Bastrop, Tx–Proposed rule revisions governing permits and operations at bed and breakfast inns in the city went back to the drawing board Tuesday after the city council heard protests from a neighborhood worried about a pending bed and breakfast permit.
The sore point was a conditional use permit (CUP) sought by Geoff Connor for a B&B operation at the historic Allen-Fowler House at 1404 Wilson St. Bastrop’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the permit by a 5-0 vote on April 30. The council, which must give final approval, has not taken up that recommendation yet.
But the zoning board’s recommendation includes one special condition which has stirred opposition both to the CUP and the broader rule revisions which were on Tuesday’s agenda for council action.
The revised rules allow, in some cases, B&B operators in residential districts to stage as many as 24 social events (weddings, receptions and similar gatherings) a year, as well as renting overnight accommodations in their homes. Conditions attached to the P&Z recommendation in the Wilson Street CUP request would allow Connor to rent out the property for social events up to 24 times yearly.
Neighbors seized on traffic and parking issues Tuesday to argue that the whole neighborhood could be severely impacted. Allowing “up to 24 (events) a year is overwhelming,” said Judi Hoover who lives across the street from Connor. Her sentiment was echoed by Joe Grady Tuck and others who live nearby.
The Connor residence presently has only four off-street parking spaces, but he has previously suggested he could arrange remote or valet parking services for events expected to attract scores or a few hundred guests.
Council members were sympathetic to neighborhood concerns. Since the issue on the table Tuesday
was revising B&B rules and not the pending CUP application, Council Member Julie Hart urged sending the proposed legal changes back to the zoning commission for reconsideration. She suggested that rules for permitting B&B operations in residential areas should be separated from regulations governing commercial social events in similar zones.
Council Member Ken Kesselus endorsed Hart’s stance. Without calling for a council vote, Mayor Terry Orr referred the rules changes back to the city’s planning department and the zoning commission for further consideration. Council Members Joe Beal and Kay McAnally did not attend the meeting.
Beal was reported ill at home with a fever. McAnally was reported at the hospital bedside of her husband, Conor McAnally, who had undergone surgery to repair injuries sustained in a recent sky diving mishap.