A bill approved by the Florida House Friday could limit the ability of cities to regulate short-term rental, or vacation properties.
House Bill 425, which has moved on to the Florida Senate, says city governments can only regulate short-term rentals as they would all other homes, rental or not.
“A local law, ordinance, or regulation may regulate activities that arise when a property is used as a vacation rental, provided such regulation applies uniformly to all residential properties without regard to whether the property is used as a vacation rental as defined in s. 509.242 or long-term rental subject to the provisions of part II of chapter 83 or whether a property owner chooses not to rent the property.”
Susie Schwarz has lived in an apartment off First Street in Jacksonville Beach for more than three years. She told First Coast News there are a lot of short-term rental properties in the area, sometimes leading to parking problems and noise.
“They party and, you obviously don’t want to call the cops on them but since this house is so old when you’re trying to sleep it gets really aggravating and super annoying,” Schwarz said.
She added it’s difficult to know your neighbors when they change each week.
“It’s always new people around us, we never know when the rentals are running up or when new people are coming,” she said.
But the vacation rental business is pumping big bucks into the local economy, according to Airbnb.
In March, the online rental site announced customers had a total economic impact of $6.4 million in Jacksonville in 2016.
A representative with Jacksonville Beach told First Coast News the city does not regulate short-term rentals and never has.
An Atlantic Beach representative said they don’t allow rentals for under 90 days. However, a search on Airbnb for a weekend in Atlantic Beach turned up results.