It’s taken nine years. Now the vacation-rental industry’s grinding battle to restrict local control and eliminate numerous regulations of rentals in single-family homes, in place since 2014, is verging on success.
A Florida Senate bill that would upend Flagler County’s vacation-rental regulations and open cities like Palm Coast to unbridled rentals in single-family home neighborhoods cleared its last committee stop today when it won support from the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee, which Sen. Travis Hutson, who represents Flagler County, chairs.
Senate Bill 714 is now teed up for a floor vote as is its House companion, HB833, which also cleared all committees. The chambers are expected to pass both bills, which would then be reconciled for the governor’s signature. Should the proposal become law, local government ordinances regulating short-term rentals, written after 2011, would be nullified if they’re in conflict with the state law.
Local governments would have to either let state law stand or re-write their ordinance in accordance with the new provisions. Pre-2011 ordinances, as in Flagler Beach, where vacation rentals are strictly regulated in some areas of town, are grandfathered. If Flagler Beach were to amend its ordinance, it could only do so if it were to make it more permissive, not less.
The success of the initiative this year is a blow to Flagler County government, which was a leader in pushing for the 2014 regulations and has pushed back against attempts to weaken them since. The Flagler County Commission made preserving the 2014 law a legislative priority every year since, and thought it would be just as successful this year, with its own Rep. Paul Renner, who represents Flagler, as House Speaker and Hutson in the Senate leadership ranks.
“Good old Travis,” County Commissioner Dave Sullivan, who’s been part of the push-back for almost seven years, said this afternoon. “We were just up there all five commissioners and Heidi,” he said of County Administrator Heidi Petito. “We were talking to Paul and Travis, they were saying don’t worry guys, we’ll make sure Flagler doesn’t get hurt on this. I know Paul definitely said that.” Hutson was not as assertive. Sullivan said Renner, as House Speaker, has to look at policy more globally rather than just focus on Flagler. “It looks like it’s not good news as of today.”
He added: “It’s not good for Flagler County go go back to the way we were right after the recession, where people were building mcmansions and having 18 people stay and building big bathrooms and that sort of thing. I still think it might not make it through to th end, even though it doesn’t look good at this point.”
As Hutson and Renner have risen through the leadership ranks, the commissioners have been careful not to confront them too overtly for fear of jeopardizing Flagler County’s gravy train in other regards. Since Hutson and Renner appear uninterested in preserving local vacation-rental regulations in their 2014 form, local officials may not be eager to anger them by pushing back too hard, essentially sacrificing the priority in a trade for other pork barrels.
The success of the bill is also a reflection of the vacation-rental industry’s growing power, but also of the growing popularity of vacation rentals fueling that power as consumers–families, groups, revelers–are finding more autonomy in renting homes for their vacations as opposed to booking more constraining hotel rooms.
In response, vacation-rental companies have built or bought homes in single-family home neighborhoods to cater to the trend. To residents of those neighborhoods, the trend has been two-fold–giving some homeowners more flexibility to use their homes as rentals, but also upsetting the neighborhoods’ fabric by erasing the line between residential streets and those approximating commercial strips.
Hutson was cheering today. “If I thought this was something that would hurt a business it would not be on the agenda today,” he said, tipping his hand: his focus was on the businesses running vacation rentals, not necessarily on the fabric of family neighborhoods. “Sen. [Nick] DiCeglie has worked his tail off on this bill. He is giving locals more control than we’ve ever given them before since my 2014 law, and he has bent over backwards to make sure the entire committee is satisfied as well as proponents and opponents and he’s struck a very healthy balance, which is why I’m happy and proud to support his bill today.”
Hutson’s claims are not inaccurate: the state still has regulatory authority. But the claims are misleading when applied to local authority and local governments’ abilities to craft vacation-rental regulations tailored to their own communities.
In key regards–occupancy, parking, noise and trash regulations–single-family home vacation rentals may no longer be regulated, as they currently are in Flagler County, unless the local government imposes uniform regulations on all single-family homes, whether they are vacation rentals or not, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. In other words, the proposed law erases the distinction between vacation rentals and single-family homes–the distinction that gave rise to the 2014 law that Hutson crafted as a House member with then-Sen. John Thrasher.
