Council affirms plan commission decision on Woodland Drive tourist house CUP

The Rhinelander Common Council voted unanimously Monday evening to affirm the city plan commission’s April 2 vote approving a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application submitted by a property owner seeking to operate a tourist house/short-term rental on Woodland Drive.

The application first came before the commission in early March. After hearing from adjacent property owners, the panel chose to table the matter until April 2 at which time the permit was granted with conditions including a yearly review to ensure compliance with CUP conditions, a requirement that only single families rent the residence, and a condition that the CUP will not transfer to new a property owner should the current owner ever chose to sell.

Two adjacent property owners appealed the commission’s decision to the common council, focusing on a misstatement made by Mayor Kris Hanus regarding whether the city had previously issued tourist house CUPs for other properties zoned R1 (single family residential).

Early in the appeal hearing, Hanus admitted that he was the source of the inaccurate information as he was under the impression there was one other R1 property in the city authorized to operate as a tourist house. In fact, the property Hanus was thinking of is actually zoned R2 and the Woodland Drive property would be the first R1 property in Rhinelander operating as a tourist house. 

The appellants argued the commissioners might have made a different decision if they had understood that the owners of the Woodland Drive property would be the first to obtain a permit to operate a tourist house in R1.

Further, the R1 vs. R2 distinction is important to the appellants as they suggested the city should consider prohibiting stays of less than 7 days at R1 properties.

As the appeal hearing proceeded, city attorney Steve Sorenson explained that the council could not immediately vote to make that change — if the body were so inclined — as a city ordinance would have to be amended before that could happen.

Hanus offered additional comment on behalf of the commission. 

After explaining the error with regard to the city’s history with R1 tourist house permits, he stated that he believes the R2 neighborhoods where tourist houses have been allowed are similar to the Woodland Drive neighborhood.

“From a characteristic of homes and families, they’re very similar,” he said, adding that the commission specifically chose to add extra conditions to the Woodland Drive permit as a safeguard.

“This one has more protections for the neighborhood as well as the residents to ensure high quality for not only the CUP as well as the neighborhood,” he explained.

Adjacent property owner Yvette Hittle “respectfully disagreed” with the mayor that R1 and R2 neighborhoods are the same.

“The reason we are zoned R1 and the reason these other neighborhoods are zoned R2 is for a very specific reason,” she said. “I think our neighborhood is a very different personality. We’re closer to schools, we’re farther away from water features, there are no businesses near us, so it’s a very different neighborhood.”

When the discussion shifted to the council, the group determined that the plan commission acted in good faith based on the evidence presented. The vote to deny the appeal was unanimous, however alders Carrie Mikalauski and Leann Felten did not vote as they serve on the plan commission.

While some alders expressed a degree of interest in possibly changing the allowable length of stay for tourist houses in R1, one alder, Gerald Anderson, who said he is a frequent short-term tenant while traveling in other parts of the country, indicated “the whole point of this kind of rental is to be able to rent for one night or two nights or a few nights.” 

The hearing ended with Sorenson advising the appellants that they have the right to appeal the council’s decision to circuit court.

To view the entire hearing, visit www.hodagtv.com.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].