Commissioners set meeting to consider zoning amendment

CELINA - Now that all state requirements have been followed, Mercer County commissioners set a public hearing to consider regulating short-term rentals of properties in East Jefferson Township.

County commissioners on Thursday moved to schedule a public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment for 1 p.m. May 3 in the first floor conference room of the Central Services Building located at 220 W. Livingston St., Celina.

Within 20 days of the public hearing, county commissioners can adopt, deny or modify the county zoning commission's recommendation to regulate short-term rentals of properties in East Jefferson Township. County commissioners would have to cast a unanimous vote to either deny or modify the request, according to the county zoning code. Whichever way they vote, their ruling would be subject to a voter referendum by electors in part of East Jefferson Township.

Last year a group of home-owners voiced opposition to short-term rental of homes through online services such as VRBO and Airbnb, setting in motion a protracted series of public hearings involving three county government commissions.

The Mercer County Zoning Commission, which had previously recommended a zoning change, was forced to take up the issue again this week after learning it had failed to include pertinent information mandated by Ohio Revised Code in a legal notice they had published in the newspaper.

Zoning commission members were asked to follow ORC requirements and resubmit the proposed zoning amendment to county commissioners.

Specifically, they had to publish a new legal notice containing two key pieces of information that were not included in past notices - that the proposed zoning amendment would be available for public examination in county commissioners' office and referred to county commissioners for further discussion.

Zoning commissioners at the conclusion of a public hearing this week voted 4-0 to forward the proposed amendment to commissioners. The amendment would allow short-term rentals under conditional use in medium-density residential R-2 and high-density residential R-3 zoned areas of the township.

However, short-term rentals would not be permitted in low-density residential R-1 zoned areas.

A short-term rental would be defined as any dwelling or part of a dwelling, including the real property on which it is located, that is rented for a fee, for any period of less than 30 days within a 12-month period.

Under zoning commissioners' recommendation, short-term rentals would be permitted as a conditional use in R-2 and R-3 areas given that specific conditions or requirements are met and that the proposed conditional use will not adversely effect surrounding properties.

Property owners would have to meet a host of specific requirements, including showing proof of inspection by the county health department and the Celina Fire Department; proof of working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors; proof of having one vehicle parking space for two adult short-term rental guests; proof of providing right-of-entry to the county sheriff, Celina Fire Department, county health department, and county zoning inspector; and proof of good standing with the county treasurer and county sanitary department, if the sanitary department provides services to the dwelling.

Property owners also would have to provide the name, email address and telephone number for a person who would have total responsibility for the short-term rental dwelling and be available on an annual, daily, 24-hour basis.

Zoning commissioners haven now held six public hearings in 2021 and 2022 that were often contentious and marked by impassioned arguments in support of and against allowing homes to be rented out for short periods.

Some people who have lived for many years in their homes in East Jefferson Township said they don't want to live next to properties that have a revolving door of transient occupants. They had cited alleged incidents of trespassing on private property, excessive noise, trash in their yards and other nuisances caused by transient renters.

Zoning commissioners also heard from those who had purchased homes in the area as investment properties expressly for short-term rentals. These people argued restricting the use of their homes would amount to a violation of their property rights.

Still, some attendees said short-term rentals make sense but not in an R-1 area.