Flagler County currently restricts vacation rentals to 10 overnight occupants. It does so to prevent the homes from being turned into party house, as they had been before the 2014 law enabled the county to be more restrictive. The county ordinance also specifically regulates vacation rentals for parking and trash, and for noise after 10 p.m. All those restrictions would have to be lifted, including the occupancy restriction–unless the local government were to write an ordinance that imposes identical restrictions on all homes, and apply an inspection regimen that applies to all homes.
No local government has that capability, least of all to regulate occupancy. Such regulations could potentially run into the freedom of permanent residents occasionally to have birthday parties that draw a large number of guests and vehicles, or to have family reunions that generate more than 10 overnight occupants.
The proposal also drastically lowers Flagler County’s–or any local government’s–fee requirements. Currently, Flagler County’s registration fee for a vacation rental is $400. The new bill caps that fee at $150 for an individual home, and allows a company with up to 25 homes to register singly, for just $200 for all 25 homes. That, in effect, is a gift to big companies with large vacation-home holdings.
While the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation gets 30 days to approve short-term rental licenses, local governments will have only 15 days to accept or deny a registration application. If they don;t take action within 15 days, the registration is considered accepted.
On the other hand, the proposal preserves other local regulatory powers for safety and building codes, with local-inspection authority as well as the authority to impose”a reasonable fee” for those inspections.
But local government officials found the claim that the proposal increases local control inaccurate. “You cannot decide where you want to go as to adding vacation rental regulations until you understand where the current regulatory framework is,” Jim Murray, a commissioner from Redington Beach on the state’s west coast, told the senate panel this morning. “It has been said by the bill sponsor that its intent is to give local government tools to better manage vacation rentals while striking a balance between local regulation and the ability of residential property owners to use their property as mini hotels. However, that balance was struck back in 2014,” with overwhelming support from the Legislature. “While giving tools was the initial justification of this bill, now the sponsor has stated we are far past what kind of control local governments can have in this space, and that statewide uniform rules are needed. However, such a one size fits all regulation stifles the ability of the state’s 411 unique cities to tailor regulations to meet their unique needs and concerns.”
Murray spoke against the new registration fee structure, and said ending parking regulations ends “one of the tools which is effective against party houses.” He added, “Today we can distinguish between short term rentals and residential homes since they are very two different animals. If this bill were to pass, we would not be able to regulate short term rentals any differently from residential homes.” The state would take over regulations, and only up to a point, since DBPR responds to consumers, not to local government complaints. Murray said that means there’s “no realistic way registration would ever actually be revoked.” His request to leave the 2014 law in place was in vain.
“My understanding of this bill is it gives you more authority at the local level to go after short-term vacation rentals and rentals all alike, am I misunderstanding what the bill does?” Hutson asked Murray.
“Absolutely that’s not what it does,” Murray replied. “What it’s doing is turning everything over to the state. Just recently in February, we had multiple workshops with our citizens who own properties with investors. I’m an investor myself–not of short-term, but I’m an investor myself–and we went through a lot of different aspects of this very carefully and crafted ordinances that made sense.” It costs a lot more, he said, to administer short-term rentals because of demands on police and other services. “It is taking our ability to locally write the ordinances that we need and our citizens want and turning it over to the state and minimizing almost any type of rules and regulations.”
“So this restricts your current ordinances that are in the books right now?” Hutson asked.
“We have passed ordinances on the on the books right now that will be preempted and will go away. That is correct,” Murray said.
Mark Ryan, who retired from managing three cities in Brevard County for more than 40 years, said he embraced the vacation-rental economy in his years, but stressed the distinction between vacation-rental neighborhoods and the single-family home neighborhoods–a distinction the 2014 legislation recognized. In one of the communities he managed, there was a requirement that each vacation rental include information on rip currents, which killed several people a year. “We think our visitors from Nebraska or Wisconsin or England deserve the right to know of those dangers,” he said. Now, the new bill will do away with such regulations, just as they will occupancy limits and other regulatory measures.
Hutson’s rejoinder? “The eight people that passed away are all vacation rental folks that died in the rip currents?”
“I don’t have that information,” Ryan said.
“You just brought it up to bring it up,” Hutson retorted.
