Keys officials wary of state vacation-rental bills

There’s much to love about the Sunshine State, so it’s no wonder tourism is our main industry.

But Florida Keys officials are worried local power to regulate short-term vacation rentals is being taken away in Tallahassee.

State House Bill 425 and the identical state Senate Bill 188, which passed through the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries Tuesday, would prohibit municipalities from regulating vacation rentals “based solely on classification, use or occupancy.”

In a nutshell, the Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) says that rules created for vacation rentals would have to apply to all homes in the municipality. Also, municipalities wouldn’t be able to regulate how long or often vacation rentals are rented out. The law wouldn’t apply to local ordinances created before June 1, 2011.

Marathon’s vacation rental law was created before then but if it were amended, the state rules would take over, said City Planner George Garrett. Rentals in Marathon require a minimum stay of seven nights, one rule among many in the city’s rental ordinance.

In Key West, the minimum stay is 28 days but there are some homes licensed to be rented for less than that. In Islamorada the minimum stay is 28 days, too.

All three municipalities created ordinances before 2011 when a state law passed mandating cities and counties have vacation rental ordinances in place. If the ordinances are changed, the state takes control and there is no required minimum stay, said Marathon City Attorney David Migut.

“No one wants to take such a gamble and potentially lose their grandfathered status,” he said.

The potential loss of local control by SB188 and other similar bills would “have a heck of an impact on affordable housing,” said Key West City Commissioner Jimmy Weekley.

“Why would you rent to someone to live in a place year-round when you could get big bucks to rent it out for a week at a time as a vacation rental? The state of Florida would turn into one big hotel room,” he said.

The village of Islamorada structured its vacation rental ordinance in 2005, limiting the number of rentals there to 333. That number has never been reached, said Councilman Mike Forster.

“We’ve never even come close to exceeding that number and that’s fine with me,” he said. “We made sure vacation rentals don’t end up in residential neighborhoods where our families are. We know our neighbors and it has affected the quality of life where we all live.”

Even if Marathon, Key West and Islamorada have ordinances considered safe for the time being, Garrett, Weekley and Forster all voiced strong opposition for more laws that take away local control.

HB 425 passed the House Agriculture and Property Rights Subcommittee earlier this month and is now in the Careers and Competition Subcommittee.

“This Legislature is taking away more home-rule rights from communities than I’ve ever seen,” Weekley said.

This story was originally published March 25, 2017 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Keys officials wary of state vacation-rental bills."