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Rental committee to consider draft ordinance
Meeting Wednesday at Marco fire department
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High season may be behind us, but Marco Island’s Short-term Rental Advisory Committee is looking toward the future.
On Wednesday, committee members will consider the draft of an ordinance that would require short-term rental owners to register their properties. It could be the first step in city efforts to rein in problem rental properties through local requirements.
Wednesday’s meeting, at 7 p.m., in the training room of the Fire Rescue Department, will be the fourth. The group was formed at the start of the year to address repeated complaints by a handful of residents who reported that they had little recourse for rowdy and overcrowded vacation rentals in their neighborhoods.
At the committee’s last meeting, held March 12, the group voted unanimously to pursue registration requirements for rental properties, and asked city staff to return with some recommendations and more concrete options.
A draft by the city provides for that type of regulation in order to “provide a reasonable means for citizens of the City of Marco Island to mitigate impacts of such rental of single-family detached dwelling units.” It would require owners to register once a year, pay registration fees, restrict occupants to two per bedroom plus one additional person in each dwelling, limit the number of vehicles parked at the residence and display a permit in the home indicating that the owner was complying with requirements.
Registration fees were a topic of discussion at the March 12 meeting, but the committee stopped short of establishing a specific fee. Numbers mentioned ranged from $100 to $400, to be renewed yearly. Fees collected could be used to outsource inspection or enforcement duties, city staff have said.
Fire Chief Mike Murphy and Chief Code Compliance Officer Eric Wardle have both told the committee that their departments are too understaffed to take on inspection and enforcement responsibilities for the untold number of vacation rental homes that exist on the island.
No one knows how large the number is, Wardle has told the committee, because the state of Florida is not required to inform the city of vacation rental homes registered within the city. Though the state tracks such properties, partly for tax purposes, it does not mandate any inspection of the properties.
In addition to the draft ordinance, the committee will also consider a memo from Police Chief Roger Reinke, which suggests “alternative options” to registration.
Reinke suggests more stringent enforcement of the city’s noise restrictions — an effort that would be aimed at the frequent disruptions to life that some residents say they suffer because of noisy rentals.
“This option focuses on the problem of noise irrespective of the type of property ... or the use of the property,” the memo states.
Reinke also suggested passage of a “nuisance property” ordinance, meant to hold property owners liable for the behavior of “tenants, guests and anyone legally on the property.”
In both cases, Reinke included sample brochures and ordinances from other communities that have dealt with similar problems.
Any decisions made by the committee can be drafted into recommendations for Marco Island City Council. The committee does not have rule-making power, but instead acts in an advisory capacity to the council.
Comments
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First you Register. Then you Tax.
Way to go Sunshine Chuck!
Your not keeping loud vacationers quiet, your adding to the Rent of the Working People of our Island!
The 'Landlords' are not paying this fee they are just going to pass it on the the Renters!
What's an extra couple of bucks to a House full of DRUNKS!
I always just thought you were dumb, but now I KNOW your DANGEROUS!!!
#1 Posted by OldMarcoMan on April 1, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It appears this committee has gotten it all wrong. Their recommendation should fail passage, and if it does pass it will fail in actual practice. Listen to Chief Reinke; he is the only person who is making any sense about handling the issue.
#2 Posted by gkpritchard on April 1, 2008 at 1:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To be honest with you, all of the suggestions sound good to me and as a matter of fact I have a few of my own.
First call to the police, the renter gets a warning.
Second call, the landlord gets a warning.
Third call, the landlord gets a $500 fine.
Three fines and the landlord loses the permit to rent the property.
Have a nice day, keep my neighborhood quiet!
#3 Posted by MMarco on April 1, 2008 at 2:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"No one knows how large the number is, Wardle has told the committee, because the state of Florida is not required to inform the city of vacation rental homes registered within the city." Duh! have you asked the state for this information Mr. Wardle. I think they just might be obliged to give you this info, but first you may have to ask for it.
#4 Posted by Cyber on April 1, 2008 at 2:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't rent my house. I just let my drunk rowdy relatives use it free of charge. So what are you going to do? Call the police and report their actions. The police will handle the rest. As it should be.
Won't hold water in court...
http://www.inversecondemnation.com/in...
#5 Posted by vashark1 on April 1, 2008 at 3:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sure glad we sold our rentals on Marco in 2004 at the top of the market! We specialize in vacation rentals not on Marco anymore but in San Francisco and Santa Cruz California. Yes, we pay the cities a 10% tax on short term rentals and hold a buiness license in each. No, the cities do not charge us a fee to harass us with code enforcment and a panel of angry people bent on control. This is very regressive to this city and Embarassing to us since we are Marco Island residents.
#6 Posted by sunnycity on April 2, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I wrote this to Council and have re-sent it.
Dear Council Members (those remaining): There can be Regulation Without Beaurocracy !! As most of you are aware, I am a concerned citizen for Marco Island's future. Unfortunately, I have been traveling for work and have not been able to attend the Rental Committee workshops. As you consider this issue for future action, please keep in mind that there are many better alternatives than starting out with Registration to further "tax" and impede those on our Island that choose to rent out their property. Our reputation has been soiled enough in the recent past, we do not need to diminish Real Estate any further, given today's market. I do not know if it was suggested during the workshops, but City Council could pass an ordinance providing for severe penalties for noise violations. After all, there is nothing that states that noise has been limited to short term rentals. Noise violations could apply to all rentals, and in fact, all residents (if desired). A first violation, as cited by Police, could be a warning or a small fine ($100.00) TO THE PROPERTY OWNER. How long do you think it will take for property owners that rent their homes (short or long term) to write this into the Rental Agreements ?? A second violation could be $200-$500 (or more, whatever Council decides). And so on. Records would be kept at the Police Station and property owners could check for violations prior to returning any Security Deposits to the renter. This could be done via mail or phone, whatever works. All fines would go to the City to pay for the minimal Police time involved in this process. Landlords would write into their agreements about return of deposits being subject to Noise violations. I do not know if this was discussed in the workshops, but it certainly is better than anything I have read in the papers. We need to keep this simple and keep Government out of this as much as possible. The suggestions by the Committee sound like putting out a match with a fire hose. Mr. Olmsted has already stated that we do not haver staff or funds to administrate this. Let us use processes already in place and have the violators pay for it. Thank you for your time.
Ed Issler
#7 Posted by lauralbi1 on April 2, 2008 at 9:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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