Sen. Debbie Mayfield, the Melbourne Republican who was chairing the meeting during the vacation-rental bill segment, seemed taken aback by Hutson’s challenge. “Is the point of your comment to make aware how different the different communities are and different dangers that you could have in your community that may not be in other communities, that you want to be able to make people aware of, through signage and homes that are being used for vacation rentals?”
“Absolutely,” Ryan replied. “Rip currents are things that are dealt with with oceanside communities. You wouldn’t expect black bear information in the beachside communities, nor would you expect rip current information in Mount Dora.”
Mayfield, however, was in the majority when the vote was taken moments later.
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
Hutson’s last term in office.
Ron Haggerty says
Not to worry. He’s a good boy so he’ll get his reward from Rhonda if he’s still around.
Jimbo99 says
“He added: “It’s not good for Flagler County go go back to the way we were right after the recession, where people were building McMansions and having 18 people stay and building big bathrooms and that sort of thing. I still think it might not make it through to the end, even though it doesn’t look good at this point.””
That level of overutilization of a dwelling is a burden on the rest of the tax payers. One would think the airbnb rental types would be on board with that to ensure their rental property wasn’t being abused. If a motel/hotel chain can limit occupancy for rooms, why shouldn’t Flagler Beach have ordinances to enforce that. It’s almost like the duplexes & houses that are rentals throughout City of Palm Coast & Flagler County. Homeowners that actually bought their properties to live in are being overrun by renters that overutilize dwellings, 2/2’s, 3/2’s & the 4/2.5’s. That affects water & sewage quality, waste & trash pickup, motor vehicles parked in swales & yards. Basically the rental whoring defeats everything that a true homeowner that bought for a quality of life in a residential to raise their own families signed on for.There simply has to be a method for accounting for the abuses of the human pollution & waste that affect everyone living in this county. Another con is any additional crime rate, from public intoxication to harder illegal drug abuses, people are people and 18 in a house, whether an outlier or not, still happens & those types certainly will be partying, etc.. Those earning income must pay a higher tax rate for that level of abuse, since they have revenue property. these are not e-commerce businesses that professional white collar type office work from home types are earning as income. In Flagler Beach, a majority of the community bearing additional & unfair burden. This just reminds me too much of the Spring Break hotel industry for tourism that has finally failed in Daytona Beach, that has been an issue for decades in Daytona Beach & Volusia County. Ijust me, but regulation of airbnb should be strictly applied, it’s in a residential area & not a commercial district.
Jane Mealy says
Flagler Beach’s vacation rental rules pre-date 2014 (passed in 2011) and, therefore, aren’t affected by the State’s new legislation.
Fitz says
I mean, is it really so difficult to mind your own business? If you don’t like having neighbors, maybe you should have bought a bigger lot or more land.
You don’t get to choose your neighbors and you shouldn’t get to choose what they do with their own property.
Angela says
Can you do whatever you want with your property? If it was true you should be able to do anything you want with your own property, there would be no zoning, laws or codes. Many people moved into single family neighborhoods before the vacation rental craze. These motel units belong in different zoning.
Tired of it says
It is not my neighbors I mind. In case you don’t understand, it is the constant flow of strangers at all hours of the day and night. It is the loud music. It is the cars parked all over the street and sometimes blocking my driveway. I mind the fact that these owners are not paying their fair share of taxes. I hope you like it when it happens in the house next to you.
Michael Cocchiola says
I can’t believe this! Republican Big Government!
Everything Republicans used to believe in is gone. I wonder why Real Republicans stay with this new extremist GOP.
Kat says
“If I thought this was something that would hurt a business, it would not be on the agenda today“. I think that sums it up, folks.
Over and over again, Hutson and Renner have proven that the constituents that elected them take a backseat to the businesses that put money in their pockets. And yet the fools in Florida keep electing these people. What is it going to take?
And those who actually live here full-time, work here full-time, and like living in an actual neighborhood with neighbors that don’t rotate in an out every few days, don’t have rights. Not unless we’re flush enough to put a big fat check into the election funds of these clowns. This ranks right up there with passing the laws that allow a business to sue any local governmental entity that they perceive may have negatively affected their business in any way, on the taxpayers dime.
Wake the $&*( up voters.
Robin says
What do you expect when you elect such totalitarians?
