| Your friends and neighbors in Key West welcome you to a Public Service Alert page of the.... |
| A group of Neighbors working together to protect our homes and neighborhoods, and to improve our community |
| Here's an editorial from the Key West Citizen, published October 12, 2007 concerning the recent Florida Supreme Court decision on Monroe County's law banning transient rentals in family neighborhoods. As we face a shortage of places for regular workers to live, and we see the closing of businesses and restaurants, in light of the history of the transient rental laws, we wonder if this case is truly the END of attempts to commercialize our residential areas. For a brief history of the "transient battle," CLICK HERE. |
| Supreme Court ruling preserves neighborhoods The Florida Supreme Court's decision to uphold a Monroe County law banning vacation rentals in family neighborhoods is welcome relief to residents who fought for the law 10 years ago. At the time, full-time residents throughout the Florida Keys, including Key West, were concerned about a rise in the number of homes that were being used as investments, paid for by vacationers who would stay a few days or a week at a time. Neighbors grew tired of loud parties and constant turnover of people so close to home, and lobbied for some control. In Monroe County, that control came by way of a much- negotiated ordinance that would prohibit rentals of less than 28 days in neighborhoods zoned for single-family residences. A similar law passed in Key West that called for vacation rentals in residential areas to be rented no fewer than 30 days. It, too, has been the subject of legal challenges, but with the exception of a ruling in favor of Truman Annex, it has held up so far. These laws were created to protect communities, to maintain some areas where residents know their neighbors, and where parents feel a little more secure about who is in the immediate vicinity of their homes. The laws' challengers have argued that such limitations on how long they can rent out their properties violates their rights. Some also have said they were misled into believing they could use rental income to pay for their investment property when they first bought it. In her lawsuit challenging the law, property owner Elizabeth Neumont tried to get it thrown out on a technicality. Her lawsuit charged that last-minute changes during the ordinance's approval should have delayed the final vote to the next County Commission meeting. Major changes would have necessitated one more public hearing on the ordinance, but the county, and now the state Supreme Court, ruled that the changes made were not substantial. We congratulate the County Commission for standing its ground in the face of a frivolous lawsuit. To do otherwise would serve only to encourage special interests to bully commissioners into allowing things that are not in the best interest of residents. Perhaps this win at the state Supreme Court level will empower our current County Commission to develop a stronger backbone when it comes to other threats of lawsuits from developers of mobile home parks and other projects. The vacation rental law has been in place for 10 years now, and the uproar over anticipated repercussions has evaporated. Let's hope the justices' ruling in favor of the county's vacation rental law will put an end to a debate that neighborhoods won years ago. — The Citizen 10-12-07 |
| "Mangrove Mike" says: |
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| All due respect, an' all that, but if ya don't mind, I'll take mine with a dose of salt. Ain't heard th' first politician say th' first thing about th' issue this year. Pass th' shaker, please! |
| News item: On this day in Key West History, 10 years ago (6/3/98),"After a three-hour debate, the Key West City Commission voted to shut down all unlicensed transient rental units within 30 days." |
| Here's a major "Hats Off" to those who were there and who helped prevent the commercialization of Key West's historic neighborhoods. Many of them have gone, but a surprising number of these folks are still here. All of them who were active in this debate took on what turned out to be an extra full-time job: endless meetings, getting up to speed on land use regulations, and competing with well-paid attorneys on the other side. In the end we were able to turn the tide of public opinion, and to show the public that good zoning was a benefit to everyone, and that it outweighed the disingenuous argument in favor of "property rights" advanced by some. We have no illusions, unlike the editorialist below, that it can't happen here again. It can and will happen if there are not enough civic activists to sound the alarm if transient conversions begin again. For more information, and an historical perspective on this major Key West zoning battle, CLICK ON THIS LINK. |