Should Glencoe property owners be allowed to use their homes for short-term rentals? Village trustees appear to think it is an idea worth exploring.
At the Sept. 14 Committee of the Whole Meeting, Glencoe village board members agreed to allow staff to study whether short-term rentals of properties via sites such as Airbnb should be allowed in the village. Staff said the village’s zoning code does not allow short-term rentals, in addition to rentals in hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts in the residential district.
But with the recent onset of sites such as Airbnb, it may be time for a change in the zoning code, said Village President Larry Levin.
“What we are dealing with is a phenomenon that is new, and so our ordinances were never really designed to cope with or cover the appropriateness of these activities,” he said. “And so we should probably think about what we should be doing.”
Staff believe one Glencoe property has been listed on that website, according to a Sept. 15 memo from management analyst David Kraus. The memo added the village has received calls from property owners asking about existing regulations.
At the Committee of the Whole meeting, trustees left the door open for further analysis of whether the short-term rental idea is appropriate for Glencoe.
“There is a general principle that we do want people to be able to do what they want with their property,” Trustee Barbara Miller said.
Fellow Trustee Jonathan Vree, who said he has used short-term rentals himself, agreed.
“We are trying to promote Glencoe as a cultural town, and I think there are a lot of positives in allowing this kind of thing,” Vree said.
However, Vree did not think many Glencoe homeowners would be interested in renting out their homes.
Vree also suggested the village study levying a fee for property owners to rent out their properties, as he thought there could be an occasional noise complaint from a neighbor.
Village Manager Phil Kiraly noted that some neighboring communities have had problems with noise.
“Northbrook in particular had a substantial issue with a few properties that were being marketed as essentially party houses,” Kiraly said.
With the village board agreeing to let staff study the idea, one of the matters they will have to examine is how Glencoe’s lack of home rule status could affect the situation. “Home rule” communities in Illinois have been granted the ability to create their own regulations apart from those mandated the state under the Illinois constitution.
Assistant Village Manager Sharon Tanner said some other neighboring communities allow for short term rentals, but, unlike Glencoe, they have home rule status.
Village staff will report back to trustees on the issue of short-term rentals at a later date.
Later at the regular board meeting, trustees unanimously agreed to alterations in the village code regarding parking in the central business district.
The changes include: clear designation of overnight parking areas; the removal of a provision allowing drivers to be let off with a warning on their first time limit violation; the removal of a reset program which allowed drivers who violated the time limit restrictions to potentially start over again after a period of time; and the addition of specific restrictions for business parking permit holders in the downtown area.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press
