AMI Officials Ask for Legislative Help on Rental Policies

photo: Bradenton Area CVB

PALMETTO — At Tuesday's Manatee County Council of Governments meeting, City of Holmes Beach Commissioner Jean Peelen and City of Anna Maria Mayor SueLynn asked those present to push state legislators to enact rental regulations. The two officials briefed the council on vacation rental rules pertaining to Anna Maria, arguing that the current rules implemented by the Florida legislature are detrimental to the city.

Peelen explained that AMI, like other Florida cities, does not have its own regulations on vacation rentals, and Florida law disallows such cities to create their own rules. HB 883, the bill which has implemented the current status quo, “prohibits local governments from regulating, restricting, or prohibiting vacation rentals based solely on their classification, use, or occupancy.”

Peelen requested that the various government bodies present help lobby the state legislature in repealing the bill. “Smart developers are busting neighborhoods by putting large 6-7 room houses, solely for rental in former residential neighborhoods,” she said, claiming that some tourists renting out such homes have become disturbances to AMI neighborhoods.

Lynn said that only a small percentage of visitors to the city were having a negative effect on neighborhoods, but that “there’s always that small percentage to create problems.”