Moratorium talks are underway in Holmes Beach on two stop-work measures for builders, and the city attorney warned commissioners not to “regulate into prohibition.”
One moratorium prevents the building department from accepting permits to build a home with four or more bedrooms in the R1, R2, R3 and R4 zones. The other stops the issuance of permits for swimming pools closer than 10 feet from the setback.
The calls to stop work are an effort to regulate the size of vacation rentals in certain zones — hence the building moratorium — and to address drainage and noise issues, hence the pool moratorium.
City planner Bill Brisson reviewed commission recommendations made March 10 and March 12 that would limit the number of sleeping rooms based on lot size. He noted this would be the driving force for discouraging large vacation homes.
Brisson also reiterated other “tools in the tool box” that commissioners could use to regulate vacation homes, including parking regulations and enforcement of occupancy limits already in place.
City attorney Patricia Petruff advised commissioners that too many regulations are confusing, and could push the city’s new rules into a legal gray area. She said state law clearly allows municipalities to regulate but not prohibit vacation rentals.
“You get into a situation where you’re treating resort housing so differently it prevents them from doing it. That’s not a lawsuit I want the city to have,” Petruff said.
Brisson said he always will “bow” to the city attorney’s judgment, but argued for the additional regulations on parking and pools to discourage large rentals.
“You really have blockbusting is what you have. When I tried to outlaw resort housing in 2005, I knew it was going to be bad, but I never envisioned this. Not this bad,” Brisson said.
Restricting the number of sleeping rooms in a vacation rental will discourage the building of large rental homes before plans are drawn.
Anyone could build an eight-bedroom home — the size of homes that sparked discussion — but they couldn’t use the property as a short-term rental, he said.
Brisson said homes with more than four or five bedrooms are probably not intended for someone retiring to Holmes Beach. He cited 2011 statistics that show only 43 homes in the city had more than five bedrooms.
“I imagine today that number is much higher,” he added.
Brisson said he intended to return with more research results and statistics.
Swimming pools
Pervious or impervious? Drainage systems? Percentage of lot coverage? If citizens in the gallery at the March 12 meeting were confused, commissioners were with them.
Commissioners considered two possible regulations to address drainage and noise issues related to pools.
City code classifies a pool as a pervious surface, but Brisson and city plans examiner David Greene recommended pools be considered impervious.
Brisson explained that the definition of impervious means the surface allows for water to percolate into underground aquifers and that pools do not do this — they simply hold water.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District classifies pools as impervious, which brought on discussion as to whether the classification would impact the community rating system that dictates flood insurance rates.
Brisson said builders now can design lots to have up to 40 percent impervious surface, which is relatively restrictive. Classifying a pool as impervious would limit what could be put on a plot based on the minimum allowable pervious surface standard.
The second possible regulation — the rule defining the moratorium — would be to increase the setback, creating less space for pools and more space for drainage systems.
Many questions regarding drainage went unanswered, including what impact pools had on drainage and what was needed for adequate drainage on small lots and new construction.
Mayor Bob Johnson and commissioners decided they would call upon the city’s contracted engineer, Lynn Burnett, to answer those questions before taking a direction.
But the talk on possible pool regulations “raised the little hairs” on the back of Petruff’s neck.
She said that under a 10-foot setback regulation some houses would never be able to be have a pool, and likely would not be converted to a vacation rental — and that could amount to a prohibition.
Petruff said she would consult with other city attorneys on the matter, adding that everyone is trying to figure out what is legal and what is not.
Max Powers, owner of American Beauty Pools, called for commissioners to rescind the moratorium until they had done research.
“It’s evident the moratorium doesn’t have anything to do with 10 feet. It’s about resort housing. We keep revolving back to resort housing,” Powers said.
The discussion on drainage originally applied to all properties.
Citizens air frustration on uncertainty
Citizens expressed frustration over the moratorium, citing uncertainties of the future for their property.
“I don’t think this is what we really want. This is silly. Four bedrooms is hardly a mega-mansion. Who’s paying for this? Are my taxes going to go up? My property is going to be worth less and my taxes go up?” said resident Sue Wheeler.
She urged commissioners to “get back to the basics.”
Gregg Bayer, a city resident and owner of AMI Beaches Real Estate, said it has been increasingly difficult to do business in the city when homebuyers making an investment face changing rules.
Philip Gale said he intends to start a petition of homeowners who do not want a pool setback change, adding it would do nothing to curb noise and would negatively impact home values.
In other matters
Commissioner Marvin Grossman asked March 10 how contractors breaking rules are held accountable.
John Fernandez, part-time building official, said typically they get a stop-work order and the issue is fixed.
However, it was acknowledged that there are times when stop-work orders are ignored. There also have been situations observed of similar code violations resulting in stop-work orders across multiple sites managed by the same contractor.
Petruff said code dictates those matters go to the board of adjustment, but she acknowledged the board had not met in a long time and does not have adequate membership.
Anna Maria resident Kevin Hutchison suggested commissioners could make stricter penalties for violations. Keep a personnel file, record infractions and ban companies if they repeatedly violate city code.
Holmes Beach resident John Hutcherson brought commissioners a copy of Port St. Lucie’s regulations, which requires contractors to obtain a certificate of competency to work in the city.
“We don’t have any mechanism to hold outlier contractors accountable,” Hutcherson said. “Maybe this is Marvin’s answer to what we might be able to do.”