Chapel Hill bed and breakfast proposal gets push back from historic community residents

A proposal to allow bed-and-breakfasts in Chapel Hill raised concerns about balancing business interests with historical integrity.

The Chapel Hill Planning Commission reviewed the proposal while considering a modernization of the Land Use Management Ordinance.

This original proposal would effectively create a new category specifically for bed-and-breakfast-style hotels and would allow them townwide, including in historic districts.

Some residents of affected neighborhoods swiftly condemned the proposal, arguing that commercialization would be destructive to the residential districts.

John Richardson, planning manager for sustainability in Chapel Hill, said in an email this issue is nothing new. Richardson said the council considered this type of land use in 1984 and 1998. Since then, the ordinance has been developed and was shared in June of this year.

Critics of this proposal said in emails to the town that allowing commercial businesses to expand into historic districts such as Gimghoul and Franklin-Rosemary would destroy the communities that separate Chapel Hill from other towns.

“When any use other than single-family acquires a single-family residence, it ceases to be a home, lived in day and night, lovingly maintained by its owner who put his or her faith in the town to preserve the value and character of their neighborhood,” John May, a local resident, said in an email to the town.

But Monica Edwards, an innkeeper at Morehead Manor, thought bed-and-breakfasts could benefit the town.

“A lot of times, (bed-and-breakfasts are) a great reuse for a historic home,” she said.

Edwards said people who stay in bed-and-breakfasts appreciate the character of historic homes and often look for a more local feel when they stay in an unfamiliar place.

“The people that seek out bed-and-breakfasts stay at bed-and-breakfasts because they offer more intimate venues versus staying at a hotel. You are more of an anonymous person.”

Betsy Grannin, an employee at Morning Glory Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Clayton, N.C., said bed-and-breakfasts contribute to the community.

“I would think that having bed-and-breakfasts in pretty much any community enhances it because it brings people that may not have even thought about traveling to a certain area to stay and to have the up-close and personal viewpoint of the owner — to be able to know the secret things to see,” she said. “I think that all of that adds to the community.”

Despite current restrictions on traditional bed-and-breakfasts, similar short-term rentals operate in the area.

In the past, the town has allowed small-scale bed-and-breakfasts by issuing a home operation permit.

The new proposal would simply define and regulate traditional bed-and-breakfast operations as a separate land-use category.

In recent years, services like Airbnb and Vacation Rentals by Owner have grown dramatically, changing the landscape of renting.

According to online estimates, hotels in Durham are nearly $30 more expensive than Airbnb rooms in general. Carrboro recently researched Airbnbs in town, with Hillsborough Commissioner Mike Gering examining 347 of the operations in his district.

But the town of Chapel Hill’s proposal did not apply to these types of short-term rentals — though the possibility was brought up to be addressed in a future Land Use Management Ordinance update.

“Since the time that the draft ordinance was developed and shared publicly in June, we have heard concerns from the Historic District Commission, Planning Commission and property owners in the local historic districts,” Richardson said in an email. “The council will continue to take public comment at the upcoming public hearing on Sept. 28.”

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