Bradenton Beach has rounded a corner in its efforts to regulate vacation rentals.
The planning and zoning board, city commissioners, the mayor and staff met Feb. 21 in a workshop to discuss the board’s recommendations for a transient public-lodging establishment ordinance.
For about six months, the board has been discussing a TPLE ordinance, similar to existing vacation-rental ordinances in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach.
The board gave a bullet-point list of its recommendations to the city commission, which met in two workshops to discuss the proposed regulations.
The TPLE would replace the quality-of-life ordinance that was written by city attorney Ricinda Perry and adopted in 2015, but never implemented. It would allow “transient use of residential property” upon issuance of a license from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation along with a city business tax receipt and the proposed TPLE license.
Perry suggested the commission meet in a workshop with P&Z members to compare the TPLE to the QOL ordinance.
At the Feb. 21 workshop, city planner Alan Garrett said when the P&Z board was given the task of replacing the QOL ordinance, they decided to “start with a clean slate.”
Garrett said now that the P&Z recommendations are complete, he agreed, they should review the QOL ordinance side-by-side with the bullet-point list of TPLE recommendations.
Vice Mayor John Chappie agreed.
“We already have an ordinance in place, it just needs modification,” Chappie said Feb. 21.
P&Z member Bill Vincent said he remembered in previous discussions about the QOL ordinance, the additional staff time required to implement it was what caused the city to suspend the ordinance.
“Has anything changed or would the same thing happen again?” He asked Perry
Perry responded later, saying the concern had been that enforcing the ordinance would require additional city staff. She said this was the reason the QOL ordinance was not implemented.
“This is where we got hung up last time,” Perry said.
A change recommended by Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale would be to require a minimum 5-by-7 inch sign on or within 2 feet of the front door. It would provide the name and phone number of the unit owner, rental agent and 24-hour emergency numbers, including 911 and the BBPD phone number.
The QOL ordinance also provides for an exterior sign, but specifies it “may be posted anywhere on the property where the information is readily visible to the public.”
Speciale said Feb. 21 the purpose of the exterior notice is for his staff to have access to a contact person in an emergency. He does not, however, condone public involvement, including neighbors calling the owner in the middle of the night.
The group reached consensus that wording would be changed to say the sign must be “visible to staff,” not public view.
Additionally, the board suggested an interior notice, which also is included in the QOL ordinance.
The interior notice would include the same information as the exterior notice, as well as occupancy and vehicle limits for the property, a parking plan, violation notice, and a copy of the DBPR and city licenses.
The QOL and TPLE ordinances address occupancy, but the QOL ordinance does not limit occupancy. The TPLE recommends a unit be limited to two occupants per bedroom, plus two occupants, not to exceed eight occupants.
Commissioner Ralph Cole said he is concerned about how this would affect existing large rental houses in the city.
“How do we keep from following everybody off the cliff?” Cole asked, referring to the VRO legal challenges in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach.
Those cities enacted vacation-rental ordinances with occupancy limits that spawned a large number of Bert Harris Jr. Act claims — demands for compensation or restored rights, mostly due to the occupancy limits.
“Are you going to grandfather that in?” Cole inquired.
Chappie responded, saying he does not think the city commission is going to agree on the occupancy issue at this point, and he recommended they “set that aside right now” to pass other regulations.
The group continued to compare the two ordinances and determined that the majority of the QOL aligned with the P&Z board recommendations.
In conclusion, the group agreed to direct Perry to write a draft ordinance for staff review. And they further recommended staff review the draft to determine if it could be enforced and if additional staff would be needed.
The city commission will again discuss the ordinance in a workshop, before bringing the matter to a vote and the required public hearings.