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Committee proposes treating extended-stay hotels as multifamily for zoning to close perceived loophole
Summary
Planners recommended adding extended-stay and residential hotels to the multifamily zoning district to prevent extended-stay properties from operating as de facto apartments; committee asked staff to draft specific code language and return revisions.
Scott (committee member) briefed the Development Committee on proposed zoning changes to address extended-stay hotels that the city staff observed functioning as apartment units under the current code. He recommended treating extended-stay and residential hotels as multifamily uses so they would be regulated under multifamily standards for unit size, parking and setbacks.
"If they were going to be apartments, we should essentially treat them as apartments," Scott said, explaining the recommendation to add extended-stay uses into the multifamily district and apply multifamily dimensional and material standards. Committee members noted conflicts in existing code: the multifamily district currently requires minimum unit sizes (for example, a one-bedroom minimum of about 900 square feet) while industry-standard extended-stay hotel units are often much smaller (a true extended-stay room may be roughly 365 square feet). That discrepancy creates enforcement challenges when developers seek approvals under the hotel provisions but operate the property like an apartment.
Committee members explored alternatives, including imposing maximum unit sizes for extended-stay rooms, retaining specific hotel appearance and service requirements (such as housekeeping and provided linens), or requiring rezone to a planned district when a true extended-stay hotel is proposed. Several members favored applying a tougher front-end standard and relying on the variance process for exceptions.
Scott said staff would return with revised language that treats extended-stay residential hotels as multifamily and cross-references hotel-specific appearance and lighting standards where appropriate. He noted that because there is limited vacant land zoned multifamily in the city, a developer proposing a true extended-stay hotel would likely need to rezone and could be reviewed in a planned-district rezoning process.
The committee gave direction to staff to draft code changes and bring them back for further committee review; no ordinance or formal zoning change was adopted at the meeting.
