ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Plans to set up a short-term rental registry and look into ways to fine people who violate city ordinances in St. Petersburg are on hold. City leaders said they're waiting to hear from the State Capital.
St. Petersburg requires short-term rentals last at least 30 days. Shorter terms are allowed only three times a year in residential areas.
“I've had various meetings and we've been getting emails from a resident on her actions on trying to enforce our ordinances,” Councilwoman Lisset Hanewicz said.
Marley Price lives in St. Pete. She said she's filed more than 100 complaints, and almost 90 resulted in violations. She would like to see the city hire someone to solely look into this.
“Almost 90 houses, so that's like 200 people have somewhere to stay, otherwise it would've sat empty most of the year as a vacation rental,” Price said.
“In February, St. Petersburg had 3,200 Airbnb and VRBO listing inside our city limits. 3,200, that’s a lot,” Councilman Copley Gredes said.
City council approved a referral to address this, but it's on hold.
Council members are asking, if the governor ends up vetoing Senate Bill 280, how will that impact them?
Senate Bill 280 would create statewide regulations and puts funding in place for nine employees to enforce this, but many are divided on the issue.
“Why do we want to tell the local government what to do in the cities or municipalities,” Rep. Marie Woodson said.
“This is one step closer to creating a uniform registry where people like us can make sure everybody is doing things above board, paying their taxes, getting these health and safety inspections so the public at large can remain safe with that I close,” Rep. Philip Griffits, Jr. said.
The city said they launched a comprehensive tracking system in 2016 to help with enforcing code ordinances. They said they've had more than 1,000 complaints and issued more than 750 violation notices since.