The Anna Maria short-term vacation rental ordinance had its first day in court.
The lawsuit against the ordinance entered a new stage July 14 when attorneys representing a group of property owners filed an emergency motion for a temporary injunction — and won.
The July 15 hearing was held at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton, where 12th Circuit Judge John Lakin granted the owners’ emergency motion for a “temporary injunction, to maintain status quo, until both parties can come back for further hearings.”
Attorneys Kevin Hennessy and Jennifer Cowan of the law firm of Lewis, Longman & Walker filed the motion on behalf of property owners on grounds the short-term vacation rental and emergency ordinances were not adopted according to Florida statutes.
The attorneys said the ordinances represent an “unconstitutional impairment of all contracts in existence.”
The Anna Maria City Commission approved the ordinance April 9 and then adopted an emergency amendment to the ordinance June 11, creating an exemption for existing rental agreements that allow occupancy on or after the ordinance’s Jan. 1, 2016, implementation date.
The exemption only covers contracts for occupancy by more than eight people in one unit written on or before the April 9 ordinance adoption date. After Jan. 1, 2016, the ordinance prohibits more than eight guests per rental unit.
The decision to create the emergency exemption in Anna Maria came on the heels of Seventh Circuit Judge Michael Orfinger’s June 1 decision regarding 30 Cinnamon Beach LLC and Vacation Rental Pros Property Management LLC v. Flagler County.
30 Cinnamon claimed Flagler County’s vacation rental ordinance prohibited vacation rentals in ways similar to Anna Maria’s vacation rental ordinance.
Orfinger determined Flagler’s rental ordinance did not prohibit vacation rentals, but questioned the legality of Flagler trying to enforce previously established rental agreements.
Finding the same oversight in Anna Maria’s ordinance, Anna Maria city attorney Becky Vose drafted the emergency ordinance.
It was enacted June 11, but could only be in effect for 61 days, after which it is automatically voided.
The rationale of vacation property owners in challenging the city’s emergency ordinance stems from a June 18 notification informing them of the steps required to qualify for an exemption.
Rental agencies or property owners had to submit to the city by July 15 an application for exemption and copies of their applicable rental contracts.
But by the end of July 15, 27 applications were received from among a possible 600 vacation rentals in the city.
The injunction temporarily halts the city’s attempts to implement both ordinances.
Hennessy and Cowan represent Anna Maria property owners Timothy and Ayne Iafolla and Carol Roaldi, Salouh Florida LLC, 106 Los Cedros Drive, Anna Maria; Rysal Enterprises LLC of Bradenton; Seven Emeralds LLC, 803 N. Shore Drive, Anna Maria; Island Real Estate of Anna Maria Island Inc., 6101 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach; and the Anna Maria Island Vacation Property Association, also at 6101 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
Vose said her office heard about the 3 p.m. July 15 hearing on the injunction at 4 p.m. July 14.
Larry Chatt, president of the Vacation Property Association, said Lakin called the ordinance “invidious” — meaning it was created to cause ill will or is unfairly discriminating.
The challenge is being made on several grounds, including the lack of distinction between a vacation guest and property owner; requirement for a 6-foot fence around the yard at a rental home; and requiring smoke and carbon monoxide monitors in properties.
During a July 9 Anna Maria City Commission meeting, commissioners agreed to remove the fence requirement and began discussing ways to distinguish between a guest at a vacation rental property and the owner’s use of the property.
When commissioners adopted the ordinance in April, there was a consensus that problem areas would be identified and resolved as needed by amendments to the ordinance.
Hennessy and Cowan also allege the city failed to provide proper notice of the ordinances.
According to Hennessy and Cowan, the rental ordinance impacts real property and must follow Florida law governing advertising when there are changes in permitted, conditional or prohibited uses within a zoning category or changes in zoning maps.
Those advertisements must be published in a newspaper of general circulation and be two columns wide by 10 inches long, with a header of 18-point-or-larger text.
The city advertised the second reading of the vacation rental ordinance March 26 in the Bradenton Herald in an ad that was one column wide, with a heading in a font size less than 18 points.
According to Anna Maria city planner Alan Garrett, the current ordinance doesn’t change land use or zoning, but the city will need to be careful.
“As an abundance of caution, we’re now advertising the ordinance as a land development ordinance because it can be misconstrued as adding a permitted use,” he said.
There is yet no date for the next court hearing.
The vacation rental ordinance will be reviewed by the Anna Maria Planning and Zoning Board at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.