Pending legislation in Tallahassee threatening local vacation rental regulations might be a done deal.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said March 23 that he met with 10 state legislators during his visit to the Capitol the week before to discuss his concerns with SB 714, a bill filed by state Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, which would preempt local vacation rental regulations to the state.
Despite his opposition, Murphy said every legislator he spoke with said the bill’s adoption into law was a priority.
“I can’t tell you how disappointed I was,” Murphy said. “The bill could change the entire complexion of this city.”
SB 714 would preempt licensing and inspections of vacation rental properties to the state, as well as prohibit municipalities from regulating the duration or frequency of rental activities — unless such regulations were adopted before June 1, 2011.
That would nullify the city’s current vacation rental ordinance, which was adopted in 2015.
The bill also would impact vacation rental ordinances in Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach, which adopted their vacation rental regulations in 2016 and 2015, respectively.
The bill would allow local governments to establish vacation rental registration programs, but limit registration fees to $50 for a single application and $100 for a collective application.
It also would remove the limit for vacation rental occupancy, which Anna Maria caps at eight people.
The city currently assesses each vacation rental property based on maximum occupancy, beginning with a base occupancy of two people, plus two people per bedroom — a minimum occupancy of four people.
The city is set to charge $84.17 per allowed occupant in 2023-24, so a vacation rental property with minimum occupancy would require a fee of $336.68 to register.
That charge is prorated to cover the cost of enforcing the city’s vacation rental ordinance, as well as inspections and lobbying costs associated with vacation rentals.
So SB 714’s proposed limit on registration fees — which represent a significant decrease from the current rates — would hamstring the city’s rental enforcement and lobbying activities.
The Senate Regulated Industries Committee voted 5-2 March 14 to send the bill forward to the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government, where it was pending review March 25.
Murphy said he met with committee chair Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, and DiCeglie — the bill’s sponsor — to discuss his concerns.
He also met with members of the Manatee County Legislative Delegation, including Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, and Rep. Will Robinson Jr., R-Bradenton.
Murphy said that none of the legislators he spoke with were “surprised” by his concerns about the bill hamstringing the city’s efforts and inviting chaos by removing occupancy limits.
“They know exactly what this bill is,” he said.
Murphy said Passidomo liked SB 714 “just as it was written.”
He said the city of Naples, in Passidomo’s district, would not be impacted because it adopted a VRO requiring minimum 30-day stays in 2011.
But, city attorney Becky Vose said the Naples VRO is being challenged in court, and SB 714 could impact them, too.
Murphy said the legislators he spoke to had heard no opposition to SB 714 from the Florida League of Cities, leaving it up to Anna Maria and its website, homerulefl.com, to oppose the bill’s adoption.
He called homerulefl.com, which provides information about bills threatening municipal home rule and allows users to automatically send composed emails of opposition to state legislators, the city’s “best hope.”
City clerk LeAnne Addy provided statistics for the website’s activity since it began its latest mailing campaign March 3.
Since then, the website has been used to send 4,940 letters to state legislators and accrued an additional 555 subscribers.
If the bill and a companion bill pass both chambers, it will go before Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has veto power, for final approval.
Murphy said the city’s lobbyist, Land O’ Lakes-based Corcoran Partners, had no indication of what DeSantis would do with SB 714.
There was no public comment.
Sadly home rule advocates often push regulations and laws that are either unconstitutional, inappropriate, or completely unnecessary, the state too does some goofy things but usually tries to promote uniformity and harmony under the law. It is important to remember that each and every regulation and law takes something from someone, unfortunately in the need to pander to an audience our politicians forget that.