Even as the Florida lawmakers consider proposed legislation that would put much of the regulation of vacation rentals into the hands of the state, county authorities are trying to address immediate issues.
At its March 2 meeting, the St. John County Commissioners voted unanimously to add two code enforcement officers to respond to complaints on weekends.
The action would address one of the biggest frustrations for residents living near short-term rentals: getting help from officials at a time when no one is typically on duty.
“The problem is that, more often than not, these complaints will come in on a Friday night, on a Saturday night, and we don’t effectively have code enforcement officers in the field at that time,” County Building Official H.T. White told the commission. “By Monday, the problem has been resolved, but not necessarily to the satisfaction of the complainant.”
Commissioner Paul M. Waldron said the biggest problems with some short-term rentals were noise, trash, parking and occupancy.
The Sheriff’s Office can enforce cases of disturbing the peace and trespassing, but other issues fall under other authorities, such as code enforcement.
The action came up during an agenda item that was to amend the county’s land development code. Those changes would have set a maximum occupancy for a short-term rental at 16, allowing two people per sleeping room plus two for a common room. It would also mandate one parking space per three occupants.
Commissioner Henry Dean said he would like to set the maximum occupancy at 10. For those who have invested in renovations to accommodate more renters, he favored a phase-in period. But he did not support a grandfather provision, as it would not improve conditions where short-term rentals already exist.
“My primary concern is providing a greater level of protection and comfort to those longtime residents who have lived in residential neighborhoods for a number of years … and have been somewhat overcome with these large numbers of vacation rentals,” he said.
Some residents had told him that they would move if there was no relief.
But White pointed out that setting a maximum occupancy triggers a change in the application of state building and fire codes. That’s because when a limit is imposed on a single-family home for the purpose of renting it out for less than 30 days, the home becomes a public transient lodging establishment.
That means regulations regarding fire extinguishers, fire alarms, emergency lighting, and proper egress and ingress kick in. Essentially, the home falls under the same rules as a hotel.
At the same time, White said the county does not have the resources to go out knocking on doors to determine what every single-family home is being used for.
St. Johns County officially has about 2,300 such rentals, but no one knows how many have not been counted.
The commission did not act on the proposed code changes, but instead voted unanimously to direct staff to study the issue of maximum occupancy and phasing it in and to report back with recommendations in 60 days.
Meanwhile, House Bill 219 and Senate Bill 522 may complicate the commission’s plans further. Both are under consideration in committees.
Senior Assistant County Attorney Bradley Bulthuis told the commission that one bill would prohibit local governments from conducting local inspections or local licensing of short-term rentals. Also, local authorities would have to treat all rental properties the same as all residential properties.
The other bill, however, would recognize local governments’ ability to regulate vacation rentals.
