HERMANN – The Planning & Zoning Commissioners Monday night rejected a proposal that some saw as an effort to sidestep the city’s moratorium on guesthouses in residential areas. The panel’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Aldermen, which has final say over zoning matters.

It was clear the six members of the P&Z panel had reservations about the proposal being made by businessman Brian Jett to allow conversation of at least some of the nearly two dozen residences in the Downtown Historic District to be converted to guesthouses. Jett first presented his plan to the Board of Aldermen two weeks ago; at that time it was decided by city officials that the Planning & Zoning Commission should consider Jett’s request for the adoption of new language to the city’s code that would allow homes surrounded by commercial properties to be converted to short-term rental properties designed to provide lodging for tourists.

A businessman and property developer, Jett did not attend Monday night’s P&Z session.

A hint of the commission’s stance was evident early in the meeting.

“I like the idea” of Conditional Use Permits for Downtown projects, said Chairman Brian Chorley. “But not in the Historic District,” he added, noting that he would like to see “a more clear plan” for the properties that would be affected by the proposal.

Commission Secretary Connie Johnson voiced concern that the proposal appears to be an effort to get around the moratorium on new guesthouses adopted two years ago. “We made a moratorium in R-1 for a reason,” she said. “Do we really want to open up R-1 when it (the moratorium) has worked well,” she said.

In the past two decades, Hermann has seen a big growth in owner-unoccupied guesthouses. Those often have absentee owners and some do not have local managers. The tourism-dependent city has about 160 guesthouses scattered throughout town, many located in areas zoned R-1 for single-family residences.

While the number of guesthouses has grown, the city’s population has declined to around 2,100 people. Also declining while the number of guesthouses grew is the enrollment in Gasconade County R-1 School District, which during the past 12 to 15 years has fallen from about 1,000 students to between 700 and 800 in the past couple years. The decline in enrollment carries with it a decline in state education dollars.

Longtime P&Z member Jeff Schmidt said Jett’s proposal was too far-reaching.

“It’s too broad for me,” he said.

He, too, voiced concern about a potentially significant number of residences being removed from the community’s housing stock through conversion to guesthouses. “We can’t afford to lose that many houses for people to live in,” he said.

A map of the Downtown area that would be affected by the proposal shows about two dozen residential properties.

Schmidt suggested the city consider a new zoning classification for this situation, a hybrid of commercial and residential that he suggested several years ago. However, he said there was not much interest in that among P&Z members at the time.

Commissioner Debra Smith also saw the proposal as being aimed at the moratorium. “I believe this undermines the very intent of that,” she said. “I don’t know how turning a house into a guesthouse (maintains) the historical significance of that building,” she said.

Several residents spoke about the proposal, mostly in opposition. Businessman Brent Wilkins said additional rezoning is needed in the general area to bring the classification more in line with actual use.

“We need to fix about three streets that are zoned improperly,” he said, arguing that this section of town should have a commercial designation. “I think east of Market, it’s commercial,” he said.

Attorney Billy Eckelkamp spoke on behalf of Andrea Sullivan, who wants to remodel the Klingert Mansion into a guesthouse. Eckelkamp said reworking the building under a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) produces “uncertainty” for the owner, knowing that conditions in a CUP could be changed.

“These properties are expensive to restore,” he told the panel, saying the entire renovation could approach $1 million.

Eckelkamp suggested the city adopt a “commercial lodging” classification for properties such as the ones within the boundaries of Jett’s proposal.

Nancy Satre, a resident of the Historic District, said she’s concerned the District will suffer if guesthouse development is allowed.

“My fear is the destruction of the Historic District,” she said. “Eventually, there won’t be any residents in the Historic District. It’ll be a dead zone,” she said.

Jon Held, whose family helped fuel Herman’s tourism industry by the growth and development of Stone Hill Winery, said city officials must balance the need to keep the tourists coming and taking care of the local residents.

“I think you need to proceed very carefully,” he said.

His wife, Karen, went a step further in her comments. She said the growth of guesthouses has amounted to “hollowing out the heart of our community.”