The City of Minot is working with The Vegas and the Guest Lodge on North Broadway on the issues, said Derek Hackett, public information officer for the city.

“We do know that there’s been a handful of hotels across the city that have been out of compliance with our zoning ordinance, mainly using these hotels as extended stay, basically operating as apartments, which is against zoning ordinances and against a lot of building and fire codes,” Hackett said.

In July, the city and First District Health Unit took action against Fairview Lodge in southeast Minot. The motel was being used by long-term tenants in violation of zoning, and evacuation was ordered by First District Health Unit when the building lost its water supply.

The Vegas and Guest Lodge, which are under the same ownership, have various options for coming into compliance, Hackett said.

Jill Schramm/MDN The Guest Lodge has zoning compliance issues it is addressing with the city.

For instance, the properties are in a zoning district that allows for residences above commercial properties so that becomes an option. Another option is to rezone to allow for long-term tenants. In either case, the owner would need to ensure units are properly equipped to function as living quarters, including having some type of kitchen facilities.

Hackett said the city has been working with the owner since early June and has twice extended the deadline for compliance. The current deadline is in early September.

The Montana owner could not be reached for comment.

Another common concern has been that some hotels have been out of compliance with the requirement that they have a staff person on the premises 24 hours a day and must provide housekeeping services. Motels, which are not enclosed, aren’t subject to the same requirements.

“When we were made aware of these issues of hotels not having staff there at all hours, we did compliance checks on all of them. Right now, almost all of our hotels are compliant,” Hackett said.

The Minot Planning Commission will take up the matter of hotels and motels and proposed ordinance changes when it meets Monday.

According to information provided to the commission from the city planning office, the recent trend is for motels not set up for extended stay to act as apartments to fill empty rooms.

“These facilities are offering long term monthly leases where there are no staff people present; no front desk or lobby personnel, no housekeeping, no maintenance workers. Since these facilities lack kitchens for food preparation, the occupants are bringing microwaves, toaster ovens, hot plates, ‘dorm’ fridges, BBQ grills, and the like into the units. With limited electrical outlets the additional electrical load increases potential fire hazards,” the report stated.

At The Vegas earlier this month, emergency responders had trouble gaining access because of locked doors and no on-site staff, the information stated. It took 15 minutes for the ambulance crew to reach the patient once they arrived on site.

The city also has concern that hotels and motels operated as apartments are not collecting lodging tax after stays of more than 30 consecutive days.

“This represents a loss of revenue for the City and an unfair advantage compared to those lodging owners that are following the rules,” the report stated, noting that legitimate extended stay hotels do collect tax on stays of less then 30 days and are fully staffed, with adequate facilities for extended stays.

The commission will consider an ordinance amendment that clarifies that lodging quarters are for hotel personnel. It also will consider an ordinance change to require commercial and residential mixed use in hotels and motels be approved as Planned Unit Developments as prescribed in the zoning code.