Rental rule in jeopardy

A bill being reviewed by the Legislature has the potential to make the town’s 30-day minimum residential rental requirement null and void.

The bill, which has already passed through two committees in the state’s House of Representatives and is now being reviewed by a Judiciary Committee, would allow residential property owners to rent a residential home for one day, if they wish.

The town’s current 30-day rental rule, which would be overridden if the bill passes in May in the Legislature, requires that Key homeowners rent their homes for 30 days or more at a time.

At the request of Town Manager Bruce St. Denis, Mayor Jim Brown sent a letter to Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, urging the Legislature not to approve the bill.

“As the mayor of Longboat Key I want to covey to you the importance of the defeat of House Bill 883,” Brown wrote. “A discussion about allowable rental durations has come up several times in Longboat Key’s history. Each time the answer is the same — no rentals of less than 30 days in areas that are residentially zoned. The town, like many other communities in Florida, has many units zoned for tourism that can rent for as short a period as a single night. Please do not allow decisions to be made in Tallahassee that will change the character of our community after the decision has been made locally.”
The rental rule has been in place since October 1982.

If the bill passes, town attorney David Persson said the town’s current 30-day rental requirement would no longer exist.

The bill would not affect rules set in place by Key homeowner associations, which have the right to make their own rental restrictions.

Longboat Key is not the only municipality or county that’s upset with the proposed bill.

Sarasota County Administrator Jim Ley told the Town Commission in an email that the bill would invalidate portions of the county’s zoning regulations that are designed to control overnight rentals.

Persson’s office is monitoring the bill closely and providing regular updates on its status to the Town Commission.

30-Day Rental Rule on Longboat
The current rule states: “‘Residential use’ or ‘residential occupancy’: The use of a building, or portion thereof, designed for and used for occupancy periods of not less than 30 days. ‘Residential use’ may allow for occupancy periods of less than 30 days by one family, and only that same family, and shall not preclude visitation by guests, provided that such property is not used as a tourism use for remuneration.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]