The Hancock City Council will hear public comment on and consider approval of an amendment to their rental ordinance at Wednesday’s city council meeting.

The amendment concerns a “housesitting” exemption for the residential rental property ordinance. According to Councilperson John Haeussler, he drafted it in response to public comments made during passage of the original ordinance, and an invitation from Mayor Paul LaBine to propose amendments.

Haeussler said that while the council did not seem to oppose a housesitting amendment at the time the rental ordinance was passed, it could not be added without restarting parts of the process, so they moved forward with passing the ordinance and decided to consider amending it later.

The bulk of the amendment is in the addition of a new exemption to licensing requirements, for a dwelling being occupied by a non-owner for a time not exceeding two years in a five-year period and without significant compensation.

Haeussler said this exemption is for people in the community who are gone for extended times and like to have someone occupy their home while they are gone. He said some professors or National Park Service personnel find themselves in that situation. They do not charge rent, but sometimes the housesitters will pay utilities or maintenance expenses.

“They don’t need to have a rental registration, they don’t need to go apply to the city and pay the fee and become basically a landlord, a registered landlord and a registered rental,” Haeussler said.

The amendment also clarifies that short-term rentals in an “R-1 zoning district must be Owner Occupied and the Owner must reside on the Premises for the duration of the Rental.”

Haeussler said this clarification better reflects what the council intended with the original ordinance.

Haeussler also added new definitions to the ordinance for campgrounds, dormitory housing, hotels and motels and jails. He said one of the exemptions in the previously passed ordinance mentions these things, but does not define what they are, and he wanted to add definitions to avoid future issues.

Campgrounds and jails refer only to municipally-operated facilities, dormitories are operated by a “post-secondary educational institution,” and motels are the same as hotels. Hotels are defined as ten or more rooms under common ownership used for short-term lodging, excepting dormitories, hospitals, nursing homes and facilities owned and operated by non-profit organizations. These definitions are specific to the ordinance and do not affect other laws or ordinances.

“They’re not great definitions, but they work for us right now,” Haeussler said.

He said if more campgrounds — or jails — move into Hancock, they would probably need to be fine-tuned further.

Copies of the proposed ordinance are available from Hancock City Hall by request.

The council will also consider a County Designated Assessor, appointments to the Downtown Development Authority, a non-represented staff wage increase of 2.75%, and a grant application at Wednesday’s meeting, according to their agenda.

The meeting is being held virtually and starts at 6 p.m.. Connection details can be found on the city website, cityofhancock.com, or the public can participate by dialing 312-626-6799 and entering the meeting ID, 848 6331 3686. Pressing *9 will “raise your hand” virtually, to signal you wish to make a comment, so you can be recognized by the council.