Guest AuthorRight now, one of the most economically devastating proposals in Florida history is making its way through the Florida Legislature. The proposal, if passed, would allow local governments to “zone out” vacation rental properties, destroying property values, taking houses off the vacation rental market, destroying neighboring property values, and upending Florida’s tourism industry.
The resulting chain reaction would also kill jobs in industries that depend on tourism, such as fishing charters, cleaning crews, laundry service companies, pool service companies, furniture and fixture companies, lawn and landscape companies, contractor services, plumbing, HVAC service companies, pest control companies. The list goes and on and on.
The vacation rental industry generates many billions of dollars in economic activity, and the state of Florida is the national leader for vacation rental homes, employing tens of thousands of people and generating millions of dollars in state and local government tax revenue. Yet right now, state legislators are pushing this anti-property rights proposal in the Legislature that would strip away the very protections they passed nearly unanimously just three years ago.
In 2011, the Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association worked with legislators to ensure that the rights of vacation rental property owners were given fair consideration by local governments. The law passed with nearly unanimous support in the Legislature, and is still in effect today, but once again, special interest groups, including city and local governments, are trying to strip away the rights of property owners, and the reasons they cite in support of this dangerous proposal don’t stand up to scrutiny. In particular, these property rights opponents claim that local governments have no authority to regulate vacation rental properties and no authority to “protect the public.”
This is an absurd claim. Current law encourages local governments to balance all property owners’ rights. Rather than choosing the property rights of one homeowner above another, the current law levels the playing field and represents regulatory policy that is consistent with Florida’s long-held traditions. In short, the current law is fair and doesn’t single out vacation rental properties in favor of, say, hotel chains or other competitors.
As the law currently stands, city and local governments can already regulate specific issues like the number of individuals that can rent a property, plus noise, parking, or trash collection issues, just as they would handle those issues for any other home in a neighborhood. There is no need to single out vacation rental homes.
Existing statewide regulations and codes also include public safety guidelines. For example, the Florida Fire Code addresses requirements for property owners regarding fire prevention, no matter if it’s a permanent residence or a vacation home. To accept the logic of the opponents of vacation rentals would require dramatic changes to the statewide fire codes that would cause unnecessary turmoil and uncertainty – the last thing our fragile economy needs in the middle of a recovery.
Finally, current law allows Homeowner and Condominium Associations to adopt vacation rental rules in accordance with their charter documents. The current law only prevents local governments from singling out vacation rentals and restricting their owner’s rights over the rights of others.
There is a reason that legislators wisely passed the current law in 2011: to provide clarity and a predictable environment for owners, businesses, and investors, all while at the same time protecting the quality of life in neighborhoods. The law was a good idea in 2011, and it remains good for Florida now. But if some state legislators and local government officials get their way, many jobs, maybe yours or someone you know, could be in jeopardy.
Paul Hayes is president and CEO of Rent Key West Vacations and president of the Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association.
