(A) A Bed and Breakfast Establishment may be allowed as a Conditional Use in the R-1, Low Density Residential District; R-2, Medium Density Residential District; R-M2, Medium Density Residential District and Mobile Home; R-3, High Density Residential District.
(B) A Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall at all times comply with the regulations set forth herein.
(C) A Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall be located within a single-family residence and shall maintain the appearance of a single-family residence. No mobile home shall be used as a Bed and Breakfast Establishment.
(D) No expansion of the residence shall be allowed to accommodate a Bed and Breakfast Establishment and all guest rooms shall be located in the principal residential structure on the lot.
(E) Not more than fifty percent of the floor area of the residence nor more than five bedrooms shall be devoted to rooms rented as overnight accommodations; each bedroom shall serve no more than two guests.
(F) A Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall be an operator-occupied residence at all times a guest is registered. “Operator” shall mean the owner of the Bed and Breakfast Establishment or the owner’s agent who is required by this Ordinance to reside in the Bed and Breakfast Establishment or upon contiguous property.
(G) The operator of a Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall maintain a guest register including names, addresses and dates of occupancy; such register shall be open to inspection by the appropriate City officials.
(H) Meals served by a Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall only include breakfast and shall only be served to overnight guests. A Bed and Breakfast Establishment which serves breakfast shall comply with the following minimum standards:
(1) Food shall be clean, wholesome, free from spillage, free from adulteration and misbranding and safe for human consumption. Containers of food shall be stored above the floor, on clean racks, shelves or other clean surfaces in such a manner as to be protected from splash or other contamination. Milk of only pasteurized Grade A may be used. Use of home canned food is prohibited except for jams and jellies.
(2) Food shall be protected from contamination while being stored, prepared, and served, and during transportation. Perishable foods shall be stored at temperatures that will protect them against spoilage. Potentially hazardous food shall be maintained at safe temperatures of 45 degrees F. or below, or 140 degrees F. or above, as appropriate, except during necessary periods of preparation and serving. Frozen food shall be kept at temperatures that will keep it frozen, except when being thawed for preparation. Potentially hazardous frozen food shall be thawed at refrigeration temperatures or below, quick thawed as part of the cooking process, or thawed by another method approved by the local Health Department. An indicating thermometer shall be located in each refrigerator. Raw fruits and vegetables shall be washed thoroughly before use. Stuffings, poultry, and pork products shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food at least 165 degrees F. before being served. Salads made of meat, poultry, potatoes, fish, shellfish, or eggs and other potentially hazardous prepared food, shall be prepared from chilled products with a minimum of manual contact. Portions of food once served to an individual may not be served again. Laundry facilities shall be separated from food preparation areas. Live animals shall be excluded from food preparation areas.
(3) No person knowingly infected with a communicable disease that may be transmitted by food handling may work in a Bed and Breakfast Establishment.
(4) If the Bed or Breakfast operator suspects that any employee, family member or the operator himself or herself has a communicable disease, the operator shall notify the local Health Department immediately.
(5) All operators shall be certified. Certification shall be achieved by successfully completing an examination offered by the local Health Department as described in the current edition of the State of Illinois Food Service Sanitation Rules and Regulations.
(6) Persons preparing or serving food or washing utensils shall wear clean outer garments and maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness. They shall wash their hands thoroughly before starting work and as often as necessary while working to remove soil and contaminants. After visiting a toilet room, persons shall wash their hands thoroughly in a lavatory but never in the kitchen sink.
(7) No one, while preparing or serving food, may use tobacco in any form.
(8) Utensils shall be kept clean and in good repair.
(9) Multiuse eating and drinking utensils shall be thoroughly cleaned after each use. Facilities needed for the operations of washing, rinsing and sanitizing shall be provided.
(10) Pots, pans and other utensils used in the preparation or serving of food or drink and all food storage utensils shall be thoroughly cleaned after each use. Cooking surfaces of equipment, if any, shall be cleaned at least once each day. Non-food contact surfaces of equipment shall be cleaned at intervals that will keep them in a clean and sanitary condition.
(11) Residential sinks and home -style mechanical dishwashing machines are acceptable facilities for washing multi-use eating and drinking utensils. Utensils shall be air dried.
(12) Immediately following either manual or mechanical washing of eating or drinking utensils, and pots, pans and other cooking utensils, these utensils shall be effectively sanitized by being submerged in a hypochlorite solution with a chlorine concentration continuously maintained in one hundred parts per million, or another approved sanitizing solution which shall be used at the concentration tested and approved by the local Health Department. Dishpans may be used to accomplish the final sanitizing rinse.
(13) The reuse of single-service utensils is prohibited.
(I) A Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall comply with all Building Codes, Fire Codes, and other Codes of the City of Mt. Vernon; in addition, a Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Manual extinguishing equipment shall be provided on each floor in accordance with NFPA 10 - Standards for the Installation of Portable Fire Extinguishers.
(2) All combustibles or flammable liquids shall be stored in approved metal containers. No combustible storage in or under stairways.
(3) All trash containers shall be metal.
(4) No cooking facilities nor storage facilities shall be permitted in guest rooms.
(5) All hallways and stairways shall be adequately lighted.
(6) No portable heating devices shall be permitted in guest rooms.
(7) The operator shall submit a floor plan of the Bed and Breakfast Establishment to the Fire Department of the City of Mt. Vernon; in addition if the Bed and Breakfast Establishment is not situated within the corporate limits of the City, the floor plan shall also be submitted to the Jefferson Fire Protection District.
(8) Smoke detectors shall be provided in each guest room.
(J) No guest shall remain in a Bed and Breakfast Establishment for more than fourteen consecutive days and no guest shall reside within the Bed and Breakfast Establishment for more than a total of sixty days in any calendar year.
(K) (1) There shall be one off-street parking space provided on the lot for each bedroom for rent, in addition to the parking requirements for a single-family residence in the applicable Land Use District.
(2) Off-street parking shall not be met by parking within any required front yard.
(L) There shall be no change in the outside appearance of the residence or premises nor other visible evidence of the conduct of a Bed and Breakfast Establishment other than one sign, not exceeding two square foot in area, non-illuminated and mounted flat against the wall of the residence, or one free standing, non-illuminated sign not exceeding two square feet in area, mounted on a single pole or lamppost, not exceeding eight feet in height.
(M) There shall be no retail sales in connection with a Bed and Breakfast Establishment nor any commercial activity conducted other than a Bed and Breakfast Establishment. No Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall sell or serve alcoholic liquor upon its premises.
(N) A Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall maintain liability insurance to protect its guests and others at all times that the residence is operated, maintained, or advertised as a Bed and Breakfast Establishment.
(O) A Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall be subject to all hotel taxes imposed by the State of Illinois or the City of Mt. Vernon.
(P) Bed and Breakfast Establishment shall be subject to additional reasonable requirements necessary to protect the public health, safety and general welfare as determined by the City Council of the City of Mt. Vernon.
(Prior Code, Art. 21, § 21-600)