Pinellas County commissioners look to crack down on short-term rental issues
Short-term rental discussion in Pinellas County
FOX 13’s Genevieve Curtis reports that Pinellas County Commissioners left a city meeting Tuesday on short-term rental properties in the county united to find solutions against residents’ unruly temporary neighbors.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pinellas County Commissioners made it clear: they’re hoping to crack down on issues short-term rentals are causing for homeowners.
Commissioners considered changes to an ordinance to address occupancy, noise, parking and other code issues while also providing for more enforcement and creating a registry of these rentals.
What they're saying:
Dozens of county residents stuck living next to 24/7 bachelor parties shared their nightmare stories with county commissioners Tuesday night.
"I’ve seen multiple people urinating in the front yard, drunk guests trying to open the door into my own home ringing the doorbell incessantly in the middle of the night," said one neighbor.
Dozens of Pinellas County homeowners shared their experiences living next to short-term rentals as commissioners consider rule changes.
Neighbors have experienced dealing with nudity, violence, trespassers, loud music, drug use and threats from renters.
"It's unsettling because I don't know the people next door. There's no form of background check," said Hilary Simpson.
No one at the meeting spoke in favor of short-term rentals.
By the numbers:
County data shows there are more than 2,500 short-term rentals in unincorporated Pinellas County, and noise complaints have doubled in the last year. There are almost 18,000 STRs in all of Pinellas County.
Dig deeper:
The county is proposing new changes to help with enforcement at these properties. It will create a registry, requiring them to get a certificate to operate along with routine inspections. The new system will track these properties and provide for increased fines.
Staff said this would allow code enforcement to be active instead of ‘reactive,’ which is how all the enforcement has been up until this point.
All commissioners were in agreement that they don’t want to shorten quiet hours and they want to cap the max occupancy at 10 people, regardless of age. A first draft of the bill had proposed removing the max occupancy, reducing quiet hours and not counting children under 12 towards the cap.
Signs like this one have popped up in a Pinellas County neighborhood, where homeowners are speaking against short-term rentals.
"When you check in to a hotel, children are considered just like the adults, and if you do anything above that, you have to pay for the rental of a rolly cart," said Commissioner Rene Flowers.
Commissioner Brian Scott said short-term rentals were by far the biggest issue he hears about from residents, and he is making it a priority to address the issues that have come along with them.
One neighbor spoke about how much value his home has lost being next to a short-term rental – money he and his wife had planned to use for their retirement.
READ: Gov. DeSantis’ idea to eliminate property taxes may come with risks
In politics these days, it's rare to see everyone agree on an issue, but all commissioners were clear in their intention to do whatever they can to help homeowners.
Some commissioners said they’d also like staff to look into whether they can revoke a certificate to operate if a home has too many issues.
What's next:
This was just the first hearing. Staff will make adjustments, and then they will come back in two weeks to finalize it for a vote.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis.
STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:
- Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV
- Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android
- Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines
- Download the SkyTower Radar app
- Sign up for FOX 13’s daily newsletter