BRADENTON BEACH – City staff is now implementing, enforcing and working out the kinks in the city’s new vacation rental regulations and registration program that took effect March 19.
The new rental regulations require side yard trash pickup service for some short-term vacation rental properties, but some owners and operators may not be aware of the new trash requirements.
According to City Treasurer Shayne Thompson, 191 short-term rental owners/operators had registered as of March 22.
Ordinance 17-476 and the accompanying Transient Public Lodging Establishment (TPLE) resolution that established the registration and renewal fees were among the documents included in the informational and noticing packets sent to all known Bradenton Beach property owners in November.
The packets also included application forms and a list of owner/agent requirements but the only mention of the side yard trash pickup requirement is in the ordinance itself.
Rental owners and property managers who did not read the entire ordinance may not have picked up on the new trash requirements applicable to certain rental properties. This is turn could subject unknowing owners and operators to warnings or citations issued by Code Enforcement Officer Gail Garneau.
“We’re aware of this and we will be updating the application form. Anyone that has already registered will be notified,” Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale said last week.
Speciale said a staff meeting is being scheduled so staff and other city officials can discuss any concerns that have arisen thus far in the implementation of the new rental regulations.
Vacation rental requirements
When developing the rental regulations last summer, several citizens, city commissioners and Planning and Zoning Board members expressed concerns about trash cans affiliated with vacation rental homes being left at the curb for several days. City code requires trash cans to be brought in by 8 p.m. on the day of pickup.
Side yard trash pickup alleviates the need for trash receptacles to be placed at the curb. For an additional fee, Waste Pro personnel will retrieve the trash receptacles from alongside the home or structure and return the emptied receptacles to those same locations.
Bradenton Beach’s new side yard trash pickup requirements do not apply to vacation rental properties that are already exempt from the city’s new TPLE regulations and licensing requirements because they are located in the Planned Development, Mixed-Use, Limited Commercial or General Commercial zoning districts.
The new side yard pickup requirements also do not pertain to short-term rentals located in R-1 and R-2 residential zones if the property owner lives in part of the home or duplex, or the property has onsite management at least six hours a day.
Vacation rentals located in the residential zones are however still required to have a city-issued Transient Public Lodging Establishment license and are subject to the new rental regulations.
All vacation rentals in the city, regardless of their zoning district, are required to have a city-issued vacation rental business tax license and a state-issued vacation rental license from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Side yard service
When contacted last week, Waste Pro route manager Bob Baublitz and Office Manager Ranell Bradfield said side yard pickup service costs $29.96 per month for one trash receptacle can and one recycling receptacle. Each additional side yard pickup trash receptacle costs $13.50 a month. Each additional side yard recycling receptacle costs $10 per month. Baublitz said regular curbside service costs approximately $17 a month.
Baublitz said Waste Pro has approximately 800 side yard trash pickup accounts in Holmes Beach and his company is aware of the new regulations in Bradenton Beach. He said Waste Pro personnel do not go into garages or carports or behind privacy fences to retrieve trash and recycling receptacles. The receptacles must be placed in a visible and easily accessible location.
Ranell said Waste Pro currently has approximately 55 side yard trash pickup customers in Bradenton Beach and almost all of those were in effect before the city sent out its rental regulation notification packets in November.
The city of Anna Maria requires side yard pickup for all non-homesteaded properties.
To obtain side yard trash pickup in Bradenton Beach, call Waste Pro at 941-355-9600.
If you have questions as to whether your rental property requires side yard trash pickup, contact the City Clerk’s office at 941-778-1005.
