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Tag: Holmes Beach rental

City ends rental ban

City ends rental ban

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – City leaders opted to end the moratorium stopping vacation rentals to tourists in the city more than two weeks before it was scheduled to end.

Commissioners voted unanimously at the urging of the public, Mayor Judy Titsworth and city staff to end the moratorium early with an effective date of Nov. 2, 16 days before it was scheduled to expire.

During discussion at the Oct. 29 special meeting, Titsworth said that she expected the first pass of debris removal in Holmes Beach to be completed by Nov. 2, one of the benchmarks in hurricane recovery after Helene and Milton that she wanted to reach before inviting guests back to the city. She said she wanted the moratorium to be lifted as quickly as possible, noting that it’s up to property owners to determine if their rentals are safe and ready to rent.

“I think we did a good job,” she said of the moratorium, which was enacted on Oct. 2 in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, both of which caused widespread devastation in the city. “It took guts to do what we did.”

Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer agreed, stating that he felt it was time for the government to take a step back and allow property owners and rental agents to do their own due diligence. Tokajer said that if the city is safe enough to reopen Anna Maria Elementary School on Nov. 4, he feels that it’s safe enough to welcome vacationers to return.

Holmes Beach was the only one of the three Anna Maria Island cities to enact a vacation rental moratorium in the wake of the two hurricanes.

Vacation rental owner Nicole Kaleta thanked commissioners for their efforts and hard work to help the city recover after the storms. She said that her business has made the choice to not take reservations until mid-November, but wanted the moratorium revoked because with it in place, she said rental agents’ hands were tied legally regarding already-booked reservations. She said her company lost 20% of its annual revenue due to the storm and had to pay out of pocket for refunded processing fees.

Restaurateur Sean Murphy also thanked city leaders for their hard work and dedication to helping the city cleanup after the storms passed. He also asked that the moratorium be rescinded to help businesses recover.

City takes home three wins in court

City takes home three wins in court

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

BRADENTON – After a brief recess, Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Edward Nicholas submitted a ruling Jan. 8 in three Bert Harris cases brought against the city of Holmes Beach.

When giving his ruling from the bench, Nicholas said that he finds that at the time of purchase of the three properties included in the cases, purchased and developed between 2009-2013, there was no limitation on the number of occupants. He said he also agrees that there is a financial disparity between a vacation rental property that can rent to an unlimited number of people and one that has a limit on occupancy.

However, he ruled in all three cases in favor of the city’s motion for summary judgment based on the idea that while the city’s occupancy regulations, two people per bedroom or six people per unit, whichever is greater, does put a burden on the property owners, he did not find it to be the inordinate burden required under the Bert Harris Jr. Act.

The three properties involved in the Jan. 8 hearing are referred to as Coral Escape, Mojito Splash and AMI Breeze LLC.

The Coral Escape property, located at 132 50th St. in Holmes Beach and owned by Brian Wein as a vacation rental investment property according to court records, is a six-bedroom home. The complaint states that Wein purchased the property in 2009 and redeveloped it to its current size with the intent to rent it as a short-term vacation rental. Attorney Aaron Thomas, arguing on behalf of Wein and investor Shawn Kaleta who owns the other two properties involved, said that the city’s regulations reduced occupancy in the rental from 14 to 12 people. The claim lists an appraised loss in value of $240,000 due to the occupancy reduction.

The Mojito Splash property, located at 304 65th St. and owned by local developer and investor Kaleta, was purchased in 2008 according to the complaint filed by Thomas. The complaint goes on to say that Kaleta developed the property as a five-bedroom vacation rental and that the city’s regulations reduced occupancy from 12 to 10 people. The claim lists an appraised loss in value of $275,000 due to the reduction in occupancy.

The AMI Breeze LLC property, also purchased and developed by Kaleta as a vacation rental, is located at 209 54th St. The complaint states that the property was purchased by the LLC in 2013 and developed as an eight-bedroom property to be used as a vacation rental. Due to the city’s regulations, the claim states a reduction in occupancy from 20 to 16 guests and a reduction in value of $690,000.

Before ruling on the three cases, Nicholas said that he understands the impact and significance of the decision he was making and how his ruling could affect the two dozen other Bert Harris cases pending against the city. He added that he also respects and understands the difference between an undeveloped property and one that the owner has gone to the expense of redeveloping.

“I don’t think the plaintiffs have come close to establishing anything that could be considered an inordinate burden,” Nicholas said, adding that he doesn’t believe the city’s occupancy restrictions to be unreasonable or that city leaders are acting arbitrarily.

“I don’t believe the reduction of two tenants is a significant enough act that the Act (Bert Harris Jr. Act) applies and a dollar amount should be considered,” he said. Nicholas added that he expects an appeal to his ruling to be filed by the plaintiffs and that he would be interested in hearing what an appeals court has to say on the issue.

For her part, Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth was “very, very, very happy” with the outcome in court.

“This was huge,” she said, adding that she didn’t expect a same-day ruling. “I’m very excited.”

Related Coverage:

Bert Harris cases go back to court

 

It’s a Bert Harris win for Holmes Beach