A pair of code violations against Holmes Beach City Commissioner Jayne Christenson were posted and addressed in a week’s time.
Code compliance supervisor James “JT” Thomas and code administrator Kim Charron told The Islander Dec. 15 that city staff posted two notifications of violation Dec. 2 on the front door of Christenson’s property at 132 49th St.
The city found the property in violation of code for advertising and renting a portion of the home as a vacation rental. City code only allows rental of the whole dwelling.
Thomas said an anonymous caller brought the issue to the city’s attention. The city then used its rental violation software, HARMARI, to confirm the property was advertised online as a one-bedroom vacation rental.
The property has four bedrooms, according to its vacation rental certificate.
Christenson attempted to certify the property last year as a duplex so a portion could be used as a rental unit, according to Charron.
However, the property is listed on the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website as a single-family home. It also lacks a firewall to separate the proposed rental unit from the rest of the house.
Charron said Christenson could rent the entirety of the dwelling as a vacation unit for up to 30 days a year while maintaining the property’s homestead status, but she could not rent or advertise a portion of the property.
One violation required Christenson to come into compliance by Dec. 7 but she called and resolved the issue before that date, according to Thomas.
Thomas said advertisements for a portion of the property as a vacation rental were taken offline and no renters were found at the home, so the property was deemed in compliance.
If the city later finds the property in violation of the same codes, it can bring the matter before a special magistrate as a repeat offense.
Christenson told The Islander Dec. 16 that she made a “verbiage” error in the rental advertisement that led to the violations.
“It was a mistake on my part,” she said. “That was just something I wasn’t aware of, and I fixed that.”