Indian Rocks Beach residents want restrictions on short-term rentals

INDIAN ROCKS Beach front, Fla. — Scottie Vaughan stated she beloved her Indian Rocks Beach community.

“We have been listed here about six yrs, and we moved here since it is an remarkable group,” mentioned Vaughan.

But she mentioned currently that’s all transformed.

“The short-phrase rentals have just changed the fabric of the local community,” claimed Vaughan.

Neighbors say small-time period rentals are popping up all over and driving out the residents who live listed here.

“That dwelling just offered. It’s heading to turn out to be a limited-time period rental. Those people are brief-time period rentals,” stated resident John Pfanstiehl.

Pfanstiehl has lived in the neighborhood for 30 yrs and claimed there are additional than 20 shorter-term rentals on just Harbor Dr.

Neighbors explained the issue is hundreds of strangers filling up these rentals, throwing significant get-togethers, and trashing the streets, and triggering the persons living there to no extended sense safe.

“One of our neighbors up the street, a drunk was pounding on his windows at two in the morning, walked about a dwelling, climbed a staircase, and was pounding on the home windows of his bedroom. He failed to know what house he was in. He was as well drunk,” stated Pfanstiehl.

Neighbors reported the most significant issue is the constant stream of strangers coming and heading.

Pfanstiehl mentioned at one particular place, Indian Rocks Beach only allowed residences to be rented for 3 months at a time. But in 2011, the Florida legislature passed a regulation prohibiting area governments to control getaway rentals.

If municipalities experienced an ordinance in area just before June 1, 2011, they ended up grandfathered in. But Pfanstiehl claimed Indian Rocks Seashore commissioners made modifications to the language of their ordinance following June 1, 2011, which built them no longer grandfathered into the three-month requirement. Now he reported you will find a revolving doorway of strangers remaining in their neighborhood each and every couple of days.

“The phrase residential has no indicating if you have industrial lodgings for transients in there,” mentioned Pfanstiehl.

But other folks say guests ought to be equipped to practical experience this slice of paradise.

“We have to be actually cautious because overregulating items its…a slippery slope,” stated Erika Dietz.

Dietz lives in Indian Rocks Seaside and owns a short-expression rental household in the neighborhood.

“I love becoming a gracious host. I appreciate supporting folks, and family members have astounding vacations listed here,” said Dietz.

She claimed it truly is a tiny variety of rentals that are resulting in the challenges.

“It can be a really tiny slice of house owners that probably really do not treatment as considerably, and if we can handle that issue, I think we’re likely to be there,” reported Dietz.

To handle these problems on Tuesday night time, both of those citizens and city commissioners spoke at a special meeting.

General public remark lasted two several hours as quite a few on both equally sides of the concern shared their thoughts.

In the conclusion, city commissioners made a decision to consider a handful of possibilities for regulating shorter-expression rentals—which contain:

• Demanding fireplace division inspections as aspect of the city’s rental licensing process
• Restricting visitor occupancy for each bedroom
• Selecting a specific justice of the peace to assistance the metropolis expedite code violations
• Location limits on the variety of vehicles, per bedroom, that can be parked on the assets
• Raising costs that rental home entrepreneurs have to fork out the metropolis

Town leaders reported this is the 1st of several discussions they will be getting on the topic—and hope to move an ordinance on the problem in the around upcoming.