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BZA approves lodging-house use at 641 W. Lexington with building-code conditions
Summary
The board granted a use variance to allow a lodging house at 641 W. Lexington Ave., subject to parking, paving and building- and fire-department inspections and other conditions.
The Elkhart Board of Zoning Appeals on Sept. 11 approved a use variance to allow a lodging house at 641 W. Lexington Ave., in an R-2 single-family district, with staff conditions requiring inspections, parking compliance and limits on occupancy.
Petitioner Brennan Leiter asked the board to allow a lodging house (a dwelling rented to individuals without meals, typically long-term) for a house he plans to purchase and manage. He described prior experience renting individual rooms and said he would implement locks on bedrooms, check on the property regularly, and work with contractors to bring the building up to code.
Staff reported the two-story dwelling was built c.1902 and is about 1,800 square feet (900 square feet per floor). The property lies in the 100-year floodplain and experienced flooding in 2018; staff said the house is in fair condition but will require updates to meet code, including electrical work and egress issues on the second-floor deck. Staff also noted that boarding and lodging houses are conditional uses in the R-5 district but not permitted in R-2, requiring the variance.
Staff recommended approval with conditions including: a maximum of one individual tenant per bedroom; requirement to meet minimum off-street parking (a development variance if the petitioner cannot meet it); paving of rear parking; use variance void if the lodging house ceases operation for more than one year or the property is sold; and compliance with zoning administration enforcement. During the hearing the board added a condition that the petitioner contact the building and fire departments for inspections and prepare a plan to address any items they identify.
The board voted unanimously to approve the use variance (Mulvaney: Yes; Osborne: Yes; Lightman: Yes). Staff mailed 25 notices with no written responses reported. The petitioner was advised to coordinate with the building department on required upgrades (separate heating/electric for multiple units, egress, electrical terminations) before occupancy as a lodging house.
