I was scouring this thread a couple months back when we were denied, and there wasn't much followup from people who got approved.
The good news is that we did get approved, so it is possible (but not easy) to navigate the Chicago BACP. Here's our story:
We own a 3 unit building. We live in unit 2, and we Airbnb unit 3. Before we spent thousands on remodeling and furniture for the Airbnb, we spoke to our Alderman Brian Hopkins (Ward 2). His office said that because we were owner occupants of the building, we would not need any approval. And if we did need approval, Brian would help. Both of these statements were misinformed lies.
After a few successful weeks on Airbnb, we received the same city denial that many of you have. We were Airbnb'ing a unit in a building that was not owner occupied. Alderman Hopkins office and I both misinterpreted this part of the code. The city says you must occupy the same UNIT that you are Airbnb'ing. The code reads like you can get away with occupying a unit in the building. Nope.
A simple solution to avoid all the crap I'm about to write? You could just change your address to the Airbnb unit and be done with it!
However, if you've been denied already, there are two courses of action, both of which are free.
The first is an appeal. Filing the appeal means that the 10 day window to delist the Airbnb is extended to however long it takes the city to get you a court date. The city is flooded with requests like this, so you'll be months away from court. Feel free to keep operating your Airbnb during this time. The appeal needs to appeal the verdict based on something wrong in the original application. In our appeal, we suggested that we would move to unit 3, make it our primary residence, and then list it on Airbnb as originally planned.
The second route is a Commissioners' Adjustment. This must be filed within 10 days and is a permanent change (kind of like a zoning change) to allow a short term rental. The application makes it appear like you need to prove some undue hardship or burden by being denied. Other posts on this forum suggest that you simply need alderman support. Getting alderman support is a whole paragraph of its own below.
As soon as we were denied, we called Alderman Brian Hopkins' office. I got through to a friendly girl who was newly in charge of short term rentals. She again told me it would be fine and that Brian would approve of it if not. Then she personally spoke to BACP and realized the error in her understanding. Not once did she call me. I had to chase this multiple times each day to get any progress.
She did offer to write up a support letter and get it to Alderman Hopkins. After 5 days of delays, we were on the very last day of submitting an appeal and I was calling hourly. She finally "got the letter" to Brian and he said "no." His staffer suggested he is "cagy" about Airbnbs. Did she get the letter to Brian? Is he actually receiving money from local hotels under the table to oppose Airbnbs? Rumors swirl, Chicago politics suck, and the only concrete evidence I have is that Alderman Hopkins was part of the team who introduced Airbnb restrictions via City Hall. Definitely not an advocate.
We pressed on and submitted our Commissioners Adjustment anyway without Alderman approval. We included 2 support letters from neighbors, zoning, and neighborhood evidence. We didn't expect anything of it, but after a month, I got called to City Hall to sign the paperwork. Once you receive a commissioners adjustment, there's a 10 page "good neighbor" kind of form to sign about how you will keep it quiet, use electronic locks, and install security cameras. With that, we got our registration number and are good to go!
I should also mention that there are lawyers to help you navigate this. One such lawyer is Shorge Sato, and his site is https://keepchicagolivable.com/about/. Rates seemed reasonable. I represented myself and did fine, so to each their own!
In summary, Chicago does not make this easy, and having an Alderman like Brian Hopkins makes it even worse. You can persevere though, and if you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me via email. I could even share our full application with you, but I will not share it publicly for privacy reasons.