CITY OF MARCO ISLAND

Meeting Date: October 5, 2020

To: Marco Island City Council

From: Casey Lucius, Assistant to the City Manager
Date: October 5, 2020
Re: Recommendations to mitigate the negative effects of vacation rentals on Marco Island
neighborhoods.

Objective

Our objective is to be both proactive and reactive as we address the challenges associated with
vacation rentals. Continuing to enforce current codes, implementing an enhanced
communication strategy, and leveraging TDC funds to develop an inventory of vacation rentals
on Marco Island are initial steps that can be taken in FY21.

Our recommendation aims to support the following principles identified in the Marco Island
Vision 2034 with a focus on protecting the quality of life of our residents.
1) Great residential community
2) Small town feel
3) Beauty
4) World-class beach and natural environment
5) Waterways
6) Convenient coastal living
7) Pride in our Marco Island community

Current Situation

During the summer of 2020, the City Council and City staff received numerous citizen
complaints regarding noise, parking, and overcrowding at vacation rentals, primarily at single
family homes in residential neighborhoods. In response, the City Manager asked a cross-
departmental team of city employees to review existing law and policy to identify strategies to
mitigate the negative impact on neighborhoods from problematic vacation rentals. Members

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of the team included Alan Gabriel, Guillermo Polanco, Dan Smith, Raul Perez, Tracy Frazzano,
Dave Baer, Chris Byrne, Jim Kornas Ray Munyon, and Casey Lucius.

Any courses of action examined by the task force were informed by Florida state statutes.

Statute 509.032(7)(a) enacted by the Florida Legislature in 2011 and amended in 2014 states
that: Local laws, ordinances, or regulations may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the
duration or frequency of their rental.
Examples of impermissible local government regulations include:

• Distance separation requirements between vacation rentals

• Limiting the number of vacation rentals within the city
• Any regulation which would have the effect of prohibiting vacation rentals where
residential uses are otherwise allowed.
• Limiting duration or frequency of rentals

Examples of permissible local government regulations include:

• Maximum occupancy limits

• Noise and parking restrictions
• Minimum life safety requirements
• Required registration with the city
• Requiring a designated responsible party
• Requiring a certificate of registration from the Florida Department of Revenue for
collecting and remitting tourist development taxes
• Requiring affidavits of compliance with City codes and ordinances and other
state/federal laws

Definition of vacation rental:

509.013(4)(a)1 and 509.242(1)(c)., Fla.Stat. Any condo, single-family home, or multi-family
home which is rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than
30 days or one calendar month (whichever is less), or which is advertised or held out to the
public as a place regularly rented to guests.

Attachment A outlines the existing codes that are subject to enforcement at the State or Local
level.

Background

Public tensions regarding vacation rentals have existed on Marco Island since at least 2007. The
Planning Board conducted two public hearings regarding vacation rentals in 2009. In 2014, the

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Planning Board discussed the issue of vacation rentals again and in 2015 the City Council passed
an Ordinance requiring the registration, inspection and collection of fees from vacation rentals.
The Ordinance was signed on July 1, 2015 and was rescinded by Council on October 5, 2015.

What We Have Learned

The team solicited public input via email and received over 400 emails from residents, realtors,
and property managers over the course of one month. Staff researched ordinances from the
Cities of Sanibel, Fort Meyers Beach, Largo, Lauderdale by the Sea, and Broward County. The
team also conducted conference calls with:

1) The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR);

2) Expedia/VBRO, the Florida Vacation Rental Management Association;
3) the Collier County Tax Collector;
4) several companies specializing in online, cloud-based vacation rental solutions to
assist municipalities in identifying, tracking, communicating with and managing
vacation rental properties and their owners.

Other Florida municipalities that have successfully addressed problems and managed vacation
rentals after the enactment of Florida Statute 509.02(7)(b), have found the following elements
to be key to regaining and maintaining control of vacation rentals under their jurisdiction:

1) An accurate identification and count of vacation rental properties

2) An ability to identify and reach vacation rental property owners and/or their
designates
3) Ordinances that support the enforcement of ‘permissible’ local government actions
4) Tools to verify compliance
5) Collaboration across local, county, and state agencies

Additionally, in speaking to companies that collect vacation rental data, we were told there are
between 1,800 and 3,600 dwelling units being used as vacation rentals on Marco Island. The
reason for the large gap in estimating the number of vacation rentals is due to companies
counting the number of listings and calculating based on the assumption that rentals are listed
on multiple sites. It is further estimated that 36% of vacation rentals are condominiums, which
are able to regulate frequency and duration of vacation rental.

Findings and Action Steps

Our team came together to identify the following actions that staff can take with
existing tools and resources: Continued enforcement of noise and parking ordinances (updated
noise ordinance);

• Continued enforcement of noise, parking, and solid waste ordinances;

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 • Provide “Tools for Residents” brochure to residents/neighbors with phone numbers and
options for action (Attachment B);
• Include letter to vacation rental property owner with Notice of Violation – include
codes, fines, community expectations (Attachment C);
• Send life safety pamphlet to vacation rental owners (Attachment D);
• Create webpage on city website with FAQ for residents and vacation rental owners
• Streamline the Notice of Violation/Magistrate and payment process
• Finance department will provide for online payments for all citations as well as the
ability to pay directly at Magistrate hearings;
• Finance department is working with Code Enforcement to provide a monthly report of
delinquent payments so the property owner/violator is noticed to return for another
magistrate hearing;
• Training for community contact employees to improve communication about what the
rules are and how they are enforced;
• Staff will work with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) to
follow up on complaints that are not health related (DBPR does health/sanitization
inspections only); DBPR may revoke or suspend licenses, or impose administrative fines;

Recommendations

Recommendation 1: Continue enforcement of current codes and approve above actions for
staff to implement.

