Conclusions for a string of alleged Holmes Beach vacation rental violations must wait until November.
Special magistrate Michael Connolly told those on the docket at the Oct. 20 hearing that he wants written arguments and additional evidence before considering orders on the complaints.
The city maintains that vacation units were rented for improper lengths of stay or without city-issued certificates at five condominium units at Coconuts Beach Resort, 100 73rd St.
The Coconuts Condominium Owner’s Association owns the resort. Developer Shawn Kaleta is named title president.
Kaleta also owns the units cited by the city, according to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website, manateepao.com.
James “JT” Thomas, city code compliance supervisor, presented the first case, dealing with repeated rental of a unit that lacks city-issued certification.
He said city staff noticed ads displaying the unit as a vacation rental did not stop after a certificate expired this summer.
When Thomas sent code compliance officers to the unit, they encountered a tenant who provided information that the unit was rented for less than a required seven-day stay.
City planner Bill Brisson said the resort is in the A1 district, where vacation rentals of less than seven nights are prohibited except at licensed hotels or motels.
Brisson said the unit, 103B, is registered with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation as a vacation rental and, therefore, cannot be a hotel or motel.
Thomas recommended Connolly issue a $250 daily fine beginning Sept. 24, the date the city served a notice of hearing for the violation, as well as a $127.24 administrative fee.
When the city began presenting its cases separately, attorney Louis Najmy from the Bradenton-based Najmy Thompson firm requested all eight cases be heard together.
Erica Augello, the city’s code compliance attorney, agreed to bundle the Coconuts cases.
Najmy argued that the city’s vacation rental ordinance did not prohibit nightly rentals in the A1 district, only the R1-R4 residential districts. And he asked city staff to produce evidence showing otherwise.
Brisson said the vacation rental ordinance does not contain language prohibiting nightly rentals but refers to the zoning code, which establishes the seven-night minimum stay for the A1 and R1-R4 districts.
Connolly asked both sides to put their arguments in writing, including excerpts and analyses of code.
He asked Brisson to submit his code analysis by Oct. 25 and gave Najmy 10 days to respond.
Connolly said he would ask Augello to submit the city’s final argument within five days of Najmy’s response.
He said he would consider the evidence and begin preparing orders in early November.