Wellington’s Equestrian Preserve Committee recommended bed-and-breakfast zoning text amendments last week that reduce requirements and allow conditional approval rather than annual approval of a special permit.
Bed and breakfasts are currently permitted as special uses in residential zoning districts and certain land use categories of multiple-use planned development districts. In the Equestrian Overlay Zoning District (EZOD), they are permitted only as conditional uses outside of commercial areas. However, while allowed, there are currently no approved bed and breakfasts in the village.
The amendments discussed at the April 13 meeting were village-wide, including the equestrian area, allowing alterations to the exterior of the structure required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, limited signage, public water and wastewater connections, and additional parking. Long-term rentals will not be permitted. The owner or owner’s family must reside onsite full-time.
According to the staff report, the proposed changes include increased occupancy from five to eight rooms and a decreased lot size from 3 to 2 acres. Only permanent stables or barns would be permitted. The current requirement that bed and breakfasts not be alongside one another would be eliminated.
Current regulations do not allow exterior alterations, meal service, guest registration or outdoor advertising, and require annual renewal of the permit.
Changing the approval process from a special-use to a conditional-use permit would require Wellington Village Council review and approval of any proposed bed-and-breakfast establishment. This would mean a more extensive review process, but eliminate the need to renew the permit annually.
Current regulations allow only alterations necessary to assure safety or enhance compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood. The proposed change would add text allowing for modifications necessary for ADA compliance.
The regulations for outdoor advertising allow a variance to be granted for a small sign. The proposed changes would allow for a sign and are specific regarding the maximum size and copy.
Additional proposed regulations address the minimum lot size, the maximum number of bedrooms, water and sewer connections, the renting of units and parking requirements.
The proposed minimum lot size of 2 acres combined with a five-bedroom maximum would control the intensity of use for bed-and-breakfast establishments. There are few residential lots outside the EOZD that are at least 2 acres. However, this minimum requirement should be sufficient to support a maximum of five guest rooms. Staff recommended that all bed and breakfasts should connect to public water and sewer systems. Proposed private well and septic/drainfield systems would be reviewed by the village engineer. A prohibition on rental dwelling units within bed and breakfasts is also part of the proposal.
Parking is not currently addressed in the regulations, but the proposed one space per guest bedroom is consistent with similar use types in Wellington, according to the staff report.
The maximum number of rooms is proposed to increase from five to eight bedrooms for properties in the EOZD. Properties in the EOZD are generally larger and would be able to support more guest rooms. For the larger lots, eight guest rooms would enable a property to be a more economically feasible option, compared with only five rooms.
Current regulations require principal and secondary vehicular access for patrons along a collector or arterial street. The limited number of collector or arterial streets in the EOZD and even fewer access points directly to these streets severely limits available properties. The changes propose that access for patrons be located not more than 1,320 linear feet (a quarter mile) from a collector or arterial street. Staff’s reasoning is that having bed and breakfasts close to a collector or arterial street would not be overly intrusive for a residential neighborhood.
Additionally, bed-and-breakfast establishments are required to be licensed by the state and meet all Florida building codes, fire codes and ADA regulations.
Staff recommended approval of the ordinance.
Committee Member Houston Meigs asked why a quarter-mile distance was being proposed and not greater. “Isn’t that the idea of a bed and breakfast?” Meigs asked.
Project Manager Ryan Harding said the intention was to reduce disruption in the neighborhood.
Meigs said that on his street, there could be as many as eight bed and breakfasts if they were crowded together in that manner.
Committee Chair Linda Elie added that allowing stabling potentially added to intensity of use because it assumed equestrian use by guests and residents.
Elie asked who determines that there is no adverse effect on the neighborhood, and Harding said that would be through the site plan approval process.
Meigs added that he thought allowing up to eight bedrooms on a property deviates from the traditional perception of a bed and breakfast as a homeowner charging for the use of one or two of their bedrooms. Elie also had questions about the definition of family members who would reside at the site.
Meigs commented that there are few residences in the EOZD on the required public water and sewer system necessary to operate a bed and breakfast.
Committee members also expressed concern over having as many as eight bedrooms on two acres, and staff noted that there are other codes limiting the intensity of use. “I think eight is just too many on 2 acres,” Elie said.
Committee Member Dr. Kristy Lund said she did not like removing the requirement that bed and breakfasts not be adjacent to one another. “I don’t know why the separation was taken out,” Lund said.
Elie was also concerned about corporate identities operating the facilities. “People do use corporations to protect themselves from liability,” she said. “It could eventually become just an investment piece of property.”
Applicant Mimi Hockman, who owns a home in Palm Beach Point, said her original intention was to renovate a barn on her property for rooms so it would still resemble a horse farm.
Committee Member Linda Smith-Faver made a motion to approve the ordinance with recommendations to add back in the separation of bed and breakfasts, further review ownership as principal family or corporation, that they be allowed within the EOZD as greater than 2 acres and less than 5 acres with five bedrooms, and eight bedrooms for more than 5 acres, and that it go through the conditional use permitting process, which goes to a public hearing and is announced to the neighborhood. The motion passed unanimously.
The proposed ordinance is to go before the Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board on May 4 before heading to the council on May 24.
