It appears a year-old ordinance in Holmes Beach may not be working.
“I appreciate the blight the commission has been working on, but there are still some loopholes,” resident Richard Motzer told commissioners at a Nov. 25 meeting in city hall.
He said vacation rental homes are taking advantage of the “loopholes” and turning “residential districts into rent-a-dential” districts.
Motzer specifically cited eight-bedroom duplexes in the R2 residential zone and questioned whether they comply with the living-area-ratio restrictions in the land-development code.
Commissioners directed building official Jon Betcher to look into the projects. At a December meeting Betcher reported that all the projects met city code.
Resident John Huckerson also commented on the large rentals in the residential districts, saying he doubted they’re in violation of the LAR.
“They’re monsters, but I imagine you’ll find they’re legal,” he said.
Commissioners passed an ordinance January 2013 limiting the square footage of a home in relationship to its lot size. The ordinance was put into place because new construction in the medium-density residential R2 zone — which allows vacation rentals and duplexes — was not compatible with existing residences.
The LAR is the relationship between the amount of air-conditioned floor area in a dwelling unit and the area of the lot or parcel. The intent of the LAR was to reduce the size of homes and duplexes.
David Greene, city plans examiner, said the majority of homes in the R2-duplex zone are restricted to 34 percent or less of lot size.
“And 34 percent is pretty restrictive,” he said.
He added that many new homes include large porches and outdoor areas — features that are exempt. The homes may appear larger, but do not violate the limits on LAR.
“I think its something we should look into,” said Commission Chair Judy Titsworth at the Nov. 25 meeting. “We do have an occupancy level in our comp plan and it’s two per bedroom. Now we might want to consider occupancy levels in bedrooms labeled so on the plans.”
Titsworth said she would add the subject of rental home sizes to the first work session in January, when commissioners plan to discuss safety regulations for vacation rentals.
Commissioner Marvin Grossman has suggested requiring health and safety standards for vacation home rentals. He said fire regulations, pool cleaning and other standards applied to hotels could be applied to vacation home rentals.
The commission will discuss the issues at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
In other building business
Dorothy Pon asked commissioners if the city had taken action to ensure builders have power and water at construction sites.
A builder, without permission, used utilities from Pon’s property in August. No charges were filed, and the matter was settled between the builder and Pon.
“We didn’t have to make an ordinance because that can be administratively done,” Titsworth said.
Mayor Bob Johnson said he would speak with building official Jon Betcher on that matter as well as drainage issues.
Adding to Johnson’s list, Grossman asked that plans be made available in the building department for public review for up to 30 days.
“At least once a week a citizen asks me about construction,” he said. “I can see where the frustration is for citizens. I was appalled when I found out the number of eight-bedroom houses that are being built right now.”
The plans are public record and available upon request, but Grossman suggested maintaining an open, readily available file of current projects.