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SusanJane, don't assume anything. Call the Marco Island police and find out for yourself what is going on. Get the facts. Peak rental season is over on Marco; the nice people have gone home and the not-so-nice people are the only ones you hear about. After all, they are the issue here, aren't they?
Tiki, I don't need anyone to speak for me; you have experienced the problem that the city needs to address and find a remedy for. Do not be misled by the comments of others into believing I do not want to see this problem fixed; I do. I am going to be living on Marco Island, and I don't want to live next to this kind of problem. But the solution needs to be the correct one, not one where innocent parties get hurt. I hope you contacted the police; it appears they collecting a list of where these problem rentals are.
Thank you, westernny, for your comments. Not only do all short-term rental owners getting unfairly tarred with the nuisance rental brush, but regular families who rent vacation homes on Marco Island are viewed as part of the "party animal" problem. It's simply not true. The city needs to distinguish fact from fiction, and focus on the problem of handling nuisance rentals.
MrBreeze, it's a free country and you are most certainly entitled to post your opinion on this site. However, your opinions do not deserve a response from anyone. Therefore, there will be none coming from me. Farewell, MrBreeze.
SusanJane, if you were to go to a vacation website like HomeAway you would see that there are over 76,000 weekly rentals available in the good old USA, and that is only one website; saying "anyplace in the US...it would be illegal" to have a weekly rental doesn't really hold water, does it? Also, it is not up to you to determine what is a hardship for anyone else, just like it is not up to me to determine what is a hardship for you. The problem is nuisance short-term rentals. The city needs to come up with an ordinance to handle nuisance short-term rentals and they need to leave everyone else alone.
MsLadyDoe, jaguar's best year was 2008 with 18 weeks rented. My best year was 2008 with 21 weeks rented. In both cases, our homes were vacant for a minimum of 7 months, but we still have to maintain our properties those 7 months they're vacant. This means our homes are well maintained and there is no noise, no traffic, no people, no nothing for those seven months. This has to make jaguar and me the best neighbors anywhere for those seven months! Since we never have any problems with our guests, when you do see them they are loving life because they are vacationing on Marco Island while staying in a beautiful vacation property. Vacation rentals are not a problem when they are run properly. The issue the city has is how to handle the nuisance short-term rentals without kicking over the apple cart. Good luck with your new home.
Gee, MrBreeze, you certainly are a breath of fresh air! What an amazing dissertation; have you thought about setting it to music? The issue is nuisance short-term rentals, not personal attacks on gkpritchard. Try not to stray too far from the subject at hand. Oh, and one more thing; next time you want to submit a comment, think about using a spell-checker.
I will gladly open my books to anybody at anytime. I do everything I can "by the book". Believe me, Fossil, I pay my taxes. Would you like the telephone number of my accountant? But taxes is not the issue here; the issue is nuisance short-term rentals and what to do about them. This heavy-handed ordinance is going kill people who are tax-paying short-term rental property owners who run top-notch rentals that this island should be proud of. People like me and my wife. What do you think, I do this professionally? This is how I can get my dream home. I read comments about how every owner who rents their property is some kind of dirt-bag, and these comments are incorrect and irresponsible, but they are succeeding in inflaming public opinion against all short-term rentals. This ordinance as it stands will fail, and as it goes down the drain it is going to take a lot of people with it. You need an ordinance that goes after nuisance rentals. What would you rather have, and ordinance that cleans up nuisance rentals, or an ordinance that drives up the number of home foreclosures? Think about it.
MrBreeze, you lived next to a nuisance rental, and that was unfortunate. But you tar every short-term rental owner with your comments, and your comments certainly do not apply to me or my property. People who live next to nuisance rentals need relief, but the city needs to do the right thing. Punishing everyone for the problems caused by the few is not the way to go. Go after the people who are causing the problem and leave everyone else alone.
Sorry, Fossil, that's not a solution at all. This is a solution; first, define the problem. The problem is nuisance short-term rentals. Mr. Pavlow has a list with 47 violations over the past year. That's good; someone is keeping track of violators. The ordinance the city needs is one where the city sends a letter to these owners informing them they are a repeat offender and a rental nuisance requiring them to register with the city. If they don't register, they get fined. Once they register (and pay a registration fee) they are now subject to the limits and inspections discussed by the rental committee. Either the nuisance rental cleans up its act or it goes under. This solution allows the city to focus on nuisance short-term rentals and not every short-term rental on the island, which the city will never be able to do. People like myself who own a short-term rental that never disrupt the fabric of the community should never be "forced" into doing anything. Go after the people who are causing the problem, and leave everyone else alone!
