Visitors to downtown La Grange who may want to spend a few days will soon have a new option after the Village Board unanimously approved a special use permit for five short-term rental apartments at 108-110 W. Calendar Ave.
The permit came with restrictions that differentiate the units from typical hotel rooms. The minimum length of stay must be 48 hours, and parties in the units are prohibited. Other requirements pertain to insurance and sanitation as well as a limit of 10 leasing agreements at any one time.
“I just want you to know that we are really excited about what we’ve been working on at that property, and that we would be calling it the Treehouse Guest Suites,” Dan Spain, owner of the property and the nearby Elm Restaurant, said. “There’s five units total and we’re designing them to match the same quality and care that you’ve come to expect from us at The Elm.”
Spain pointed out that there were no places to stay downtown for people coming to La Grange for “weddings, showers, anniversaries — people’s biggest life moments — and those celebrations bring in guests.”
In an accompanying move, the Village Board established a hotel/motel tax in the amount of 5% of gross rental receipts, which would apply to the new rental units.
The action also created an amendment for the downtown’s C-1 zoning, a special use permit classification that prohibits partial rentals of units, provides for limitations on signage, and requires one parking space for each rental unit.
“I think this is a really good thing for the central business district,” Trustee Glen Thompson said, adding that he didn’t think the moves would lead to a glut of new short-term rentals in the downtown area.
“There was some conversation about in the central business district, how many places could this actually apply to,” he said, pointing out that of the 95 residential units downtown, many were senior living units. “Also, having a requirement that you have to have a parking place eliminates all but a few, except for these, because Dan Spain actually has that parking. The thought that this is just going to pop out and grow is not possible because of the rules we’ve put in place.”
After hearing some resident concerns about impact on housing affordability, the Plan Commission in April had voted 3-2 in support of the plan. But without the required 4 positive votes, village code mandated that it be sent to the Village Board with a recommendation of denial.
During public comment, the board heard views both in favor and in opposition to the plan.
“Destination cities around the world have places for people to stay,” Todd Van Cleave told the board. “La Grange is a destination city and has nowhere for anyone to stay. So we need to fix this … I’m talking about places in downtown La Grange where people can stay that are unobstructed by other residents that could be upset by the noises or other things. In downtown La Grange, you have nothing to worry about.”
Longtime La Grange resident Cynthia Schilsky had a different perspective.
“This was not part of the comprehensive plan, this idea was not in there and I do think we need to consider housing in a much broader concept than having short-term rentals,” she said. “I’m concerned that this might affect the ability to have affordable units around the village of La Grange … so that we can have long-term residents here, not short-term residents.”
The next La Grange Village Board meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. June 10, at the La Grange Village Hall, 53 S. La Grange Road.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
