City, residents, businesses grapple with short-term rental issues
“Who is my neighbor?” is a question more and more residents are asking as they see adjacent property owners open their homes to short-stay rentals. The question becomes pertinent when paying guests next door behave in a disorderly or unsafe manner, disrupting the normally placid residential environment, and the affected residents don’t know how to handle it.
In some cases, the former homeowner is a longtime resident and good neighbor, who opts to move out of the neighborhood and use the former home as a rental property. In other cases, homes are sold to people who have no intention of living in the community and establishing relationships with their neighbors.
While the most obvious solution might be to call the police, residents are often reluctant to create a rift with a former neighbor by doing so.
Homeowners on Challen Avenue, Pine Street and other parts of Riverside and Avondale have voiced concerns to District 14 Councilman Jim Love and to leaders at Riverside Avondale Preservation, citing late night loud noise, illegal parking and, in one case, drug use in the backyard of a neighboring property – activity conducted by out-of-town people renting homes for vacation purposes.
The City of Jacksonville is grappling with the issue of short-stay rentals – think AirBnB – in residential neighborhoods and how to regulate the niche industry in a way that will keep neighbors, well, neighborly.
A special City Council committee on “short-term vacation rentals” was convened to include Committee Chair Danny Becton, District 11; Jim Love, District 14, and Ju’Coby Pittman, District 8, who will determine what type of legislation may be required to regulate what is already occurring in many neighborhoods.
The top three areas for vacation rentals in homes, either owner-occupied or not, are the Beaches, Riverside/Avondale and Springfield, according to Councilman Love, citing nearly 800 such venues in Duval County, listed under AirBnB, Expedia or other online booking agents.
The special committee held its first meeting Oct. 11 in a small conference room in City Hall, where the attendance far outnumbered the seating. A second meeting was held Oct. 22 in a larger conference room, where more than 70 attended, including members of the Office of General Counsel, Finance and Administration, the Tax Collector’s Office, Building Inspection, and industry representatives from AirBnB, Expedia.com, VTrips, Booking.com, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and the Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA).
After Becton opened the meeting, he invited Brian Hughes, Chief of Staff for the Office of the Mayor, to make a statement. “The Mayor is looking for balance; private property rights are important for all. He is strongly in favor of disrupting old models if it means growing the economy,” said Hughes, who noted he was a consultant in Tallahassee working with the Florida VRMA, Expedia and its subsidiary, Home Away. “The process is moving forward, but there is still additional guidance that we may seek, one way or the other, from Tallahassee,” he said, regarding some of the existing statutes and challenges.
According to Jason Teal, Deputy General Counsel for the City, there are state limitations enacted in June 2011 that prohibit a local government from an outright ban on short-term vacation rentals. The City is also prohibited from restricting the duration or frequency of the rental period. He noted the City’s “prescriptive” zoning code indicates that if a specific use within a category is not listed, it is banned. The Planning Department has interpreted zoning code to allow short-term rentals where hotels and motels are allowed, but are banned elsewhere, Teal said.
Aside from changing the zoning code to accommodate short-term rentals in other zoning categories, the committee could also consider regulations which would require and enforce rental property owners to pay a local business tax, tourist development tax (bed tax), fines if not licensed with the state, fines for not having a certificate of use, designating a dedicated point of contact, and installing noise meters. Currently, owner-occupied – or home share – properties are not required to have a state license.
During presentations and comments by the six industry representatives, Kenny Montilla, an AirBnB Policy Associate, said Florida hosts rent their homes an average of 39 days per year, earning an average of $6,800. In Jacksonville, 61 percent of the hosts are women and senior hosts are the highest growing demographic, many of which rely on such rentals to make ends meet. Montilla also noted the average guest spent $160 per day during the stay, of which 45 percent was spent in the neighborhood.
Although more than a dozen people in the audience had submitted comment cards, the meeting ran so long only a handful were present at the end of the day to speak after the presentations by the industry representatives.
Among those who voiced opinions during the public comment period was Real Estate Attorney Terry Moore, who expressed concern that the City was “being put into a responsive position trying to respond to a dynamic that was never contemplated in our zoning code,” citing state laws that already address the ability to collect fees and taxes for rentals under six months.
Moore challenged the committee to consider the rights of the homeowners neighboring the rental properties. The affected neighbors have a right to voice opinion to a zoning exception, he said.
Also speaking during public comment was a 17-year Riverside bed and breakfast owner, who noted bed and breakfasts are restricted from operating on a level playing field as they are not allowed to be open more than six months per year while a short-term rental can be open all year. She also noted they are inspected twice a year by the state, which is not done at private homes that rent out rooms or the full house on a short-term basis.
Jennifer Adamson, a Springfield resident, serves as an AirBnB host and is also a real estate investor with a variety of properties. When it comes to changing zoning code, Adamson asked that short-term rental properties “not be lumped in with hotels and motels. Don’t put us in the same bucket as hotels, as they are public and cannot discriminate,” she said. “A short-term rental host can discriminate against pets, smoking, children, parties, etc.”
Becton indicated that the public comment period would occur first at the next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15, 9 a.m. to noon, at City Hall.
By Kate A. Hallock
Resident Community News
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