Plan commission recommends council reject proposed hotel long-term-stay zoning change

The Delavan Plan Commission voted to recommend that the common council not adopt a proposed amendment to section 13-3-206(4)(m) of the city zoning code that would allow some hotel rooms to be occupied year-round.

Staff explained the current code limits hotel stays to 180 days in any 365-day period and said the petition to change the rule would allow longer-term occupancy in commercial lodging. The petitioner’s requested language would permit up to five rooms to be used on a permanent basis; staff offered a narrower option that would permit up to two year-round rooms and restrict those rooms to the hotel owner or on-site manager and household members to reduce enforcement and building-code complications.

Commissioners asked whether rooms used for year-round occupancy would be considered dwelling units under building code (triggering apartment regulations), whether leases would be required, and what eviction and tenancy rights would apply. Planning staff said some of those matters would be governed by lease language and the building-code classification; staff recommended being clear which version of the amendment, if any, the commission wanted to advance.

Public comment urged caution. The applicant (Lakeland Resort representative Dave Siqueiros) said the proposed change could create enforcement headaches, reduce room-tax revenue, and create conflicts for condo-hotel ownership at Lakeland Resort, and reiterated that workforce housing must be balanced against those risks.

After discussion, a commissioner moved to recommend that the common council not adopt the proposed zoning change; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. No individual roll-call vote tallies were recorded in the transcript. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the common council for final action.