SARASOTA, Fla. — Concerns about loud parties and a shooting incident on Lido Key last month have had some neighbors sounding the alarm on vacation rentals.
It has prompted talks about cracking down on homeowners and corporate entities managing some of those vacation rental homes who are not playing by the rules. City officials are also looking at options to tighten the local ordinance regulating vacation rentals, and the city commission could be taking up the issue soon.
At the heart of the issue for those who call Lido Key home are multi-level. Multi-room houses replacing single-unit family homes have become an attraction for rowdy occupants. The neighbors said they've had enough and want more control over vacation rentals.
"It really does seem to be re-purposing it in a big way," SW Hermanson of Lido Key said.
People who live near St. Armands Circle on Lido Key in Sarasota have long complained about what they call "hotel houses" and some of their noisy renters changing the face and feel of their neighborhoods.
"If there's no control over who is renting and it is just rented out to a group or to an individual who's going to bring in large numbers of people, that is a problem," Hermanson said.
"Frequent turnover of large groups constantly night party noise unruly behavior is you get a lot more commercial vehicles there to perform hotel like services cleaning laundry. They also put out tons of trash receptacles in the driveway blocking sidewalks," Chris Goglia, who lives in the St. Armands Key neighborhood, said
Goglis, who is the president of the St. Armands Residents Association, said it's a quality of life issue.
"When you're living next to one of these things, the first time it happens it's no big deal, the second night you put up with it and then you realize that these renters are going to do it every night. Then on Saturday when they move out, a few hours later, the next group moves in and it repeats," he said.
But the city's codes for vacation rentals on the barrier islands are already somewhat strict compared to some other places. There is a required minimum stay of seven days and seven nights. However, the city's staff is looking into options to further regulate vacation rentals including a proposal to raise fees.
In addition, a coalition of Sarasota neighborhoods wants the stricter ordinance in place for barrier islands to be enacted citywide and strengthened.
"So instead of just benefiting the people in the barrier island, it can benefit all neighborhoods," Goglia said. "A few years ago I thought that it should be immediately rolled it out citywide.
"I'm glad to see that the city is now entertaining this because I really do think it helps neighborhoods and the people that live year-round in those neighborhoods."
But at least one commissioner has asked to slow down on the drive for more regulations and to gather more data on whether other parts of the city are experiencing the same problems.
"Yes, it would generate more revenue for the government, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's solving a problem," Erik Arroyo, a Sarasota city commissioner, said.
Arroyo explained some homeowners depend on the revenue from vacation rentals as their primary or supplemental source of income and more regulation and restrictions could jeopardize their well-being.
He said the focus should be on enforcing the ordinance that's in the books and not necessarily creating new rules.
"We have to be very careful, not to narrow ourselves as a Government in Sarasota when creating policy so that we don't end up doing more harm than good," Arroyo said. "We have the rules in place to protect individuals and we need to be enforcing those rules."
The city commission will discuss increasing vacation rental registration fees for the barrier islands at their next regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5. That meeting will include a public hearing.
"This is a family area houses should be occupied by a family, one family at a time," Hermanson said.