Collier County is Developing a New Ordinance For Vacation Rentals

Collier County commissioners moved forward Tuesday to develop an ordinance aimed at regulating vacation rentals after changing course on the issue in past months.

The commissioners unanimously approved a motion directing county staff to establish a registration process for people who rent their properties to vacationers, develop ways to enforce existing codes and require a local contact person for rentals.

According to a Naples Daily News article published on June 26, 2019, Several local rental owners and residents voiced support and opposition to short-term vacation rentals during the Tuesday meeting.

Brad Estes of the Poinciana Civic Association said the short-term rentals in his neighborhood have caused noise problems and have threatened the community's future. 

"This is a quality of life issue," Estes said. "I don't know what the future of our community is going to be."

Caroline Rusher, a Naples resident who rents out rooms on Airbnb, said noise complaints are relatively rare with renters. The county already has the rules to regulate these issues, she said.

"I think that we already have noise ordinances. We already have policing in effect for the things that you're trying to stop," Rusher told commissioners.

At their May 25 meeting, the commissioners voted 3-2 to reverse a directive to crack down on the most disruptive short-term rentals, including daily and weekly rentals and rentals that generate the most complaints.

The March vote had directed county staff to enforce existing county rules that ban owners from renting properties for less than six months in most residential areas outside city limits.

During past meetings, commissioners Donna Fiala and Penny Taylor have voted in favor of stricter rental regulations. Taylor highlighted the importance of vacation rental regulation and the effect rentals can have on neighborhoods.

"Suddenly our community is turning into an investment community, not a residential community with family values. And that's why this is such a serious thing," Taylor said.

However, Commissioner Andy Solis cautioned the board to carefully consider how they regulate rentals. 

"I think we have to be very, very careful with how we deal with this because these are people's lives," Solis said.

According to a staff report, there are some 14,650 vacation rental listings in Collier County alone. Many of the listings are on multiple websites, with the highest concentration of them in such areas as Naples Park, Pelican Bay, Pelican Marsh, Park Shore, downtown Naples, Lely Resort, Fiddler's Creek and Marco Island.

Back in March, the Collier County Commissioners voted 4-1, and Decided to crack down on vacation rentals.

They directed county staff to enforce existing rules that ban owners from renting their homes for less than six months in most residential areas outside city limits which caused quite an uproar among those offering vacation rentals. There has been a major upswing in the number of rentals across Southwest Florida through such services as VRBO, Airbnb, and HomeAway, which are taking business away from area hotels.

“We actually stopped helping customers manage their rental properties on a short-term basis for a number of reasons. Mainly because we were receiving many complaints from residents in the communities where our clients rented their properties with noise issues, parking issues, and general difficulties with tenants not following the rules and restrictions of gated communities. In addition to that, many owners did not want to pay the sales tax and 5% “bed tax” required by the county and State of Florida. Since our focus has always been on real estate sales, we felt rentals were better left with professionals that handle rentals on daily basis”

— Janet Berry, Team Leader, Berry Luxury Home Team at Premiere Plus Realty

According to VRBO, some residents in the Naples area earn more than $1,000 a month renting their homes to travelers.

Most rentals are condos. There are about 8,000 of those units in the rental pool, followed by roughly 2,600 single-family homes, according to the county's tax collector.

Besides collecting sales tax, owners are required to collect tourist taxes from their guests, although some skirt the law. The county collects a 5 percent charge on short-term stays, with a chunk of that money going toward marketing the destination.

Below Is The Full Collier County Commissioner Meeting From June 25, 2019: