INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — Just steps from the beach, Suzanne Gibson loves her Indian Rocks Beach home.
“This was a dream from a long time ago, and I finally was able to get, you know, the home that I really liked in an area that I really liked,” she said Wednesday.
The area, however, has changed, and the change can be seen all around her home.
She has short-term rentals — Airbnbs — on both sides of her home, across the street and down the street.
“So I really don’t have neighbors in this area,” she said.
Gibson worries the spread of short-term rentals across the city is changing its unique character. Others have said the rentals have brought with them a list of problems: drunken bachelor parties, dangerous driving, and loud music.
That’s why, back in May, Indian Rocks Beach city commissioners passed an ordinance that sets a laundry list of rules for both vacation rental owners and occupants.
Under the ordinance:
- Owners will have to register their rentals with the city through an extensive paperwork and inspection process
- Many rentals will be capped at a max of 12 overnight occupants for the next two years before reducing to 10 after that period
- The rental’s owner or designee will have to be available to respond to any complaints 24-7 quickly
- And, among other rules, each rental will need one parking spot per bedroom
The new rules took effect on Tuesday, and people like Gibson hope the city will enforce them.
“I really don’t want to run off all the tourists in the area, but I do want to have residential feel in a residential community,” she said.
The fight, however, may not be over.
In a recent demand letter to the city, a law firm that says it represents 310 rental owners asked the city to suspend the rules or face a lawsuit.
“The Ordinance is a draconian, unreasonable regulation that is a thinly-veiled attempt to end short-term rentals in the City,” an attorney representing the rental owners wrote.
City Manager Gregg Mims wouldn’t comment about the legal threat but told ABC Action News the rollout of the new rules is going well.
He said more than 40 rentals have registered with the city so far.
As for enforcement, that will come later. Right now, he said there’s a grace period as rentals continue learning about and begin complying with the new rules.
