TALLAHASSEE – Two vacation rental bills working their way through the Florida Legislature are not yet identical matching bills and time is running out for them to be made identical before the 60-day legislative session ends on Friday, March 8.
For legislation to become state law, the House and Senate must approve identical matching bills to send to the governor to sign into law, approve without signing or veto.
On Feb. 1, the Florida Senate approved Senate Bill 280 by a 27-13 final vote on the Senate floor. On Feb. 22, an amended version of House Bill 1537 successfully passed though the House of Representatives Commerce Committee by a 13-5 margin, with Committee Chair Bob Rommel (R-Naples) among those opposing the amended bill.
The amended House bill and the adopted Senate bill are not identical bills. With no more committee stops, the House bill could be further revised through internal negotiations before Speaker of the House Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) decides whether the bill will be brought to the floor for a final vote. If the House adopts a bill that doesn’t identically match the Senate bill, both bills would be considered dead.
When presenting his bill to the Commerce Committee, State Rep. Philip Griffitts (R-Panama City Beach) mentioned three primary goals: “Standardize the licensing and registration of vacation rentals, make available the information and the tools necessary for effective and efficient enforcement for good neighbor codes and ensure the effective collection of taxes due on vacation rental transactions.”
The lengthy amendment he then introduced was adopted without additional discussion.
When discussing his bill in general, Griffitts said the proposed occupancy limits are based on the Florida Fire Prevention Code provision that would allow one occupant per every 150 square feet. The Senate bill proposes a two-plus-two occupancy limit that allows two guests per bedroom and two additional guests.
Speaking on behalf of the city of Jacksonville Beach, lobbyist Jack Cory said, “This bill would erode the property rights of over 5 million constituents who bought and want to live in a homesteaded residential property. They do not want to live next to mini-hotels. Gov. DeSantis probably said it best when he said for us to be micro-managing vacation rentals, I am not sure that is the thing to do.”
Lauderdale Isles Civic Improvement Association Vice President Geoff Rames said, “HB 1537 will destroy our neighborhoods. Vacation rentals will run rampant without the fear of consequences.”
State Rep. Dan Daley (D-Coral Springs) said, “We talk so much about property rights. How about my freedom to not live next to a party house?”
When expressing his tentative support, Rep. Patt Maney (R-Shalimar) said “It frankly is a little frustrating for local governments to beat us up over preemption when they don’t do their job and exercise their police powers to control noise, trash and garbage, traffic and parking. If they won’t do it, they shouldn’t complain when the state decides to get a 800- or 900-mile-long screwdriver to tighten the screws.”
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS
When contacted by The Sun the following day, Griffitts confirmed the House and Senate bills were not identical and he doesn’t anticipate the House members simply adopting the Senate bill.
“There are considerable differences. I don’t believe there’s a lot of buy-in with the Senate bill. The Senate bill will not pass the House,” he said.
Griffitts said he filed HB 1537 at the request of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who sought his assistance because of his family’s background in hotels and hospitality and his experience as a county commissioner and tourist development council member.
Griffitts, a Panama City Beach resident, said, “I have 12,000 registered vacation rentals in my county. I am infinitely familiar with the problems.”
Griffitts said he supports local governments’ ability to continue regulating and inspecting vacation rentals.
“In my opinion, vacation rentals are no different than hotels. Why should they be treated any differently? The state just wants to make sure they don’t put somebody out of business,” he said.
ANNA MARIA REACTION
The amended House bill was discussed that night at the Feb. 22 Anna Maria City Commission meeting.
“They amended the bill and actually made it worse,” Mayor Dan Murphy said.
City Attorney Becky Vose said the House bill would limit local inspections only to items specified in the Florida Fire Prevention Code such as smoke alarms, battery-powered emergency lights, points of exit and floor diagrams. She said the city inspectors also monitor compliance with city regulations that require vacation rentals to have swimming pool fences, pool door alarms, stairway railings and other safety features not addressed in the fire prevention code.
She said the House bill doesn’t define sleeping accommodations and cots and sleeping bags could be considered sleeping accommodations. She also noted House bill would give the vacation rental owners and managers until 9 a.m. the following day to respond to a complaint.
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