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Planning staff recommend approval for short-term rental at 475 North Church Street; applicant says operation began in 2022
Summary
Planning staff told the commission the RM‑1 property at 475 North Church Street previously converted to a professional office meets special-use criteria for a commercial short‑term rental; the Planning Commission recommended approval without conditions and the applicant said she has paid hotel excise and sales tax since December 2022.
Planning staff presented a special-use permit request for 475 North Church Street on March 18, telling commissioners the RM‑1 property was converted to a professional office by permit in February 2003 and currently carries a certificate of occupancy listing it as an office.
Bruce, a county planning staffer, said the short-term rental has been operating prior to the current application and that the property is about 832 square feet with a maximum occupancy of four. The site is inside an RM‑1 mixed-density residential zone and the property falls within a local historic overlay, so the planner said a certificate of appropriateness (COA) will also be required for rear‑yard site-work but that COA review is expected to be a routine, staff‑level action.
The Planning Commission reviewed the application on March 6 and recommended approval without conditions, finding the request compatible with the 2023 Comprehensive Plan, the future land‑use map and zoning standards.
Elizabeth DeMarco, who identified herself as the applicant and nearby resident, said she lives at 327 Hill Street directly in front of the property and that she has operated the short‑term rental since December 2022. “I’ve been paying my hotel excise tax and my local and state sales tax since December ’22,” DeMarco told the commission, and said she expects limited use of the property and that she supports permanent residential livability in nearby neighborhoods.
Commissioners asked to be included on staff correspondence about the application; no final vote on the county commission agenda was recorded in the public transcript at the time of this discussion. The planning staff report noted the historic‑district COA requirement but concluded the special‑use criteria were met.
The county will need a COA for exterior changes and will process required site‑plan work before any final, locally binding authorization for the short‑term rental operation.
