The City of Kokomo is considering making more than a dozen changes to its zoning ordinances that, if approved, will affect future wedding and event venues, short-term rental businesses, pet boarding companies and more, and will give the city more regulatory power over these businesses.
The reasons for the proposed changes vary, but Greg Sheline, executive director of the Kokomo-Howard County Plan Commission, said some of the changes are aimed at preventing what the plan commission’s office considers unnecessary hearings before the county. Kokomo Board of Zoning Appeals.
“When you’re on the Board of Zoning Appeals … and you see the same cases all the time, that means your zoning ordinance isn’t working,” Sheline said at the Planning Board meeting on Tuesday. “You can’t fix everything, but when we can fix it, we want to try to fix it so we don’t overload the Board of Zoning Appeals with cases that really don’t need to be heard.”
That said, some of the proposed changes would increase the number of cases the BZA will hear and vote on. Businesses, such as wedding venues, commercial boarding schools and short-term rentals, would need to receive an exceptional use permit from the BZA before they can operate such a business within the city limits, if the proposed changes are approved by Kokomo City Council.
Those who are denied an Exceptional Use Permit may reapply after six months or if the proposal is materially different from the previous proposal. The BZA can also impose restrictions or revoke an exception use permit if the contingencies it places on the permit are not met.
The proposed changes received a favorable recommendation from the Kokomo Plan Commission on Tuesday. It now heads to Kokomo City Council for consideration and voting.
If any or all of the proposed changes are approved by City Council, they will not be applied retroactively and will only apply to new applicants.
Here are some of the most notable proposed changes:
Wedding/event venues
Sheline said the vast majority of new wedding and event venues opened in the county are in the unincorporated parts. But that has changed, and now the city is seeing more and more such places open within the city limits.
Currently, the city has nothing in its zoning ordinance regulating wedding and event venues. The proposed change would add “Wedding/Event Venue” as a special exception used under Zoning District C2 (Medium to Large Scale General Commercial).
“It gives us a bit of regulation on these wedding/event venues because obviously we don’t want them everywhere or anywhere,” Sheline said.
Short term rental
Shortly after tech companies, like Airbnb or Vrbo, were established that popularized the rental of extra rooms or entire homes to travelers, cities and states implemented their own regulations or even banned them.
The city isn’t banning short-term rentals, or “vacation rental homes” as the proposal calls them, but it is now requiring anyone who wants to list their extra bedroom or extra property on websites like such as Airbnb and Vrbo, must first receive a special exceptional use authorization from the BZA.
“While we’re fine with their presence in our community, that governs their numbers and where we’re going to place them,” Sheline said.
One of the proposed amendments also defines a “vacation rental home” as: “The temporary rental of a furnished apartment, house or professionally managed condominium resort to tourists such as alternative to a hotel”.
Commercial Boarding Schools
Amid a surge in the popularity of pets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheline said the Planning Commission office is getting an increase in calls from those looking to open a boarding house.
The city’s zoning ordinance doesn’t have many boarding regulations, so it’s now proposing to require anyone wishing to open a pet boarding ordinance to first receive an Exception Use Permit. special of the BZA.
One of the proposed amendments also includes the addition of a definition for “Commercial Boarding School”. The proposed definition is as follows: “an establishment used for the lodging, keeping, sleeping or training of animals which are not the property of the owner of this establishment”.
Residential city center on the ground floor
The city’s zoning ordinance allows residences in its downtown commercial zone, but requires them to be on upper floors. The proposed change would allow residences in the downtown commercial district to be on the ground floor.
To do this, the owner or developer of the property will first need to receive a special exceptional use permit from the BZA.
Accessory structures
An increase in the permitted size of an accessory structure may be coming to the city.
One of the proposed changes to the zoning ordinance is to increase the permitted size of an accessory structure from 1,000 square feet or 100% of the square footage of the main structure to 1,500 square feet or 100% of the square footage of the main structure.
Sheline said this change is being proposed because of the city’s annexation efforts over the past few years.
“When we annexed many properties several years ago, we had some county zoning and some city zoning,” Sheline said. “In the county, you might have a fairly large barn or garage. Now that it’s in town, you’re only allowed 1,000 square feet, which can be quite small.
According to the Kokomo-Howard County Plan Commission office, the BZA heard six waiver applications last year to appeal the 1,000 square foot standard for accessory structures.
Tips
Large multi-family dwelling
In recent years, the city is experiencing more and more large-scale real estate developments. Currently, any development of more than 17 units that wishes to settle in the city must receive a special exceptional use permit.
Under proposed changes to the zoning ordinance, a new zone – M3, Large-Scale Multifamily Residence – would allow larger-scale residences over 17 units to fall into this zone.
Maintenance of commercial signs
The city has no regulations regarding the maintenance of commercial signs. That could soon change.
One of the proposed changes to the zoning ordinance includes requiring commercial signs to “be subject to regular maintenance so that they remain in good condition.”
The proposed change dictates the frequency or number of times that maintenance must be performed. However, he defines panel maintenance as: “any maintenance task performed on a planned and continuous basis to identify and prevent problems before they lead to equipment failure. Some common routine maintenance includes regular inspections or maintenance work such as changing light bulbs, cleaning or replacing broken items.
Parking and storage units
The city has seen an influx of new indoor and outdoor storage units being built. Currently, the city’s zoning ordinance requires parking for all new storage developments. While many older storage units have a main office, many of the newer town ones do not, requiring developers to obtain a waiver from BZA.
The new zoning ordinance change proposal gets rid of this requirement.
Under the proposed change, storage buildings without a main office will not be required to have parking. Storage buildings with a main office will need to have at least three parking spaces, and indoor storage facilities will need to have at least 10 parking spaces.
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