Different vacation rental rules for beaches, mainland
Renting property for commercial use on Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key is A-OK. But on the mainland? Not so much.
Escambia County commissioners support low density residential zoning categories on the barrier islands for short-term rental activity, but they oppose the same for the mainland.
“We’ve coded them differently for a very specific reason,” said Commissioner Doug Underhill (District-2). “Lifestyle, economy, behavior on those islands is different than it is the rest of the county. We must truly protect the historical nature of our residential neighborhoods on the mainland, and the islands are very different.”
The topic came up for discussion Thursday afternoon at their committee of the whole workshop. The Code Enforcement staff sought and received their approval to proceed with enforcement on mainland complaints.
“You’ve got too many people living in nice subdivisions, where these residents are owners who moved away and they’d rent these out just like condos for months at a time, especially those that were out somewhere close to the Perdido Key area,” said Commissioner Wilson Robertson (District-1).
The commissioners voiced their support for mainland enforcement on the heels of a bill being introduced in the Senate to all but eliminate their authority.
“There’s really a push at the state level to get you guys totally out of this issue, so there probably is some risk to go forward,” County Attorney Alison Rogers said in reference to SB 348, which is in committee overseen by Regulated Industries.
Florida legislature already minimized local government control in 2011. The law prohibited local governments from establishing new rules to ban, restrict or address vacation-rental issues. Rogers said the county denied commercial activity or public lodging on lower density residential zoning categories before 2011.
“That sent many local governments into some legal chaos basically,” Rogers said. “Different cities and counties in the state are either challenging it, dealing with it or working through different issues.”
In 2014, the Legislature diminished the preemption on vacation rentals by passing Senate Bill 356. The law allowed local governments to adopt ordinances specific to vacation rentals to address issues generated by an influx of vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. But the bill maintained prohibition against local laws, ordinances or regulations prohibiting vacation rentals.
Robertson promised to stand his ground if the Legislature further strips the commissioners of their authority over vacation rentals.
“I’m more than willing to defend our citizens if there is the potential of a lawsuit,” he said.
Underhill echoed those sentiments and took a swipe at state lobbyists in the process.
“I’m absolutely going to go to bat for the citizens of Escambia County," he said. "They matter more to me than the lobbyists in Tallahassee, who have been pushing to take this out of our hands.”
Violators beware
Escambia County Attorney Alison Rogers describes the process if the Code Enforcement staff finds you in violation of renting mainland property for commercial use:
"A code enforcement violation will typically mean a notice of violation which tells you to come into compliance, gives you reasonable time to come into compliance and then a notice to attend a special magistrate hearing if you don’t. Then, if the special magistrate finds you out of compliance he or she can impose a fine that can accrue daily on your real property and can be memorialized as a lien. There are other possibilities, including code violations being treated as second degree misdemeanors, but for land use purposes, assume the special magistrate route."
http://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/pensacola/beaches/2015/11/13/different-rules-beaches-mainland/75578576/