INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — It’s becoming harder and harder for Kathleen Major to recognize Indian Rocks Beach, a community she has loved dearly since she moved there in the mid-90s.
According to Major, noise is more pervasive.
“Four o’clock in the morning, I had to ask the people next door to please keep it down. They were doing fireworks at four o’clock in the morning,” she said.
Additionally, Major and her friend, Joanne Schickel, said walking their dogs has become riskier due to speeding golf carts driven by tourists.
“We just want to get our neighborhoods back,” Schickel said.
Both said neighborhoods — many of which are east of Gulf Blvd. in Indian Rocks Beach — have become oversaturated with short-term vacation rentals like Airbnbs and VRBOs.
Major, Schickel, and others who showed up at a Tuesday night City Commission Work Session on the topic said the short-term rentals are often accompanied by drunken occupants, raucous bachelor parties, loud music, and parking that can clog narrow neighborhood streets.
Soon, in Indian Rocks Beach, a nearly 20-page list of regulations could become official for both the people who own short-term rentals and the people who stay in them.
During the work session, commissioners spent hours reaching a consensus on what they would like to see in an ordinance the city’s attorney will soon draft.
The list included:
- A rental’s owner or designee would need to be reachable 24/7 to respond — within an hour — to reported problems like noise complaints
- Use of a short-term rental pool or jacuzzi would not be allowed between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
- Amplified music would not be allowed outside a rental between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
- No person other than those who have rented the property would be allowed on said property between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
- Rental owners would have to provide a permitted, paved parking spot for each bedroom
In terms of occupancy, rentals outside of the city’s Commercial Tourist district would be capped at a maximum of 10 occupants (two guests allowed per bedroom; two allowed in a common area).
Owners would have to post the rules at the rental property and give a copy to the person renting the property
Renters would not be able to use the properties for events like weddings and corporate retreats.
Owners would have to register their rentals with the city on an annual basis.
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Some argued the rules are a good start to curtailing a disruptive problem.
Elizabeth Questa and Ahmed Omran, however, believe the rules unfairly punish responsible rental owners.
The two fell in love with Indian Rocks Beach after a vacation to the coastal community. Since then, they moved to Florida from New Jersey and bought a duplex in Indian Rocks Beach. They rent the half they don’t use to vacationers through Airbnb.
“All our guests are older couples,” said Omran. “They come for more than a week. Maybe less. And they never have problems.”
Questa, a teacher, said the rules — if they’re adopted by the city commission — would be the equivalent of punishing her whole class for the misbehavior of one student.
“What’s being discussed by city leaders here — do you feel it’s unfair?” ABC Action News asked her.
“I definitely feel like it’s unfair,” Questa answered.
The city attorney will use the commissioner’s input during the work session to craft a draft ordinance that commissioners will have a chance to consider, debate, and vote on at a later date.
