Lake Worth eager to tweak vacation-home rental rules [The Palm Beach Post, Fla.]

March 26--LAKE WORTH -- A state law could force the city to enforce a 60-day minimum stay on vacation home rentals, even though commissioners favor a shorter minimum stay of two weeks or so for homeowners who want to rent to tourists.

Mayor Pam Triolo suggested a two-week minimum stay for vacation rentals during a March 14 workshop and noted that the owners should obtain business licenses and pay bed tax as other innkeepers do.

The city code needs to be rewritten to address the use of homes in neighborhoods for vacation rentals and the 60-day minimum stay requirement, said William Waters, the city's Community Sustainability director.

But there's a problem: State law won't allow the city to change its policy on vacation rentals.

Legislators passed a law in 2011 that "prohibits local governments from regulating, restricting or prohibiting vacation rentals based solely on their classification, use or occupancy."

The restriction on local government regulation does not apply to local laws on vacation rentals adopted before June 2011, meaning the city could enforce the 60-day minimum stay requirement.

Assistant City Attorney Barbara Alterman suggested three options to commissioners:

-- Enforce the 60-day minimum stay and expect legal challenges from owners of vacation homes.

-- Adopt changes to the city code and let the courts decide whether they're enforceable.

-- Obey the state law and allow vacation home rentals to continue essentially unregulated.

"We're faced with a no-win situation," Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell said. "We've got to keep an eye on Tallahassee. They continue to chip away at the local-rule concept."

Owners of the city's two bed and breakfasts said the vacation homes chip away at their businesses and don't compete on a level playing field.

Sabal Palm House owner John Rinaldi said owners of vacation homes don't pay the same taxes, carry the same insurance, pay the same electric rates or have the same licenses the B&Bs do.

"When someone's renting out a whole house for $175 a night, I'm not in a position to compete with that," Rinaldi said.

Gail Morin, owner the As Time Goes By vacation rental villas on North L Street, said she has commercial insurance, business licenses and collects both sales and bed taxes. But she's not sure whether other owners of Lake Worth vacation homes follow all the rules for innkeepers.

Morin suggested a registry for the city's vacation rental homes that would ensure licenses are complete and up to date.

Carol Lewis, owner of the Eden House vacation home at 1023 N. L St., said a 60-day minimum stay would end her vacation rental business. And she doubts whether the city's "ambiguous" transient public lodging code could be enforced.

During the March 14 workshop, Alterman suggested the possibility of asking a judge to review the city code that requires a 60-day minimum stay and rule on its enforceability before deciding how to proceed.

City Manager Michael Bornstein said he plans to meet with owners of the city's two B&Bs and owners of vacation homes to find a minimum-stay "sweet spot" that both sides would accept. Bornstein said the city might craft a new ordinance and "go with a united front to Tallahassee" to defend it.

Commissioner Christopher McVoy said he liked the idea of vacation home rentals as long as they are regulated and paying the proper taxes because the visitors spend money in Lake Worth, and well-maintained homes boost the city's property values.

Lewis said her Eden House is surrounded by vacant and poorly kept homes. She said neighbors have never complained about the visitors renting her home, but the visitors have complained about the neighbors.

"Sometimes they have left early because of the neighbors," Lewis said.

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