'Frustrated:' As WL plots Airbnb ban, zoning board approves one more

‘Disappointed,’ West Lafayette city official says after asking Board of Zoning Appeals to reject a short-term rental, to no avail. Plus, a guide to early voting. And more

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‘FRUSTRATED:’ AS WEST LAFAYETTE PLOTS AIRBNB BAN, ZONING BOARD APPROVES ONE MORE

If West Lafayette’s intention, laid out earlier in April by the city council, to work a ban on Airbnb- and Vrbo-style short-term rentals into the city’s zoning codes has much of a pre-emptive effect, it didn’t show Wednesday night.

A proposed transient guest house in the 900 block of Princess Drive that had lingered on a Board of Zoning Appeal docket with inconclusive votes since September was granted a special exception to start operating as a short-term rental.

The vote, 5-2 on the countywide Board of Zoning Appeals, came over the objection of a West Lafayette official who had encouraged board members to hold off on adding Airbnb-ready properties as the city finalizes a study looking at a housing situation that suggests the city is 5,900 units short of demand.