HOLMES BEACH – Working together and supporting each other’s efforts were two main themes shared during the Vacation Rental Stakeholders meeting held at Holmes Beach city hall on Sept. 10.
More than 50 short-term vacation rental owners, managers and employees attended and participated in the two-hour meeting facilitated by Holmes Beach Code Compliance Chief James “JT” Thomas.
The speakers and presenters included Mayor Judy Titsworth, Police Chief Bill Tokajer, Development Services Director Chad Minor, Building Official Neal Schwartz, Development Services Coordinator Kim Charron, Code Compliance Officers Nate Brown and Sandy Olson, West Manatee Fire & Rescue Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski, Waste Pro District Manager Ben VanderBaan, Code Compliance staff member Allyson Kalicharan, Code Compliance Officer Jason Clayton and Thomas.
Speaking first, Titsworth welcomed the vacation rental owners and representatives and thanked them for all the cooperation they’ve exhibited in recent years as part of the ongoing efforts to make Holmes Beach a place where people want to live and vacation.
Chief Tokajer said, “You guys are doing a great job,” when praising the vacation rental owners and managers for significantly reducing noise complaints and preventing large house parties. He said guest parking remains a concern and he asked that rental guests be reminded to park between the lines (where lines exist), park in designated areas when applicable, park with the flow of traffic and park with all tires off the pavement.
In response to a question posed by an attendee, Tokajer said vacation rental guests must leave the Island when hurricane evacuations are ordered because no one will rescue them once the winds reach 45 mph. He also said rental guests will not be allowed through the post-hurricane re-entry checkpoints after 7 p.m. while those are in effect.
On behalf of the building department, Schwartz, Charron and Minor stressed the importance of securing the proper permits to make hurricane damage repairs – and to not be afraid to come to the city and work with the city to ensure full compliance with city code and National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA regulations.
“It’s not too late. Please come talk to us. We will work with you. We will issue after-the-fact permits,” Charron said, noting the city doesn’t want to lose the flood insurance discount given to all Holmes Beach property owners, which increases to 25% on Oct. 1.
“The doors are always open here,” Minor added.
In response to a question about bringing damaged and repaired vacation rental homes back online – including those recently purchased by new owners – Thomas said the city can assist with the research needed to obtain a city-issued vacation rental certificate.
Kwiatkowski stressed the point that the fire district’s now-mandatory annual inspections of short-term vacation rentals (Transient Public Lodging Establishments) are conducted to save lives and ensure public safety and the fire district has no desire to slow or impede vacation rental activities.
Representing Waste Pro, VanderBaan thanked the rental owners and managers for their cooperation and encouraged them to contact Waste Pro regarding any service issues. He asked them to remind guests to leave a clear path to and from the trash and recycling receptacles along the side of the house because Waste Pro employees will not attempt to retrieve or return the receptacles at the risk of damaging vehicles parked in the way. He also asked the rental owners and managers to remind their cleaning staffs not to bring to the street receptacles that require side-door service.
During the following day’s city commission meeting, Titsworth and commissioners Steve Oelfke and Carol Soustek praised Thomas for the congenial and engaging manner in which he conducted the annual stakeholders meeting.
The city’s presentations can be found here.
The WMFR presentation can be found here.