Wobie says
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got. Pay attention to who you’re voting for and do some research. Voting strictly by party affiliation might not always be the best choice. Be careful who you vote for, you might not like the result. “The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.” ― James Freeman Clarke
coyote says
@Wobie
I’d like to add one of my favourites quotes of the last few years or so :
‘Jan 16th, 2021
General Kelly, President Trump’s former chief-of-staff said it best:
“We need to look infinitely harder at who we elect to any office in our land. At the office seeker’s character, at their morals, at their ethical record, their integrity, their honesty, their flaws, what they have said about women and minorities, why they are seeking office in the first place, and ONLY THEN consider the policies they espouse.”‘
Of course, that attitude is what got him fired.
Quief says
So we elected a bunch of pussies
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN says
“So this restricts your current ordinances that are on the books right now”, says Hutson? Wow he didn’t know this before he cheered the bill? Great job Hutson, so if some people rent and trash the rental, property and whatever making communities suffer who keep their homes like palaces. They continue to take away more and more of the taxpayers property rights as homeowners. Why would they ever want to lift rental restrictions in single family homes in our communities that our local leaders fought for years? Once again gaslighted by the money hungry greedy twosome who assured our FCBOCC that they are looking out for the county’s best interest and went with the low life corporate owners of these homes who bought hundreds of them back in the day when they were cheap. Once again more money in the pockets of the rich.
Ron says
The Florida Building Occupancy Code certainly makes a distinction between one family dwellings being used for permanent occupancies VS transient occupancies .
A one family dwelling is considered a R3 occupancy. Which states that this occupancy can not exceed 10 transient occupants. If it exceeds 10 transient occupants it will be considered an R1 occupancy which includes hotels, motels , boarding houses and bed and breakfast public lodging. R1 occupancies are prohibited to operate in our zoned single family neighborhoods.
The vacation rental industry along with the legislators like Hutson have been ignoring the Florida Building Occupancy code. Yes this code has been in effect prior to June 2011!
Any one family dwelling Which is an R3 occupancy with an occupancy load greater then 10 transient occupants is illegal and should be control by our local officials.
Wishful Thinking says
Ron says it best. A vile disrespectful slap in the face to us ho pay their salaries and who love the peace and quiet of our single family homes
. Rot in hell Travis and take Renner with you.
Paula says
There was a protest against Hutson outside a community in Flagler County several years ago when similar legislation about short-term rentals was being promoted by our “representatives,” including Hutson. Luckily, it did not pass then – but now our power-hungry “representatives” – Hutson and Renner – need to again be reminded that people want to live in neighborhoods, not next to houses with people who aren’t invested in the community and who are rotating in and out on a daily/weekly basis.
More noise, more traffic, higher housing costs, no affordable places for workers to live… more demand for services by fewer working people. And, will these “visitors” be volunteering in the school and coaching the kids and supporting local businesses year-round? Nope. And, long-time residents will leave the area for a location that IS a community.
Hutson and Renner should read the cautionary tale about Sedona – Sedona had to close an elementary school after residents moved away in droves when laws were passed basically removing short-term rental controls and Sedona became a short-term rental city. The fabric of Sedona was destroyed. Read this “White Paper” about the destruction of community in Arizona as a result of short-term rentals, entitled “The Negative Consequences of Short-Term Rentals: Arizona’s Recipe for Disaster.”
https://blogs.mml.org/wp/short-term-rentals/files/2021/06/STR-White-Paper-The-Negative-Consequences-of-Short-Term-Rentals-Arizonas-Recipe-for-Disaster.pdf
Renner and Hutson, there is still time to change course! Or, next year, there will be the cautionary tale of short-term rentals and Palm Coast’s own recipe for disaster.
Please stop this bill from passing.
