The process the village of Lakewood uses to regulate short-term rentals has, thus far, worked as intended.

During Monday’s meeting, the Village Board approved three short-term rentals – two unanimously and one with some debate because it is in a R-1 district. The village’s short-term rental law prohibits short-term rentals in R-1 districts unless the Village Board approves a variance.

Board members did so on Monday, but the decision wasn’t unanimous, with board members Nancy Jones and Ellen Barnes voting against allowing the 133 W. Summit St. short-term rental while Mayor Randall Holcomb and trustees John Shedd and Ben Troche voted in favor.

The issue wasn’t the property owner, but the location in the R-1 district that Village Board members had tried to protect when crafting the short-term rental regulations a few years ago. While we think the board made the right decision in approving Monday’s request, we concur with Barnes and former trustee Rich Fischer that the board has to be careful when weighing whether or not to grant future short-term rental variances in R-1 districts in Lakewood. The board shouldn’t penalize short-term rental owners in R-1 areas who have been operating a business in such a manner that the general public is barely aware that travelers are coming and going on a regular basis. But the board has to be cognizant of the fact that approving too many variances could lead to short-term rental saturation in an area where village officials clearly wanted to preserve a residential neighborhood.

That was clearly weighing on Barnes and Jones when they voted and on Fischer when he spoke from the audience. The village’s law has worked as intended so far. But it will be up to Village Board members to make sure the concerns raised by Barnes, Jones and Fischer don’t make the short-term rental law that took so long to craft meaningless.