WARRENTON — The City Commission voted Tuesday to deny appeals against four conditional use permits for vacation rentals in Hammond.

The appeals, which were filed by three residents in late May, came after the Planning Commission voted to allow four units of the Jetty View Townhomes on Fourth Avenue to be converted into vacation rentals.

Jetty View Townhomes, a nine-unit complex, is owned by Mark Hansen, of Jetty Street LLC, and located in a commercial mixed-use zone.

The residents who appealed were concerned about parking and whether the city’s preapplication conference process was followed.

Matthew Ellis, the city’s planning director, described how each unit of the townhome considered for a conditional use permit had ample parking.

Ellis said the reason behind the applicants not meeting for the preapplication conference was partially the city’s fault, as they didn’t inform the applicants.

Since the four conditional use permits still stand, the applicants have 180 days to apply for homestay lodging permits.

The City Commission also amended the terms for the conditional use permits and the applicants’ future homestay lodging applications.

The commission required that the owner of the property needs to provide a responsible party who can respond to issues within 30 minutes. The Planning Commission had set the time at 12 hours.

According to Ellis, the amendment brings the conditional use permits and any future homestay lodging applications into compliance with city code.

Mayor Henry Balensifer questioned whether the zoning code permitted vacation rentals in the area, but, according to Ellis, vacation rentals are allowed.

“What we’re trying to do in the zoning code there is we’re trying to protect the neighborhoods from having these areas turned from residential, core residential uses into … areas like tourism, or … hotels. These (townhomes), however, are in the commercial mixed-use zone. And so they lend themselves to all the residential uses being around commercial areas,” he said.

Ellis said allowing vacation rentals in commercial mixed-use zones allows the city to have a diverse economy and build on existing tourism.