City of Jacksonville Beach, realtors and lodging industry clash over short-term rental bill

The City of Jacksonville Beach is calling on Governor Ron DeSantis to veto legislation that would wipe away its ability to regulate short-term vacation rentals like Airbnb.

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In addition to the concerns raised by municipalities like Jax Beach, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being pushed by two major Florida industries on opposite sides of the battle over short-term vacation rentals.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is urging the Governor to approve the legislation, which would establish a statewide registry of short-term vacation rentals.

Association Vice President of Government Relations Samantha Padgett explained the bill would also impose uniform regulations on the properties, bringing them closer in line with the rules traditional lodging establishments like hotels have to operate under.

“That everybody is licensed, everybody is collecting and remitting taxes, and that fundamentally that the state knows where all of its lodging establishments are operating throughout the state,” said Padgett.

But municipalities that already have their short-term rental ordinances, like the City of Jacksonville Beach, argue the bill would strip away local control.

“I know people who have moved from Jacksonville Beach because they can’t live with a vacation rental next door to them anymore because their quiet enjoyment of their home has been impacted,” said Jacksonville Beach Vice Mayor Sandy Golding.

Local governments are already preempted to some degree on vacation rentals and cannot regulate the length of stays permitted, nor can they ban them entirely.

But Golding argued this bill would even further restrict local government’s ability to set boundaries and expectations.

Golding explained the bill does allow local governments to establish their registries, collect taxes owed by short-term rentals, and even gives them some authority to level penalties on bad actors.

But she noted other regulations currently in the city’s local ordinance dealing with things like trash, parking, and safety would be repealed under the bill.

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“It’s still going to be very hard for us to hold the bad actors accountable so that they are not having a negative impact on our neighbors and our neighborhoods,” said Golding.

The Florida Realtors Association is also pushing for a veto but for very different reasons.

Andy Gonzalez with the Florida Realtors argued the bill fails to strike a balance between the need to reign in bad actors and the individual property rights of short-term rental owners.

“This is really going to put a lot of folks, mom and pops, the elderly that use vacation rentals as a secondary income, it’s really going to hinder their ability to do so moving forward,” said Gonzalez.

But Padgett argued the bill would simply be a first step towards solving a difficult and complex issue.

“We expect that moving forward there will need be adjustments. There will need to be additions, subtractions, changes, but that we have to start moving in a direction to get our arms around the scope of this industry and to be able to find the balance between all the different competing interests,” said Padgett.

The Governor has not yet been presented with the bill.

When he receives it, he’ll have 15 days to act.

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