UTICA, Illinois — A property owner is suing the Village of North Utica, the town where Illinois' Starved Rock State Park sits. Property owner Sam Patel says a change in Village law dictates how he does business and who he does business with. And now some property owners are selling their units, even when demand for rentals is high.
"It's an unexpected gem for the state for sure," says park visitor Andrew Morris.
The park is a gem for Illinois and a jewel for property owners like Sam Patel.
"We're getting inquiries for people who want to rent in 2023. That's how busy we are. The demand is wonderful out here," says Patel.
And yet, his 10 rental cabins sit empty.
Patel used to book guests through third-party services like Airbnb. But under a new village ordinance enacted in February 2020, he can't do that anymore unless he gets special approval. And the Village denied his application for that citing zoning issues.
"If you go back and look at the original documents of these properties, they're zoned for short term rentals. They're zoned for vacation rentals. That's why people purchased these," says Patel.
The cabins he owns make up 188 cabins in a homeowner's association called Grand Bear Lakes Townhomes, built and established back in 2004. Near these cabins, but not part of the same land, sits Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Lodge. A new owner purchased the lodge back in 2019 after it sat empty for years.
Village leaders in North Utica say the ordinance came about, in part, because of the police department responding to calls of noise complaints, unruly large groups and underaged drinking at the cabins.
A Freedom of Information Request filed by News 8 shows over the past two years, there have been two noise complaints and two underaged drinking reports at the dozens of rental cabins.
"We are willing to hire our own security to patrol the area to keep an eye on the Airbnb guests," says Patel. Patel also says each one of the units has 24/7 video surveillance and noise sensors that alert the owner when things are getting too loud.
The ordinance does give rental property owners another option. It says the owners of cabins near, but not part of, Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Lodge can go through the lodge directly to find renters through a lodge rental pool.
Patel says that rental system comes at a huge cost to property owners, he says, up to 65-percent of the nightly rate.
"One of the wonderful things about Airbnb is they're charging me 3-percent. So if you think about 3-percent verses anywhere from 65-percent, that's crazy. I'm crunching the numbers in my head and at the rates they rent it out at, I can't pay my mortgage, my utilities, insurance with them taking such a big cut," says Patel.
Patel says the Village is forcing property owners to do business with the privately-owned lodge exclusively.
"Let's connect the dots here and try to make this fair," says Patel.
And that's why he's taking the Village to court to fight to keep his cabins to continue catering to the millions of visitors Starved Rock State Park attracts.
"To think we have to sell them prematurely, its ridiculous," says Patel.
If property owners disobey the ordinance and use Airbnb, they could get a citation for up to $750 a night. News 8's Freedom of Information Request shows since the ordinance was enacted at the end of February 2020, the Village of North Utica has hit rental owners still using Airbnb with $19,350 in fines.