Celia Pugliese says
I didn’t vote for any of them as I saw the writing in the wall. You guys failed to vote for Adam Morley (twice) a real Florida Native that cares for our environmental preservation and the peoples right to work for a decent pay plus battling to preserve residents healthy and safe life in Florida!. Let see if you stop voting MAGA for once in 2024 and give a chance to Adam Morley instead. Now you tested the bitterness of your wasted ballot, so please think twice at the ballot box in 2024. Give a chance to a young family man raising and exemplary son Elon: https://www.facebook.com/1159788857/posts/pfbid02vgPgyeNZMBJMCgR3QM2zRExSk41wK2ZpTV99xivpKdVyudMz58dFgastGyppoQ7Ql/?from_close_friend=1and always working hard to preserve our coastal waters from his place of business at Genuns: https://www.facebook.com/GenungsFishCamp/?locale=he_IL
Visit his business talk to him and you will see what a positive he will be versus what you voted till now! https:https://ballotpedia.org/Adam_Morley
By the way I am still a registered GOP (waiting for another Ike to show up) but not crazy yet and yes a proud Rhino as they call me, as my local party does not let me any other choice!
Jane Kranz says
Pay attention to who you’re voting for! It’s important!
Wow says
Dumb as rocks those two.
Roger T says
Great article by Flagler Live, summarizing how our legislators have failed us on this issue. Representive Renner and Senator Hutson are our representatives and surely know how adverse S714 and itsa house twin bill are to our County. It is hard to undestand how our elected representatives ignore their constituants on this issue. It should be clear to them that the 98% of the voters in their district want local control over short term rentals, and 2% don’t. Flagler County adopted reasonable and fair regulations addressing the short term rentals a number of years ago and they have worked very well. There is no reason to override them, as the current bills do. One very important provision in the Flagler County regulatins is the restriction on occupancy to 10 persons. This goes a long way towards stopping the party house rentals such as the 11 bedroom in our residential community that was able to host 24 vacationers at a time.
Hopefully our Governor has more sense then our legislators on this issue and will veto the bill when it goes to him.
Denali says
Seriously? Your relying on DeSantis to have the sense to veto this bill is akin to thinking the sun rises in the west. This legislature has given him everything he wanted and he will repay them in kind.
Angela says
Some of you know I wrote an article on this. (“We Bought a Home in the Hammock. Vacation Rentals Are Turning Our Street Into a Commercial Strip.”)
Many thought we lived in the Hammock Beach resort; we do not. We live on one of the dirt roads on the west side of A1A, and moved here because of the quiet, somewhat undiscovered old Florida we grew up with, trying to get away from overcrowded south Florida.
We live in a single family residential zoned neighborhood. We now have a commercially defined, deskless motel unit, just a few feet away next door, with a constant turnover of strangers, who seem to think we are a part of their vacation “experience.” We are even rated on the website. We hardly go out anymore as people actually come running up to us to ask the same, old assortment of questions. If we go out on our dock (they are there constantly, which is unusual for home owners) they ask us the same questions over and over and over again. We have no privacy. They come with binoculars, camera phones taking pictures of our private residence and *share* it on their social media without our permission. Our private home is in many pictures of this motel unit ad, on AirBnB’s world, wide website. We have nicely asked the owner to crop out our home, and she will not. This unit is advertised as “my home” on the web. It is not. It was solely purchased for business.
These strangers “check in” with a smart phone. The place is unmonitored. Should there be a violation, like the time 12 people, three Seadoos, seven cars a boat and a dog, showed up and stayed, it is completely up to the neighbors to monitor, not that anything will be done about it. It can be a raucous mess. So now, it won’t matter how disrupted our lives are, and the neighborhood is, thanks to these people who claim to represent us. Just call the Sheriff. Your new job is monitor when things get out of hand, like when spring breakers find new friends to bring back.
So, how is it that we have less rights, in our own home, in our own neighborhood, than multi-billion dollar corporations, that have a world wide business? I wonder why Renner and Hutson are so gung ho to back them, and not those who elected them.
For those of you who did not fight this, be prepared, and don’t think this can’t happen to you for one reason or another. For those of you who love to book vacation rentals, not in areas zoned as a resort, or for commercial business, but zoned for single family residential zoned neighborhoods, know this:
Your are not wanted there! Hutson, Renner and the Republicans who “are proud” of this bill, you are not wanted here either!
