Florida Community Votes to allow Short-Term Rentals (less than 30 days)

GAINESVILLE - If you have a dwelling in the Vacation Cottage zoning district on Lake Lanier you may now rent it out to vacationers for less than 30 days, and with a recommendation from the Hall County Planning Commission Monday night, that could extend to single family residential subdivision homes near the lake.

A month ago county commissioners approved permitting short term rentals of less than 30 days in the Vacation Cottage zoning district and asked planning staff for direction on possibly allowing (R-1) homeowners the same arrangement, but there would be conditions, according to Planning Director Randy Knighton.

Home owners under a private covenant that prohibits less than 30 day vacation rentals in their subdivision would not be able to rent their dwellings short term.

The Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau advocated the short term rental move as a way to open up the lakeside rental market and promote tourism.

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UPDATE: Commission to Decide Fate of Miami Beach Rental Market and Tourism Economy

On Wednesday, May 12th, 2010, the Miami Beach commission will vote on an ordinance set to ban weekly and monthly rentals of condos and apartments in most of South Beach, as well as large areas of North Beach.

The ordinance would "grandfather" some short-term apartment rentals, as other Florida cities have done in single-family neighborhoods, but would exempt others who failed to obtain certain licensing or bought outside of South Beach's Flamingo Park area.

When the City's zoning code was passed in 1989, Commissioners failed to ban "the decades-old tourism niche" of short-term and seasonal apartment rentals.

As a result, these short-term rentals continued to operate and gain in popularity, drawing investors and new residents who purchased with the understanding they could rent to Miami Beach's seasonal rental market.

Currently, the City collects resort tax on short-term apartment rentals, and even senior City Officials have sanctioned the rentals in condos.

On January 21, 2007, as the super-bowl headed for Miami, the Miami Herald reported:

"Some cities, such as Miami Beach, forbid owners from renting a single-family home for less than six months. The rule doesn't apply to condos, said Hilda Fernandez, Miami Beach's assistant city manager."

Now it might apply, if this new law passes, but David Kelsey, president of the South Beach Hotel and Restaurant Association, said cracking down on short-term rentals could hurt the city's tourist industry.

"One size doesn't fit all,'' he said. "Hotel rooms are fine for most people but not everyone."

The city could also be headed for more litigation if it enforces the new law.

Christian Jagodzinski, who sued in 2007 challenging the planning department's short-term rental policy, sued again after the city passed a law last year banning the rentals in single-family homes, calling it unconstitutional. The lawsuit is ongoing in federal court.

A ban on apartment and condo rentals is expected to be even more complicated, as such properties are generally purchased and zoned as rental property.

For more information, click here to read Miami Herald Article

Indiana Town Loses Short-term Rental Lawsuit

March 17, 2010

The town of Ogden Dunes cannot stop homeowners who want to rent out their property for periods of less than a month, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

In 2007, the Porter County town of 1,300 people decided to stringently enforce its residential zoning code, which the town claimed prohibited short-term home rentals. The goal was to prevent the lakefront community from becoming a resort area.

Later that year, the town accused Steven and Lauren Siwinski of renting out their beachfront home five times that summer, essentially using their residence for a commercial purpose, which is prohibited. The town sought a $2,500 fine for each day the home was rented.

Porter Superior Court Judge Mary Harper ruled in favor of the town in June.

However, the appeals court found that -- because the zoning ordinance does not specifically prohibit short-term rentals and because the rented home is being used in a residential manner -- short-term rentals do not violate the zoning ordinance.

"Nothing in the designated evidence established that any commerce or other activities not associated with a residence were ever conducted on the Siwinskis' property," wrote Judge James S. Kirsch in the court's 3-0 decision.

The decision reversed a fine of $40,000 the town imposed on Steven and Lauren Siwinski for offering their $1 million home in the small beachfront community for short-term rentals.

"We are pleased that the Court of Appeals has clarified what always appeared clear to my family: If the town wants to ban short-term rentals, then the town should pass an ordinance that specifically bans them," Steven Siwinski said.

Siwinski, a mortgage broker, sued the town in federal court in 2008, claiming that the town allowed short-term rentals for years. Siwinski said he and his wife were targeted by the town because they were part-time residents.

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