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Owners sue city over short-term rental ban

Property owners say the law, meant to curb loud parties, keeps them from earning income off their investments.

CLEARWATER - The battle that erupted last year over short-term rentals is headed off the beach and into a courtroom.

As promised, a group of Clearwater Beach property owners sued the city Monday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court for banning all home rentals of less than one month.

The measure, approved in April, was drafted after neighbors complained about noise and traffic from renters who throw raucous parties and sometimes stay only one night.

To hear the city tell it, daily and weekly rentals in residential neighborhoods were already banned under existing zoning regulations. The change, which set a 31-day minimum for rentals, merely tightened the legal language.

But attorney Tim Johnson, who represents the rental property owners, said the old law allowed his clients to operate legally.

"Once allowed," he said, "it can be continued."

After the new rule was proposed last year, real estate agents and rental property owners came out in force against it, saying they have a right to earn income from the homes, many of which were bought as investments. Rental properties, typically houses, can bring in $1,200 to $1,500 a week.

Also, they said, renting to tourists has been common practice ever since the beach was developed. Some families come back year after year, and some eventually buy beach homes of their own.

Some investors have found a niche, buying several properties, then fixing them up for a profit. Only recently did the city enforce its ban.

But in the past several years, problems have become more visible as short-term home rentals exploded, thanks largely to Internet advertising.

City Attorney Pam Akin said she had expected the lawsuit.

She said the city likely will not enforce the ban during litigation. "So long as it does not drag out," she said.

Akin predicted a resolution in less than two years.

- Jennifer Farrell can be reached at 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com