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN says
Angela: You are absolutely right in everything you say, most people think that because it’s not in their own backyard they turn their head the other way BUT as I always commented on here , just wait till something happens close to home for them. All of our communties in Flagler County should have each others backs, there are power in numbers. As you can see officials like Renner and Hutson keep getting the votes from people who think that they will never be affected by poor infrastructure, overdevelopment, flight school traffic, pollution and noise, all the while planning and development boards keep on voting for more and more housing, destroying our green spaces and adding in dollar stores and storage facilities. Still no traffic lights at dangerous intersections on Belle Tear Pkwy where there are serious and deadly accidents. The mindset needs to be changed and the pattern broken of voting for the same creeps who have the same mentality. Start doing the right thing everyone, start supporting other communities and show these officials that we are tired of their greed, they are elected to support us and our communities, we can start with NOT voting for Donnie O’Brien who is running for his buddy’s Renners seat and do not vote for Danko and Klufas for the FCBOCC up and coming seats, they are all just one big tumbleweed.
Dennis Clark says
Why would we want to give up local control when it has been working so well since 2014? Flagler County has an excellent system for managing short-term vacation rentals since 2014. It has been the model for many other towns and counties. Unbridled short-term rentals in our neighborhood can make life a living nightmare.
Joan gagnon says
No to short term rentals.
JoB says
Big money, big business win again. Very sad that local officials will no longer be able to protect the property rights of their constituents. I am very disappointed in Rep. Renner and Sen. Hutson.
Marineland Acres is turning into a haven for short term rentals. One of my relatives built his dream home there in 2014, but has moved from the area because of his neighborhood becoming, as he called it, Motel 6!
Kim White says
I am in complete agreement with this comment and cannot say it any better or in stronger terms. This bill is bad for Flagler and bad for Florida. Do your jobs and support your constituents, not this terrible bill.
Julia LaRue says
Please stop this bill. We want local jurisdictions on rules in our neighborhoods. Close to coast and do not want companies telling us what is allowed in our neighborhood And it also affects what we can do at our own homes. Thank you
Jeanette P says
It seems like our representatives have no interest in representing their constituents! I cannot believe that all the effort we went through in 2013 to get our current law passed is being threatened. Again. Every year we have had to fight this battle and if we lose it this year, you can rest assured our representatives will lose their job at the next election.
We saw an increase in building and vibrancy when the 2014 bill passed and I predict you will start seeing people leave our beautiful town when their lives are disrupted the way ours were before the 2014 bill was passed. Shame on them if they let this happen!
Kathy says
Please do not pass this bill. Local control on this topic is best for our citizens.
Kevin Hickey DDS says
When we first moved to Ocean Hammock, Palm Coast, FL, in 2014, we had a short term rental property next to our home. It was a nightmare. Mostly loud obnoxious renters who had no respect for their adjacent neighbors. Situations the state doesn’t have to deal with but we do.
Short term rental should be under the control of the local communities not the state. Property values are affected. There are plenty of hotels and resorts, in Florida, for people to have a short term vacation.
Hammock Resident says
Please do NOT pass these bills. Although I am not in favor of short term rentals, at all in areas zoned for single family houses, at least wit local control, Flagler County and other counties, were able to manage these short term rentals. Short term rental properties are businesses that should not be allowed in areas zoned for single family houses. As a compromise, what we have in Flagler County at least limits the abuse.
Just as you can not build a small motel or bread and breakfast on a street zoned for single family houses, you should not be able to run a short term rental business.
Please do NOT pass these bills, that punish homeowners who build in areas zoned for single family residences.
I will volunteer my time and effort to vote out any representatives that vote yes to repeal local control of short term rentals.
CT says
DEFEAT Senate Bill 714 & House companion HB833, PLEASE! Keep Flagler County in charge!
Kim says
I am so tired of government officials claiming they are listening to their constituents and then turning around and voting against them.
The dude says
MAGA is just trying to ensure a robust market for the Central Florida service sector.
If they make it easier to turn homes into short term rentals, then there’s more of a market for house cleaners, lawn dudes, and pizza bakers.
God forbid they try to attract real industry and technology here. You know, actual jobs for actual middle class folks.
Angela says
Dude: As you can read in many of the comments here, the owners, hosts and workers often live outside the county, and sometimes, outside the state. These vacation rentals are not a big employment draw. Here, they either stay the whole time on the property, or take off for St. Augustine. Maybe you can find jobs in St. A. Commercial hotels have a staff.
