The Columbia Inn at Peralynna is a clean, respectable business that has often donated its facility for use by nonprofit and community organizations, Columbia resident Heather D'Amore told the County Council this week.
"It's not just a hotel, but a very nice, family-oriented place to stay," said D'Amore, who lives a mile from Peralynna on Hesperus Drive. "That's important and lots of good communities have that to offer."
Susan Robertson, who lives directly to the west of Peralynna, doesn't quite see the business that way. She told the council that Peralynna's guests have trespassed on neighboring properties and its groundskeepers generate loud noise all day long.
"I don't need this," she said. "I want peace and quiet in my neighborhood."
The two spoke at a public hearing before the County Council, which is considering legislation, at the request of Peralynna owners David and Cynthia Lynn, to amend the county's zoning regulations to create a conditional use (special zoning exception) for boutique hotels. The legislation is aimed at bringing Peralynna into compliance with current zoning law.
Peralynna has been operating as a nonconforming use since late 2001, when a change to the county's zoning regulations eliminated the Lynn's boarding house special exception.
"Over time, there were issues raised as to how it was operating," the Lynns' attorney Richard Talkin told the council. "Peralynna has been working with the county to resolve these issues for a long period of time."
The solution on the table is to create a new special exception category for boutique hotels, which is what the Lynns consider their business to be, according to their website.
The legislation specifies that a conditional use for a boutique hotel may be granted in an R-12 (residential) zoning district if the property is between one and two acres, the hotel has between 15 and 20 rooms and the property owners do not operate a public restaurant or hold outdoor social assemblies, such as weddings.
Talkin said the Lynns have been operating under the rules laid out in the bill "for the past year with no substantial problems to their operation."
But Carole Klawansky, whose home sits directly to the east of Peralynna, testified about "the trauma" that she's endured because of the Lynns. However, she said she supports the legislation.
"I want you to know that I don't support the current owners, nor do I wish to have a boutique hotel neighboring my home," Klawansky said. "What I do want is this 13-year history of noncompliance to be resolved. I want enforceable regulations on the books so that when the owners overstep what is allowed the county can take action."
The only other person to testify was Ellicott City resident Mark McPherson, who said he opposes Peralynna being allowed to operate as a boutique hotel.
"Peralynna has not been a good neighbor," he said. "It has built a huge boarding house packed up against the limits of their property lying to the east and still needs to expand functions in order to make money and remain afloat as a business. They should be made to move their business to a business district."
After listening to some of the testimony, council member Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat, noted: "One of the interesting things about this case is it was recommended for approval by the Department of Planning and Zoning and denied for approval by the Planning Board."
The Lynns did not testify. Approached by a reporter after the hearing, Cynthia Lynn said: "We love our community; we support our community very much." She declined to comment further.
The Planning Board reviewed the proposal in 2010 and unanimously recommended that it be denied. In its written decision, the board concluded that "the need for a new category of hotel establishments was unproven;" a boutique hotel "is too intense a use for placement in a residential zone;" and the proposal appears to be "an attempt to resolve individual zoning violations through regulatory changes ... the board considers it inappropriate to use county land use policy in such a manner."
The council is scheduled to vote on the bill March 5. If the bill is passed, the Lynns would still have to go before the county hearing examiner to get the conditional use approval to operate as a boutique hotel.
Zoning history
The Lynns built their home in August 1996. Less than a year later, they decided to turn Peralynna Manor into an inn, targeting long-term guests. At the time, they were allowed to have an accessory apartment and rooms to house up to four non-transient guests, according to county Planning and Zoning records.
"The property owners were advised on April 14, 1998 that the minimum stay for borders was 30 days, and a review of this property last year indicated the property to be in compliance with the Howard County Zoning Regulations," read a Department of Planning and Zoning memo dated April 5, 1999.
On Oct. 19, 2000, the Lynns filed a petition seeking a special exception to operate as a boarding house. The petition described targeted guests as "corporate employees of stays 30 days or more." The county Board of Appeals granted the Lynns the boarding house special exception in 2001.
The county zoning regulations in 2001 defined boarding house as "a building in which lodging is offered either with or without meals to more than four but fewer than 20 non-transient residents." The regulations specifically noted that a boarding house does not include "establishments offering lodging to guests on a daily, weekly or similar short-term basis."
Later in 2001, the county changed its zoning regulations on special exceptions to conditional uses. The new rules specified that boarding houses were to only be allowed in rural conservation and rural residential zones. Because Peralynna is located in a R-12 (residential) zone, it became a nonconforming use.
Because the Lynns were granted their boarding house exception under the old rules, they can operate indefinitely as nonconforming use, as long as they adhere to the 2001 regulations for boarding houses.
But they didn't. The county issued the Lynns a zoning violation warning notice in December 2003 for renting rooms for less than 30 days.
County zoning officials met with the Lynns in January 2004. After the Lynns promised to provide documentation on the average length of their guests' stays, the Department of Planning and Zoning, according to an internal memo, decided to hold off on enforcing the zoning violation until seeing the documentation.
The Lynns sent a letter dated Jan. 29, 2004, noting that the Board of Appeals decision granting their boarding house special exception in 2001 said they could have guests that typically stay a week or more.
"Our average stay since that date has been far in excess of a week," the letter read. "Our average stay is 125.68 days, due to several long term guests who have been here in excess of a year."
Though Planning and Zoning records after that date show internal memos questioning whether Peralynna was adhering to the conditions of its 2001 special exception, an official violation was never issued.
Department of Planning and Zoning director Marsha McLaughlin explained that when Peralynna became a nonconforming use, the rules became "so mushy, it didn't really leave us a lot to enforce."
So instead of pursuing what she said would have been "a very weak enforcement case," the county has worked with the Lynns and their neighbors to draft new rules.