Lorain council holds public hearing on short-term rental zoning changes; staff seeks administrative review and BCI checks

Lorain City Council held a public hearing to discuss proposed amendments to the city—s zoning code and short-term rental regulations, including moving short-term rental permitting from the Planning Commission to administrative review and requiring a Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) background check for hosts, property owners or local agents.

The planning commission met Jan. 2, 2025, and "recommended approval of this application to Lorain city council," the City Clerk read into the record. Council also referred the item to a committee for detailed discussion at a later date.

City housing officer Emily Atkinson told council the change would reduce delays applicants now face when a short-term rental conditional-use permit is scheduled for planning commission rather than being processed administratively. "We are just now coming up on our 1 year of, the ordinance passing to allow short term rentals," Atkinson said, and described how the current conditional-use workflow can force applicants to wait months for the next planning commission hearing. She said the proposal changes the code so a use listed as conditional (marked "C") would be marked as permitted ("P") and that…