Commissioners approved through applause an immediate building moratorium at the Jan. 15 meeting.
Commissioner Marvin Grossman, who underwent surgery days before, said it was too important for him to miss the meeting.
“I would like to call for an administrative moratorium,” he said at the start of the meeting. “If we don’t do this now, it’ll be another couple of weeks and there will be another hundred building permits.”
Grossman left the meeting following the vote and thanked those supporting him. However, thanks may not have been necessary, as commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of the motion and residents spoke passionately for the measure.
The vote took place at a regular meeting and discussion continued at a work session immediately following.
The nine-month moratorium — on new construction projects resulting in four or more bedrooms in the multi-unit or multi-family R2, R3 and R4 zones — was initially proposed in response to talks about safety regulations. Public comment quickly changed the focus to the increasing number of large short-term vacation rental homes.
Holmes Beach resident Margie Motzer and husband Dick Motzer led with presentations targeting eight-bedroom, short-term rentals in residential districts.
Margie Motzer told commissioners the number of bathrooms often is equal to the number of bedrooms. She felt the issue of large rental homes could be addressed by limiting bedrooms and bathrooms in future homes.
She proposed the city create a ratio between the amount of space bedrooms and bathrooms occupy compared to the total living area of a home.
She offered numbers from the National Association of Home Builders to punctuate her point, including an average 41 percent of floor space area for bedrooms and bathrooms in single-family homes.
She estimated the average space dedicated to bedrooms and bathrooms in eight-bedroom homes — built to be vacation rentals — is 68 percent.
Margie Motzer called her suggested rule the “bedroom and bathroom area ratio” or BBAR, which would be used in conjunction with the living-area ratio, LAR, already in place. The LAR is a ratio restricting the amount of air-conditioned space based on lot size.
“We know construction and real estate are important businesses. We’re not asking for an end to business, but we’re asking for help. We need help. We need this moratorium,” said Holmes Beach resident Nancy Deal.
Justifying the moratorium
The commission set out to discuss safety regulations with regard to vacation rentals, which became intertwined with the call for a moratorium and concerns for the size of homes.
“There needs to be some definition on what problems we’re trying to solve and, so far, there’s not,” said Mayor Bob Johnson.
City attorney Patricia Petruff said the commission needed to give her “very clear direction” to draft the moratorium quickly, including a purpose. Petruff said a moratorium is a “special remedy” for a specific problem that requires a finite time frame.
Holmes Beach’s moratorium purpose will echo that of Anna Maria as Commission Chair Judy Titsworth pulled some items from the neighboring city’s building moratorium.
Petruff said she also will borrow the moratorium written by Jim Dye, a partner at her law firm and former city attorney for Anna Maria.
The “threat to the residential character of the neighborhoods” dominated reasons for the moratorium by commissioners and residents at the Jan. 15 meeting.
Commissioner Carol Soustek suggested a ratio between the amount of seasonal and annual rentals in the city be imposed to maintain the residential character of neighborhoods.
Titsworth suggested occupancy limits per rental be strengthened.
Safety regulations eventually contributed to the purpose for the moratorium.
Commissioners proposed in previous meetings drafting health and safety regulations similar to those imposed on hotels to apply to vacation homes.
Titsworth asked commissioners to submit lists of regulations they felt were important for discussion.
The combined items for regulation in vacation rentals include:
• Screening or buffering between the rental and neighboring properties.
• A secondary means of escape for sleeping rooms and/or habitable areas.
• Fire safety, such as smoke detectors, extinguishers, alarms and sprinklers.
• Pool covers, maintenance and inspections.
• Emergency lighting.
Commissioners agreed to tackle life-safety issues first — pool and fire safety regulations —beginning at their next work session 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20.
The urgency is due in part to fear the city could lose recently reinstated regulatory powers over vacation rentals by the state.
Commissioner Jean Peelen and Petruff expressed concerns that swift action would be in the best interest of the city.
“It’s not going to take much for the lobbyists to wrestle back control,” Petruff said. “It’s not going to take that much to crank that window closed.”
What homes would be affected by any possible regulations also entered conversations.
Before the meeting closed, Peelen said commissioners need to think “on three tracks.” Regulations should apply to all homes — vacation rentals, family homes and new construction. Any new rules should be cognizant of the implications for existing family homes, she said.