I, too, rent my home. Our best year was 2008 and we rented for less than 5 months for the year. There is something very distorted about this short term rental issue on Marco. All the facts are not on the table and a lot of disinformation is going around. Shark, you couldn't be more wrong with your statements in your blog. My rental property on Marco Island is going to be my home. I do check who my guests are, and they are single families. They don't party all night long, because when I'm on Marco I ask my neighbors if they have ever bothered by noise from my guests. I do this because I care about my neighbors. These are going to be my full-time neighbors soon, and they deserve my respect. By the way, I haven't received a single complaint about any of my guests in over 6 years. All of my neighbors have my home phone number, and I have instructed them to call me directly if there is ever a problem with any guest in my home. No one has ever called. Shark, your blog rings hollow.
rob51, this is Marco Island not Anna Maria. Your blog is not representative of the issue here on Marco. Good people who are good neighbors with their rental properties don't deserve to be "tarred" with an Anna Maria brush.
You can ditto me on everything jaguar has said. How many people are you going to kill economically with this ordinance? Mr. Riviere and Mr. Keister, a 30-day minimum will kill Marco Island as a vacation destination and increase foreclosures on the island. Sure, a few people will benefit from a 30-day minimum rental, but a lot of people are going to get slaughtered. This is my home; I pay lots of taxes and fees, and I should be able to rent it if I choose to without a lot of intervention from local government. Neither my guests nor I disturb our neighbors. In fact, my neighbors want to rent my home so their friends and family can visit without having to stay at an expensive hotel and eat all their meals out at restaurants. What do you think the hotels will do if this ordinance passes? Most likely, they will raise room rates because there is less competition, and Marco Island becomes an even less desirable vacation destination. This committee needs to put together an ordinance that allows authorities to go after problem rentals, and leave everyone else alone. We are looking at an ordinance that will become an administrative and economical disaster for Marco Island.
The island is severely divided on this issue? I think it would be more accurate to say this issue is severely distorted. The control-freaks who want to run short-term rentals as only they know how, are now fully involved. With all the additional costs and fees, inspections, and the potential for bureaucratic abuse, who will want to vacation on the Republic of Marco Island? Short term rentals don't cause problems. Its the people in them who cause the problems. There are laws in place; use them to go after the problem rentors, and leave everyone else alone.
After reading the article and these first two posts, it appears to me that this committee has only focused on the problems with short term rentals and has spent zero time understanding the positive impact these rentals have on the island and local economy. How can we as citizens expect our leaders to reach objective, informed decisions when they don't (or won't) get ALL the information that is required before making such a decision? If there are statutes on the books, enforce them. Go after the people who are causing the problems, and leave the rest of us alone. Emergency lights? Puhlease.
I find it hard to believe that in these difficult times there is a government body ready to impose more economic hardship upon its citizenry. This ordinance will make Marco Island a less-than-friendly vacation destination and will reduce the tourism dollars the city needs. If there are bad rental properties, go after the guests and/or owners and leave everyone else alone. jaguar said it best: "STOP BEING STUPID".
I do not believe the scope of this problem is understood. I'm sure the majority of short term rentals on Marco are problem-free. The suggestions being made are punitive to all landlords who have short term rentals. If there was a problem with autos speeding on Collier Blvd. would you propose banning cars on Marco? No, you'd propose going after the drivers who speed. The problem isn't short term rentals; the problem is BAD short term rentals. Go after the offenders and leave everyone else alone.
The issue: how to deal with unruly guests in rental homes. The answer: well, there is still no answer. Even if the draft ordinance is accepted and complied with, how is the city going to deal with unruly guests? The answer won't be forthcoming in this form of bureaucracy. Perhaps the committee should have suggested strengthening the city's noise ordinances and give the police some teeth to punish the offenders.
It appears this committee has gotten it all wrong. Their recommendation should fail passage, and if it does pass it will fail in actual practice. Listen to Chief Reinke; he is the only person who is making any sense about handling the issue.
I thought the problem was with nuisance rentals and how to deal with them. The answer you got from this committee is already a failure. Even if Marco Island funds this rental-registration boondoggle 100% and gets 100% cooperation from its citizens, how are the local authorities going to deal with nuisance rentals? The committee didn't answer the question.
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