Anna Maria city attorney Becky Vose lept into action in June.
The Anna Maria City Commission passed an emergency ordinance at a June 11 special meeting called by Mayor Dan Murphy at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.
The ordinance amended the short-term vacation rental ordinance, allowing exemptions to rental contracts written before the vacation rental ordinance went into effect April 9.
The ordinance prohibits more than eight guests from occupying a rental unit and the amendment exempts agreements made before the ordinance’s adoption.
Contracts created after the adoption date must follow the new regulations.
Vose drafted the emergency amendment after learning of the ruling by 7th Circuit Judge Michael Orfinger on a short-term rental lawsuit in Flagler County.
The plaintiff’s claimed Flagler County was prohibiting vacation rentals by creating regulations for quiet hours, the number of occupants and a rental licensing system — similar to what Anna Maria did with its ordinance.
Orfinger ruled Flagler’s rental ordinance is legal and does not prohibit vacation rentals. However, he ruled against enforcement of previously established contracts.
In Anna Maria, to qualify for an exemption, rental agencies and owners would submit rental contracts signed before April 9 to the city by July 15.
The city’s special magistrate would then review the contracts.
If the contract is determined intentionally false, the rental agent or owner applying for the exemption would be denied rental privileges in the city for one year, beginning Jan. 1, 2016. The property named in the false contract also would be disqualified for the same period.
To help get the word out to rental agencies and owners, Murphy said he would contact all entities in the city’s vacation rental database, using whatever contact sources they have.
According to city code, an emergency ordinance only needs to have one public reading, but must be approved by a super-majority vote.
The vote was unanimous.
The emergency ordinance will automatically be repealed 61 days after it’s June 11 adoption date.
Vose said that should allow commissioners enough time to adopt a vacation rental ordinance that allows the same exemptions for future rental contracts.
On the agenda for the special meeting, commissioners held a first reading of an ordinance that changes the board’s makeup from five members to seven members and adjusts the quorum requirements to a seven-member board.
A final reading and approval are required, with the mayor making appointments to the volunteer board and final approval from the commission.
Board members may not hold elected or other appointed offices in the city.
Murphy said he’s working on having candidates for the commissioners to consider by July 9.
The commissioners also discussed a new six-month building moratorium ordinance, allowing commissioners time to clarify 11 topics in the land-use regulations.
Commissioner Dale Woodland said he still was confused why the commission was going forward with a moratorium. He argued that many questions could be answered immediately.
“This is paralysis by analysis,” he said. “Nothing’s getting done because we’re looking too hard for simple answers.”
Building contractor Greg Ross, owner of Ross Built Construction, 507-C Pine Ave., Anna Maria, said the current building moratorium is costing him 50 percent of his business.
He implored the commissioners to reconsider, saying the moratorium violates the Fair Housing Act by restricting families — who are protected under the act — from building a home.
The new moratorium would allow demolition and construction of commercial buildings and residences with three or less bedrooms with a lot coverage of 40 percent or less, and allow renovations of existing structures as long as the plans meet the bedroom and lot coverage limits.
No vote was taken.
In other matters…
• Murphy introduced Anna Maria city engineer Lynn Burnett as the island’s capital improvements manager. She will represent the island cities on the Sarasota/Manatee MPO Technical Advisory Committee.
• The commissioners gave Murphy permission to sign an agreement with the State College of Florida in Bradenton to allow Anna Maria government to operate at the college in the event of a disaster.
In their work session, commissioners discussed changes to the living-area ratio ordinance, but it was tabled. Murphy gave an update on parking enforcement and Vose gave an update on amending the vacation rental ordinance.
The commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 25, at city hall.
The top topics of Anna Maria’s new building moratorium:
• What is the minimum size of a bedroom?
• Clarification of a building’s living allowance ratio.
• Should pools be considered an impervious surface?
• What should the impact fees be for water, sewage, parks, roads and fire?
• Should the city’s building and fire code be amended for multi-family homes?
• Should the city separate building permits from other development permits and establish a separate zoning land-use permit?
• Should the city determine building permit fees based on lot size or number of bedrooms?
• Should the city issue a lot clearing or demolition permit before receiving a building permit application?
• How should the city determine if a building project is conforming to the current zoning code?
• Is the zoning code consistent with the comprehensive plan.
• What should be the time limit for renovation projects on elevated structures?