Fiscal Impact: These steps will involve additional staff time but would have minimal
cost.

Recommendation 2: Develop a means to obtain and an inventory of vacation rental properties

with the addresses and owners’ names allowing staff to initiate a proactive communication
strategy. This can be accomplished in one of two ways:

1. Several private companies offer a software program that can be purchased that
provides addresses, owners names and contact information. Depending on the
modules selected for purchase, the software can provide a notification system to
communicate with property owners, an emergency contact registration process,
an ability track complaints, and reports on properties that are not licensed or
paying tourist development tax.
Fiscal Impact: The cost depending on the company selected and features
purchased is between $45,000 - $150,000 per year. If the Council
selected this option, staff recommends requesting TDC funding to pay for
this program. Collier County collects $8.8M from individuals and realtors

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 for transient rentals and Marco Island’s portion is $2.9M, therefore this
would be a modest request of the Tourist Development Council.

2. Another way to develop an inventory of rental properties and owners’ contact

information is to initiate a mandatory registration process. If the City Council
chooses this option, staff will bring back a draft ordinance including a
registration process and fee, required life safety inspections, and occupancy
limits based on state building and fire codes. The ordinance would also identify
penalties for those who do not comply with the City’s registration requirement.
Based on Council direction, the ordinance could exclude condominiums.
Fiscal Impact: Implementing such a program would require additional
staffing specifically for fire inspections, permitting, and IT support,
however the fees collected from registration would likely cover the
majority of staff costs, as long as those fees are collected annually.

Recommendation 3: Direct staff to work with the Florida League of Cities, FCCMA, and our
lobbyist to make local control of vacation rentals a 2021 legislative priority. Staff also
recommends lobbying the legislature to order the Department of Business and Professional
Regulation to share information with municipalities regarding licensed properties within their
jurisdiction.
Fiscal impact: No additional cost.

Summary

The key themes identified by residents are noise, overcrowding, and unresponsive property
owners. It is our goal to achieve compliance both through a proactive communication-based
approach, in addition to reactively responding to resident complaints and concerns through
enforcement of existing codes. These strategies focus on the core issues associated with
vacation rentals and provide an actionable plan for the City Council and our residents.

Attachments
A. Chart of existing codes that are subject to enforcement at the State or Local level
B. Sample brochure for residents and neighbors
C. Sample life safety pamphlet
D. Sample letter to be mailed to property owners receiving a Notice of Violation
E. Attorney memo on Marco Island Land Development Code with regard to vacation
rentals

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Complaint/Issue
Noise complaint
Parking violation
Litter/nuisance (trash)
Occupancy limits
(parties/overcrowding)
Registration/inspection
Hotels in residential
district
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Attachment A
State/Local Code Enforcement Notes
Marco Island Code PD/Code enforcement Violator cited and can pay at
18.103-105 City Hall; homeowner receives
Penalty: $250 1st NOV and must appear before
offense, increases each magistrate.
time
PD/Code enforcement
Marco Island Code Sec. Magistrate hearing is optional;
$95.00
30 and Sec. 50 can pay ticket directly online or
$200 in identified No at City Hall unless disputed
Parking areas
$250 in handicap space
Marco Island Code Sec. NOV is issued with 20 If not corrected, fine is $100
18 and Sec. 30 days to remedy per day payable in 20 days; City
may lien property if unpaid.
FL Statute 69A-43 Fire Local fire authority Occupancy load is 150sf per
Safety Standards for (DBPR does not person. Local ordinance would
Transient Lodging conduct safety be required to authorize fire
inspections) inspections and penalties.
FL Statute 509.032 DBRP has licensing A local ordinance would be
Lodging and Food authority; does health required to initiate local permit
Establishments & sanitization or local registration.
inspections
Local law may not prohibit
FL Statute 509.02(7)(b) Marco Island did not vacation rentals where
have ordinance in place residential uses are otherwise
prior to 2011. allowed
 Attachment B

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 Attachment C: Life Safety Pamphlet

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Attachment D: Draft Letter to vacation rental owners

Attention vacation rental owners

The following information shall be posted in a visually unobstructed area within each vacation
rental:

1. The name and telephone number of an emergency contact for this rental. This
information should be posted both inside the rental and outside near the front door.

2. The maximum number of occupants based on state building and fire codes is:
(one person per 150 square feet of air-conditioned living area)

3. The fire extinguisher is located:

4. The days of trash pick up are:________________ The day recycling is

collected:_________________. Containers should be placed on the curb after 6:00pm
and must be removed no later than 7:00pm the day of trash collection.

5. Compliance with applicable local laws:

• Provide a summary of the noise ordinance and fines (TBD)

• Parking regulations: vehicles may not park in the swale overnight,
vehicles may not block the sidewalk; parking tickets are $95.00.
• Swimming pools, spas/hot tubs shall comply with Florida Statute 515
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&UR
L=0500-0599/0515/0515.html

6. Protecting our wildlife: Do not pick up, feed or disturb owls, gopher tortoises, sea
turtles or any other wildlife on the island.

7. Pick up after your pets and keep pets on a leash.

8. All transient occupants must promptly evacuate the vacation rental upon any
evacuation order issued by state or local authorities.

9. Be courteous to your neighbors. People live and work here full time. Because homes
are in proximity, be mindful of making noise outside and comply with our local rules.

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