DANVILLE — Carolyn Wands loves having her Shepherd’s Inn bed and breakfast on Harrison Street.

“I had my inn full last weekend with the Harley people,” she said. “What a wonderful group of people.”

Her bed and breakfast is the only one in town right now that offers short-term stays. She’s had people stay there from Europe and all over the United States. They come to the city for a variety of reasons.

The bed and breakfast on Gilbert Street only rents rooms for long-term stays, she said.

“I’m the only one right now. I cannot do this alone,” Wands said.

Her comments came Thursday night before the Danville Area Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approving a special-use permit requested by Jessica Sampson to operate The Yorkshire Bed and Breakfast at 1664 N. Vermilion St. in the R-1 zoning district.

The Danville City Council will act on the permit June 19.

Sampson couldn’t contain her excitement after the vote.

“I’m an old-fashioned girl,” she said. “I love to cook, love to clean and love to sew. I love entertaining.”

“I would just love to have a bed and breakfast in my home.”

Her and her husband Bryan’s yellow home is on the southwest corner of Swisher and Vermilion.

Sampson is assistant director of the Danville Election Commission.

Bryan said they’ve long talked about having their own bed and breakfast.

Sampson said she’d eventually like to have three bedrooms available.

One, the maid’s wing, would be open starting Oct. 1.

They would add a second room sometime next year, and then they’d like to open a third room geared more for people with children.

“This is a great home and a great area to have (a bed and breakfast) in,” Wands said. “Jessica, I think, would be a good representative of Danville.”

Zoning Commission Chairman Ken Cunningham initially was opposed to the proposal, but after seeing neighbor approval, he supports it.

This will set a precedent to an extent, but neighbors still have their say, he said.

Christopher Milliken, planning and zoning manager for the city, said parking isn’t expected to be a problem with at most three bedrooms and the large driveway.

Sampson still must pursue licensing and health department regulations.

In other business:

-- Petitioner Solester Johnson withdrew his request to rezone 209 W. English St. to B-1 neighborhood business zoning from R-2 single-family residential zoning and approve a special-use permit for him to operate a convenience retail shop/candy store there.

The building at the northeast corner of Oak and English streets, across the street from Garfield Elementary School, has been vacant for about 15 years.

It had been a neighborhood convenience store.

Johnson owns the property.

Children getting out of school and in the neighborhood could go there and get snacks, according to Johnson, where “every-body can know everybody.”

Johnson said he’d sell candy, chips, ice cream, juice and other items there.

Concerns come from neighbors about increased traffic in the area and allowing a business in the primarily residential area and from Garfield Principal Barbara Garner.

Milliken said she doesn’t want to discourage business near the school, but there is a potential for nuisance problems, especially with other school bus stops nearby, too.

In addition, Milliken relayed that Garner said the store also is somewhat contradictory to the school district’s wellness and healthy-eating programs.

Milliken also said there is no space for off-street parking, and Johnson has not talked with city officials about what needs to be done to bring the building up to code.

Milliken said the city’s public development department can’t fully support the petition with these concerns.

Cunningham said a full-service grocery store in the neighborhood would be a nice fit.

Commissioners suggested to Johnson he withdraw his petition to address the issues and then bring it back in a month or two.

If the commission and then city council denied Johnson’s zoning request, he couldn’t come back with the request for one year.