Request for B & B Inn

An application for a conditional use permit to operate a year-round Bed and Breakfast Inn has been filed for the property at 2100 39th Street, located on the south west corner of 39th and U.

The City has provided this link to plans and application materials: 

https://sacramento.civicinsight.com/addresses/715984/2100-39th-st/#case_number=z19_008

To comment on this proposal, contact City planner Robert Williams, RWWilliams@cityofsacramento.org

After reviewing the permit request, the Elmhurst Neighborhood Association Board has asked the City to deny the permit for several reasons which are detailed in this letter.

More information:

The City statutes limit Bed and Breakfast (B&B) Inns in R-1 residential districts to seven guest rooms. There is no statutory limit specified on the number of guests. 

(All of Elmhurst is zoned R-1 except for the Stockton Blvd commercial corridor and multifamily next to the freeway west of 39th St.)

Although the City statute uses the term Bed and “Breakfast” Inns, there is no requirement that food be served or that there be on-site staff.

According to City statutes a B&B in a traditional district would require 0.5 space per 2 guest rooms, plus 1 space for resident owner, manager. The property has a one car garage and a paved side yard. 

The owner is apparently currently licensed for a short term rental which allows the property to be rented out for up to 90 days a year and is limited to six guests at a time. 

According to the City, no B&B Inns have been permitted in R-1 districts, at least not for several years primarily due to impacts on residential neighborhoods and loss of housing, both concerns that apply to Elmhurst. 

Applicable City Statutes

17.108.030 “B” definitions. “Bed and breakfast inn” means a dwelling unit in which temporary night-to-night lodging, with or without meals is being provided for compensation. A bed and breakfast inn includes on-site accessory structures.

17.204.210 R-1 zone—Permitted uses. Bed and breakfast inns are allowed in R-1 Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.104

17.228.104 Bed and breakfast inn in residential zones.

A.         Bed and breakfast inn in RE, R-1, R-1A, R-1B, and R-2 zones. A zoning administrator’s conditional use permit is required to establish a bed and breakfast inn in these zones. The bed and breakfast inn shall not have more than seven guest rooms. Conferences, weddings, fund raisers, and similar gatherings of non-lodgers are prohibited. …

C.         Notwithstanding subsections A and B of this section, a short-term rental, as defined in subsection D, is a permitted use of a dwelling unit and a zoning administrator’s conditional use permit is not required for that use. A short-term rental must comply with the requirements in chapter 5.114. The provisions of chapter 17.228 (Home Occupations) do not apply to short-term rentals.

D.         For purposes of this section, a “short-term rental” means a bed and breakfast inn that is limited as follows:

1.       Lodging is provided for no more than six persons at any time; and

2.       If the dwelling unit is not the primary residence of the permittee, lodging is provided for no more than an aggregate of 90 days in any calendar year. “Primary residence of the permitee” means the dwelling unit in which the person issued the short-term rental permit, established in chapter 5.114, resides for at least 184 days during a calendar year.

E.          Except as specifically stated, nothing in this section exempts the operation of a bed and breakfast inn or short-term rental from the requirements of any other provision of this code, including chapter 3.08 (Business Operations Tax) and chapter 3.28 (Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax). (Ord. 2016-0003 § 6; Ord. 2013-0020 § 1; Ord. 2013-0007 § 1)

17.608.030 Parking requirement by land use type and parking district.

Bed and breakfast inn in a Traditional District is “0.5 space per 2 guest rooms, plus 1 space for resident owner, manager.”