Tell me Dude, if you do own your own home, how would you feel about having to go inside to talk about your upcoming vacations, or how you may be away during the day, because the strangers next door may hear you? Who are they? All saints? Got background checks on all “guests?” We take all personal conversations inside, and avoid talk in our own back yard, as we don’t know who the people are a few feet away. This is not something you would normally do with neighbors. In fact, you may notify one of your neighbors that you may be away for awhile and to please keep an eye on your place.
Edith Campins says
We did our due diligence, we carefully picked our residential neighborhod. Over the years we develped a sense of community with our neighbors, we helped each other during storms, we looked out for ill neighbors, we kept our homes nicely…Now I live in a comercial area with four short term rentals in my inmediate area. Strangers are all over, at any time of the day or night. Loud music at all hours, cars parked all over the swales, trash left outside…They clog our streets with traffic. These owners are not paying taxes as businesses. The irony is that these are out of town owners, they won’t be voting for Renner and Hutson. They cheat legitimate hotels out of business, they cook so they won’t have to pay for restaurant meals, they use our community and the only ones that benefit are the out of town owners. This is what voting for Republicans gets you.
Angela says
I have written to all the committees, and all but one gave me the “…due to the amount of emails I get…” boilerplate response. One representative, Anna Eskamani, actually responded positively. These two bills, SB 714 and HB 833 passed all committees, which are the Republican majority.
Please go to https://www.homerulefl.com/ and keep up with what’s happening. Commenting here is very good, but it needs to go further. As you can see in another Flagler Live article, the Republican leadership is in a hostile takeover (my opinion) of our state. They are removing all local ordinances, calling them socialism, though our cities, towns and counties are very different and know what is best for them locally. Can you imagine what will happen if Republican rule becomes nation wide? Write to DeSantis and tell him what you think.
Just a thought says
As long as you all keep voting republicans in everything will be alright. What a joke.
Ron says
Need to stop bashing each other. This is serious issue for our single family neighborhoods. These legislators on both sides are complicit. Do you know who they appointment to the DBPR board to monitor Vacation Rentals. It’s a representative from the vacation rental industry. This board handles all compliance complaints! They prevented our local governments from enforcing occupancy prior to 2014. They refuse to allow State Fire Marshall’s from entering one family dwellings license by DBPR as vacation rentals to inspect dwellings for illegal alterations to increase occupancy . They disregard the occupancy limits stated in the Florida Building Occupancy Code. A one family dwelling is an R3 occupancy. The Building Code states that an R3 occupancy maximum occupancy for transient occupants at 10. Why is the State not enforcing occupancy limits in a structure built as an R3 dwelling?? All one family dwellings operating in our state as vacation rental dwellings have occupancy limits for transient operations.
Why are representative from the vacation rental industry appointment to DBPR?? This is all about money!!
Just check the Florida Building Occupancy code for your self.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN says
Ron: Spot on! Yes these crooks of course put people in control who have a common interest with them in preventing Fire inspections, we should hold this person accountable, perhaps class action law suits for not enforcing occupancy limits and disregarding illegal alterations to increase occupancy, I bet many will get into trouble and make them lose their licenses, bet many of them don’t even have a license to make alterations, time to make the state responsible too. They need to be called out because they depend on no one calling them out, they think we are all stupid. Call out every county and PC official who allows this to happen. Many of these officials own these homes from way back, bought them cheap and made a ton of money on them.
Heather says
No matter what you think about vacation rentals, this opens the issue wide open for lawsuits. The court will have to answer why some residents get to enjoy the Highest and Best Use of their private property while others do not.
Ron says
This is not a property rights issue. If I was to license my one family dwelling as a bed and breakfast I would be prohibited from operating in areas zoned single family in addition to require life / safety inspections twice a year. A vacation rental one family dwelling should be held to the same standards. Both of these transient public lodging establishments provide areas for sleeping and places to eat. But the big caveat is that a bed and breakfast has supervision where a one family vacation rental dwelling has no supervision. No one is monitoring a one family vacation rental dwelling for occupancy.
This is why local governments must maintain regulatory control of these transient public lodging establishments.
Angela says
People across the state are trying to stop party houses in their neighborhoods. The last hurdle is the Florida House of Representatives. Please go to https://www.homerulefl.com/take-action-5/ and send your letter to keep local government in control of your neighborhood. Stop this takeover by the state.
K. Barone says
I heard this issue will be brought up at the Palm Coast City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 2 at 6 pm.