Condo rental restrictions gain ground

Despite heated opposition, a Clearwater board approves a 31-day minimum stay. A City Commission vote is next.

By CHRISTINA HEADRICK

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2000

CLEARWATER -- A city proposal to ban the renting of any condo or house for fewer than 31 days in residential areas has turned some Sand Key condominiums into hornets' nests.

Neighbor argued against neighbor at a meeting Tuesday afternoon at City Hall, where the idea, which would affect houses and condos citywide, was debated for the first time before a meeting of the Community Development Board.

A contingent of about 35 condo owners, who live in Crescent Beach Club buildings I and II and in Lighthouse Towers, urged city officials to adopt the new restriction on rental time periods.

They argued the new 31-day rule would end short-term rentals that make their homes feel more like motels. They complained of rowdy vacationers renting units, holding noisy parties and breaking community rules such as swimming late at night.

Permanent residents "are harmed and damaged by the lack of care and respect by short-term renters," said Nicholas Fristch, who introduced himself as representing the majority of owners in the Crescent Beach clubs.

Opponents said the city shouldn't interfere with private property rights, by restricting rentals in residential areas to at least 31 days.

"You or anybody else shouldn't be able to come and tell me what I can or can't do with my property," said resident Bill Wade.

Opponents of the new restriction also said that a handful of condo owners were trying to get the city to pass rules they couldn't pass themselves in condo votes.

Condo residents in Crescent Beach and Lighthouse Towers have repeatedly failed to garner the support from a required 75 percent of the unit owners to change their internal condominium rules to limit rentals.

In the end, after about three hours of debate, the Community Development Board sided with the condominium residents who wanted rentals limited to at least 31 days.

Now with the okay of the board in Tuesday's 4-2 vote, the City Commission will decide the issue in a month.

The issue will be debated as part of a much larger review of all the city's development rules that has gone on for the past five months.

The review was done to make changes to the 2-inch thick, new city development code that the commission adopted last year. The new code, which was made more friendly to developers, regulates everything from the height of fences to acceptable locations for carwashes.

City staff members have recommended about 41 pages of changes to the city's code, ranging from loosening parking space requirements downtown to allowing taller nursing homes in some neighborhoods. A copy of the proposed changes, which will be debated by the City Commission in about a month, is on file with the city clerk at City Hall.

Proposed code changes

Among the significant code changes Clearwater is proposing to its land development code:

• No semitrailer trucks could park in neighborhoods. Commercial vehicles could park only beside businesses.

• Reduce front setbacks from 25 to 15 feet in commercial areas.

Other proposed code changes

Clearwater is considering 41 pages of revisions to its land development code. Some significant proposals:

• Allow marinas to stay open until 9 p.m. instead of closing at sunset.

• Loosen rules on where assisted living facilities can be built and for their height.

• Rewrite rules trying to limit proliferation of cellular towers.

• Give the city power to determine needed parking spaces for outdoor entertainment facilities, rather than follow what is required now.

• Relax some parking requirements downtown, such as allowing payments to the city in lieu of providing parking and allowing institutions to share spaces at different times of day.

• Increase size of some allowed signs by 25 percent.

• Allow "transfers of development rights," which increase the units that can be developed at a site, from any parcel on the city's barrier islands to any other island land. Allow such transfers from any parcel on the mainland to any other mainland land.

• Increase fines for owners of unkept property.

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