Maplewood City Council Tuesday night held three public hearings, read twice and tabled a zoning ordinance, and tabled ordinances that would allow vacation short term rentals — all in about 12 minutes.
The council approved — first two readings — rezoning 2645, 2647 and 2649 Lyle Avenue and 3368 Oxford from NB Neighborhood Business District to SR Single Family Residence. The final vote is scheduled for the Oct. 13 council meeting.
Plan and zoning approved the rezoning at its Sept. 8 meeting.
A resident of one of the houses on Lyle told the council he was concerned that he’s been over-paying property taxes on his house that’s been zoned commercial since he’s owned it. Councilman Shawn Faulkingham checked the county website and said it looks like it’s been appraised as residential, not commercial.
Public Works Director Anthony Traxler said — as he had in the P&Z meeting — that the houses on Lyle were rezoned to commercial around 1980. He said other houses on the street are still zoned commercial, and they should stay that way until there is a specific request to rezone them to residential. He said shallow commercial lot depth is a problem in Maplewood.
The two ordinances that would allow vacation short term rentals, which would allow residents to be an Airbnb host, were tabled until the Oct. 13 meeting, where hearings and the final vote is scheduled.