel in the Zoning Ordinance explicitly includes “any establishment which provides residential living accommodations for transients on a short-term basis, such as an apartment hotel.” (Emphasis added.)
The only feature that appears to distinguish a hotel, as defined by the Zoning Ordinance, from a residential property used for short-term lodging is the number of separate units that must be available for lodging.
A hotel must have at least “six (6) or more separate units or rooms for transients on a daily, weekly or similar short-term basis,” whereas, logically, a residential property used for short-term lodging only requires at least one unit or room.
Vice mayor Steve Bennett is an example of how lazy and incompetent the town officials are. “It’s too late, your not going to change it”.
What type of response is that to address a problem! Did you sit on your brain to come up with that solution? Or did you just ignore the problem and hope no one will notice?
Total incompetence! The town has lost its charm.
Everyone knows to stay away from Cape Charles. The only people that speak good of the town are those who are selling their homes to get away or they own a business there.
It seems vice-mayor does whatever the powers at Bay Creek tell him to do or say!