ES council extends B&B moratorium

The Eureka Springs City Council has doubled down on a planning commission proposal involving new bed and breakfast locations in residential areas.

At its regular monthly meeting on Monday, Aug. 14, the city council approved a resolution extending a moratorium on new B&B locations for 12 months. The planning commission’s recommendation was to extend the moratorium for six months but council members voted 5-1 to extend it until midnight Aug. 15, 2024.

“Unfortunately, the B&B license, to me, has been so abused with people getting B&B licenses and not living there and then trying to run it as tourist lodging,” council member Melissa Greene said.

The planning commission has been trying to identify all the B&B’s in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 zones that are in operation. Some aren’t following rules such as having someone living on site and serving breakfast, commissioner Ann Tandy-Sallee told council members.

“We have identified approximately 19 bed and breakfasts in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 areas,” Tandy-Sallee said. “When we started our research approximately eight of them were not advertising as a bed and breakfast and not serving breakfast. Now, it has come to our attention that we have quite a few that either never have paid taxes, have paid CAPC taxes and never submitted reports, or none of the above. We are working to bring people into compliance. There may be some that do not want to come into compliance and we will do a show cause hearing. I find it very disturbing that tax reports are not being filed.”

Tandy-Sallee told council members that the CAPC provided the planning commission with a list of B&B locations that are behind on paying their tourism tax.

“Are they literally not paying?” Greene asked. “Well, that’s what we’re trying to find out,” Tandy- Sallee said, noting that AirBnb is the only company that collects taxes from the owner and submits the money to the city.

Council member Harry Meyer made the motion to extend the moratorium for the six months that the planning commission requested and Greene seconded Meyer’s motion. Council member David Avanzino, however, suggested the moratorium instead be extended to 12 months, which was approved 5-1.

Council member Terry McClung was the lone dissenting vote, instead saying perhaps the council should just do away with B&Bs altogether.

“If you’re going to extend the moratorium it’s going to come up again and you’re going to want to do it again,” McClung said. “If you’re going to, just do away with it. That’s what you’re doing is, you’re doing away with bed and breakfasts by the moratorium. So, nothing is going to change.

“Go ahead and make a motion to write an order for it to go away … that’s what you want to do and that’s what you’re doing effectively.”