Neighborhood
Associations
ANNOUNCEMENT
Community"
by Tim O’Hara
KEY WEST — The city has been investigating short-term rentals for the past several months
and could soon begin citing property and business owners for renting unlicensed vacation units to
tourists.
Some of the violators likely will be cited by the end of next week, said Brandon DiMando, a city
attorney. (Pre-empted by the Rollison decision)
Last summer, the city cracked down on 134 people and businesses accused of renting out homes
without required licenses. Most of those cited accepted agreements with the city, which imposed
no fine, but ordered them to stop renting out illegal units.
An illegal transient rental is any unlicensed residential rental of less than 30 days where zoning
prohibits that type of use, city code states.
The city has hired a private investigator, who has begun actively investigating short-term rental
units by obtaining signed copies of leases and going online to see if people are illegally renting out
homes, said neighborhood activist Bill Estes, who ran for mayor last fall.
"He's got a lot of evidence," Estes said. "This is an actual business. ... The only way to stop
these people is to impose large fines."
While the city did not fine anyone the first time around, officials say they won't be lenient when
it comes to punishment of the new cases.
"We're going full-force now," DiMando said. "The first time they got a slap on the hand. No one
can say now that they didn't know."
Homeowners and leasing agents can be charged with a "irreparable zoning violation" and could
be fined $5,000 per violation, city code enforcement director Charles Stephenson said.
(So far we've been unable to find an ordinance that would allow this.)
The city's biggest problems seem to be with rental companies, Stephenson said.
"They are the ones who should know best," he said.
The peak times for the renting of nonpermitted homes is during spring break, Fantasy Fest and
Christmas holidays, Stephenson said.
The Department of Community Affairs regulates how many units can be licensed as short-term
rentals. The agency, which regulates growth in Monroe County, stopped issuing licenses in early
1996 and capped the number at about 500, attorney Lee Rohe said. The state agency's
investigators found 1,500 operating illegally. (They may be "back on line" soon.)
In the past, the focus of transient rental disputes has been in Truman Annex. But the business
has spread throughout the city from New Town to Old Town.
Rohe handled several short-term rental civil cases on the behalf of neighbors opposed to the
units. During cross-examination, one witnesses admitted to earning more than $1 million with a
little more than 30 units he owned or operated, Rohe said.
Former mayoral candidate and planning board member John Mertz is skeptical of the latest
crackdown.
"These crackdowns always come up at the end of season," Mertz said. "It's a dog and pony
show. But I'm cynical." (Or is it an objective view based on experience?)
tohara@keysnews.com
UPDATE: APPARENTLY THEY NEVER SPENT MORE THAN 10 MAN-HOURS PER WEEK ON THE PROJECT.
THE CRACKDOWN WAS NEVER MUCH MORE THAN "HOT AIR." WILL THE CITY'S "NEGOTIATIONS" ON
TRANSIENT RENTALS IN SHIPYARD LEAD TO THE LOSS OF OLD TOWN? WE'LL SOON HAVE AN IDEA...
of the ship
to send us an
E-Mail!
as our Tourist Development Council
ads would have us believe!
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