Carolina Beach Hotels Deals|"Official Says City Will Win Its Case Against Mansions Operating As Hotels"

Source            :    jsonline.com
Category        :   Carolina Beach Hotels Deals
By                  :   Don Walker
Posted By     :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Carolina Beach Hotels Deals

The commissioner of the Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services said Thursday he believes the city will find a way to shut down the marketing of two east side mansions as hotels. Commissioner Art Dahlberg said his department is doing all it can under the law to respond to neighbor complaints that two east side mansions controlled by a Whitefish Bay businessman have been marketed as hotels. Although the city had ordered Jason Hernandez, owner of Autopilot Management, to stop marketing the homes, his attorney on Thursday formally appealed the orders. An appeal immediately puts any enforcement action on hold until an appeal is heard. The Board of Zoning Appeals will hear the case in October.

Until that time, Dahlberg said, inspectors are gathering evidence for the zoning hearing. "My honest belief is we will prevail in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals," Dahlberg said. "I think we are reading the zoning ordinances correctly. That is the law of the land. But the law of the land says I can't take additional enforcement actions while an appeal is pending. I know that's frustrating for people who live next to this." 

Dahlberg said the homes fit the definition of a commercial hotel, which is not allowed in the pricey residential neighborhood. Hernandez said his right to market the homes for rental is an issue of personal freedom. He has said the homes are residential rentals in which guests are offered short-term leases. In the appeal, Alan Marcuvitz, Hernandez's attorney, argues that based on the plan of operation for both homes, "it is evident that occasional rentals are occurring at these properties. Neither property, however, constitutes a 'commercial hotel.'"

The dispute comes as some homeowners in Milwaukee have begun offering their homes for rent for the 110th Harley-Davidson reunion. The anniversary will be Aug. 29 to Sept. 1. Dahlberg said that if residents complain about a neighbor renting out their house for Harley visitors, they can file a complaint with the city. City inspectors will investigate. On the east side, Dahlberg said city inspectors responded to complaints about the homes immediately. The first complaint involved the home at 2950 N. Shepard Ave. Dahlberg said there was evidence the home wasn't being used a single-family dwelling. The second complaint involved a mansion at 2628 E. Newberry Blvd. When inspectors arrived, they found a door wide open. Police were called to check on the home. "We discovered not only a sign-in book for the guests for the facility, but there were posted rules of what was expected out of the guests while they were staying there," Dahlberg said.

Police confiscated the sign-in book and the posted rules, Dahlberg said. That information, coupled with advertising on vacation rental websites, convinced city inspectors the home was in violation of existing zoning ordinances. A citation was issued on the Newberry property, he said. Hernandez's father, Luis, owns the Shepard Ave. home and leases it to Autopilot Management. Autopilot is leasing the Newberry Blvd. home from Lynn Marie Thompson, the owner. Thompson, who lives in Washington state, could not be reached for comment. Dahlberg said some cities regulate such properties by licensing them. In Milwaukee, regulation is done through zoning ordinances. "I told them our reading of the zoning ordinance and the building code show that these homes are no longer being operated as single-family dwellings,' Dahlberg said.

Source:jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/official-says-city-will-win-its-case-against-mansions-operating-as-hotels-b9976577z1-219811501.html