Florida Senate Rental Bill 280 Corrals Residents Who Don’t Rent on a Short-Term Basis.

With Florida SB 280, the State will be in control of vacation rentals.  It’s another attempt over more than eight years of bills to bring Florida’s vacation rental industry under a statewide regulatory umbrella. This is a fine example of how the State wants the local licensing revenue. 

BACKGROUND

Florida’s short-term vacation rental business began in 2011 when Governor Rick Scott signed a law preventing local government from enacting a law, ordinance, or regulation that prohibits vacation rentals. This led the way for the short-term rentals, with the likes of Airbnb jumping in, since local governments could no longer prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of the rentals.

There was an exception, however, that “the law does apply to any local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted before June 1, 2011.”

It so happened Vero Beach and Indian River County (IRC) had local laws, ordinances, and regulations adopted before June 1, 2011, limiting rentals to 30 days. 

Despite this grandfathered clause, on July 12, 2012, at a Special Call meeting, IRC Board of County Commissioners voted in favor of exempting Transient Boarding Houses (TBH) rented out for less than 30 days from the commercial zone definition of hotels and motels, which allowed these businesses into our residential neighborhoods effectively undermining zoning laws and most importantly discarding our existing grandfather clause which IRC can never reclaim under existing State laws. 

Former Commissioner now Property Appraiser Wesley Davis favored weekly rentals. 

Current Commissioner Joe Flescher, who together with former Commissioner Bob Solari spearheaded re-zoning residential neighborhoods and sponsored the rezonings shared Commissioner Davis’s sentiments.

In 2012 Former Commissioner Bob Solari “believed the existing mechanisms could deal with the issues, and if the Board prevented people from renting short-term rentals, and made them annual rentals, it might be just as bad.”  10 years of rental events in the County has now proved this contention and those of his colleagues to be completely wrong.  

With respect to Vero Beach, the City did not choose to abandon its grandfathered 30 days rental regulation, and the state did NOT take away that regulation. It is in effect today.  Solari exempted himself from the harmful intended consequences as he lived and continues to live in the City of Vero Beach.

10 years of City (Vero Beach) rental events has now proved their action in 2012 to be completely sound.

After having chosen to allow short-term rentals in 2012, in IRC adopted regulations in 2015 for short-term rentals following repeated complaints from people in various non-Vero Beach neighborhoods.    

These regulations include, among others,

• Parking regulations.
• Prohibition of “Commercial Events,” such as weddings characterized by music…alcohol…
• Restrictions on noise and vibration (drums, cymbals, and loudspeakers).
• Restrictions on piers, docks, and boat slips.
• Sea Turtle and dune protection.
• Occupancy restrictions
• Trash and recycling

NOW comes SB 280

Under SB 208 “Licensing (it used to be Regulation) was added to the regulated activities of public lodging establishments and public food service establishments which are preempted to the state…”

The toxic language in the bill is a new subsection.  “This subsection does not prohibit a local government from establishing a local law, ordinance, or regulation if it is uniformly applied without regard to whether the residential property is used as a vacation rental.” (Pages 22-23 of 36.)

This is where the worm turns.  With SB 280 the conversation moves to restrictions on people who don’t use their residential property as a vacation rental.  

Because, for example, since IRC short-term regulations limit the number of cars to five, a family that doesn’t rent their residential property would be restricted to five cars.  What happens when that family has a graduation party with 12 cars?

Here’s another. Prohibition on commercial events at residence (e.g. weddings and celebrations).   How’s that going to go over with a couple on the beach on A1A who are planning a once in a lifetime 125-person wedding.  Of course, even if it was allowed there would be noise restrictions.

And as the new “licensing authority,” all complaints would now need to be directed to the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).  

Enforcement would come from DBPR, a chronically understaffed and underfunded agency.  The DBPR complaints office for Indian River County is in Orlando and serves four other Central Florida counties.

Don’t bother calling the Sherriff’s office.  Call the DBPR in Orlando.

SB 280 is just not going to work.  If residents, who do not rent, understood SB 280’s sneaky way of having non-renters adhere to short-term rental regulations, they would not stand for it.  Is my private residence going to be subject to the local parking regulations and noise levels adopted for short-term rentals in the County? This is a sneaky way derailing current regulations.

Indian River County officials need to strongly oppose this bill on behalf of those residential homeowners who don’t rent.  They need to step up and do some serious lobbying.   Go to Tallahassee and talk the walk lobbying State Senators and Representatives in corridors of the capital to educate them on how this will affect non-renters.

At a recent County Commissioners meeting, John Titkanich, the new county administrator, indicated “he was going to “Get the ducks lined up” to fight this legislation.  Who are the ducks:

Is one County Administrator Titkanich?

Which County Commissioner is going to Tallahassee to rub elbows and make other Counties aware of the consequences of the bill?

Is “duck” County Attorney Bill DeBrall going to Tallahassee to discuss the harmful effects of the bill on non-renters, prior to retiring with his pension?

Is “duck” Sheriff Eric Flowers going to Tallahassee, so he can report on short-term violations as well the challenges of keeping the peace, before the upcoming Sheriff’s election?

And the answer is certainly not sending the IRC’s Tallahassee Lobbying firm, Anfield Consulting, who should not be involved in this lobbying, despite renewing their $ 120,000 annual agreement. Anfield has no credibility whatsoever with the fallacious/misleading representation of “less restrictive.”

Anfield goofed up and misled Indian River County, providing a fall sense of security by inserting this wording into Republican State Senator Danny Burgess’ similar 2021 Senate Bill 512 bill on February 1, 2022:

“This paragraph does not apply to any local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011… or when a law, ordinance, or regulation adopted after June 1, 2011, regulates vacation rentals, if such law, ordinance, or regulation is less restrictive than a law, ordinance, or regulation that was in effect on June 1, 2011 (Emphasis added).

IRC had no short-term regulations in effect on June 1, 2011.  How could the short-term regulations, approved on June 21, 2016, be less restrictive?

Why, at the Senate Community Affairs Hearing on February 2 did Edgar Fernandez of Anfield Consulting “wave in support,” when his appearance card came up to address the committee on the amendment containing the less restrictive language?

Anfield Consulting.  Edgar Fernandez far right.

Didn’t Anfield realize IRC had no short-term regulations in effect on June 1, 2011.  So how could the short-term regulations, approved on June 21, 2016, be less restrictive?  

SB 280 was filed on 11/30/23. On 12/13 it was voted favorable by Regulated Industries; YEAS 4 NAYS 0. The bill is now in the Fiscal Policy Committee.