Bed-and-Breakfasts Allowed, With Caveats

The City Council has passed a zoning ordinance that allows bed-and-breakfasts to operate in Seal Beach--but only in a limited area and with structures at least 75 years old.

The ordinance, passed 3 to 2 Monday, specifies that the homes be confined to an area at least 300 feet from any hotels and 500 feet from Pacific Coast Highway.

The ordinance also defines bed-and-breakfasts as converted “residential dwellings . . . providing no more than six short-term guest rooms or suites . . . and a minimum of one common room.”

While it does not refer to a developer’s plan to relocate two homes known as the Krenwinkel and Proctor houses to a vacant lot on 7th Street, the proposal was what led to the city drafting the ordinance, called the Residential Conservation Overlay Zone, said City Manager Keith Till.

He said the ordinance was designed to limit bed-and-breakfasts to the general area proposed by Chris Verhulst, whose inn project has been the center of debate for several months.

“This [zoning ordinance] was a tool to allow this particular project to go ahead,” Till said.

Several residents at the council meeting were poised to voice opposition to the ordinance and Verhulst’s proposal, but the vote came before the public comment session. Opponents have expressed concern that inns would overpopulate their community.

Mayor Paul Yost, who was joined by Councilman Shawn Boyd in voting against the ordinance, said he was in favor of saving historic homes but not at the expense of changing existing building codes.

“In the long run, [the ordinance] is not going to be in the best interest of the city,” Yost said. “I’m concerned about the increase in density, the increase in the number of units and the change from residential to commercial.”

Even though the ordinance passed, Verhulst must submit his plans to the Planning Commission for a conditional-use permit. Yost does not foresee the permit being granted because he said current plans do not abide by requirements for height, setback from the street and parking. Verhulst has argued that his plans comply with existing codes.

*

Alex Murashko can be reached at (714) 966-5974.