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During discussion at the June meeting, Board members indicated that vacation rentals can be properly run and that by explicitly making them legal, many could "come out of the shadows" and be properly licensed by the state. At the July 10, 2012 hearing, the Board adopted an ordinance that specifically allows residential units to be rented -out for any period of time (daily, weekly, or longer). At that hearing, the Board directed staff to develop a mechanism to handle complaints and ensure that known vacation rentals get properly licensed by the state. Excerpts of minutes from both Board hearings are attached (see attachment #3) • 2012 — Present: Since the July 2012 code change, code enforcement staff has handled and maintained a log of general inquiries and complaints related to vacation rentals. Site specific complaints are investigated and turned over to the state Department of Professional Business Regulation (DPBR) for its determination on whether or not a state vacation rental dwelling license is required. (State investigations can take several months, especially if rental activity is minimal. While a state investigation is active, the state will not provide code enforcement staff any information about the investigation. Violations of local regulations, if any, are handled through normal code enforcement procedures. Upon a determination by the state that a license is required, and upon issuance of a state license, staff notifies the license holder about County residential parking requirements, and informs the clerk's office (see attachment #4). 1 Since July 2012, staff has received 5 general inquiries and 10 site-specific complaints regarding vacation rentals which included complaints about parking and impaired traffic flow. Of those 10 complaints, 5 were determined not to be used as a vacation rental, 2 were issued state licenses, and 3 have open investigations by the state. A copy of the current log is attached (see attachment #6). Based on that data, it appears that the number of site specific complaints in the unincorporated county has been relatively low, so far. Nonetheless, since July 2012, the percentage of unincorporated county site-specific vacation rental parking/traffic complaints compared to the total estimated number of vacation rentals in the unincorporated county (+ 4%) exceeded the percentage of unincorporated county parking/traffic complaints related to conventional residences (± 2.4%) during the same three year period. In addition, recent research conducted by the County Attorney's Office indicates that there may be more than 375 vacation rental units county -wide that are offered for rent on the internet. It appears that roughly 250 vacation rental units are offered for rent in the unincorporated county. Planning staff research indicates that numerous local governments in Florida and other high tourist areas have experienced parking problems related to vacation rentals due to the frequency of larger than normal parking demands for such units. Such parking problems are reflected in recent position papers issued by the Florida League of Cities. Furthermore, the rise of internet and hand-held device tools and applicatios, together with the rise of management agencies, will make the marketing and management of vacation rentals easier. Consequently, the potential for increased vacation rental activity and related parking/traffic nuisances in the unincorporated county may be significant without proper parking regulations specific to vacation rentals. • 2014: The 2011 state law was modified to allow local regulation of vacation rentals but still pre- empted local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating the duration or frequency of vacation rentals. M:\AGENDA\Current Year\2015\IO-13-15 Continued ParkingRegsVacRentalsOrdinance.docx 3 93