Flagler Beach Code Enforcement Board Flexing Muscle over Rental Property Owners
The code is vague at best, but Flagler Beach officials seem determined to throw out the baby with the bath water.
September 18, 2007 –
For years, both short term and long term rentals have been commonly and openly available in
Aside from the fact that the code enforcement seems sudden and capricious, it comes at the worst of times for
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Without homestead exemptions, they have seen dramatic increases in both property taxes and insurance costs.
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Many investors unable to sell their properties have taken the defensive action of renting to subsidize carrying costs. The glut of unsold property has driven long term rental rates down, often below rates of five years ago.
Who is hurt by the new
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Local business, especially the smaller shops that rely on vacation and seasonal rental visitors for a substantial portion of their business will suffer.
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Owners of rental properties, many of whom purchased their properties years ago and have rented since will not be able to benefit from the higher rates of short term rentals.
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Those who purchased second homes, planning to use them a few weeks or months per year but who rely on rental income for the periods when they are not using the properties themselves will be affected.
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Even homesteaded full time residents, many with artificially low property tax bills from years of continued residence, will be affected. The code action will lower the value of all homes by reducing the potential buyer pool. And there may be fewer local restaurants and shops at their disposal.
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Tourism Development Council dollars, which help fund such things as beach renurishment, would be reduced.
There is a workshop for citizen input tentatively schedule for 5:00 p.m. on September 25th at City Hall. Property owners are circulating a petition in support of their position. For a copy or for more information, contact Vicki Worrall at (386) 931-0887, Carla Christy at (386) 439-5406, or Carol Fisher at (386) 439-9789.
Lunacy
My wife and I bought a house (2nd house for us) and we are doing just what many others have done : short term rentals when we are not there – to help subsidize payments. There has to be a hiddem agenda by the officials to try to block rentalsm since4 there is no logical reason to block them. Blocking them has NO visible benefits to the community; it hurts everybody, including the government’s revenues. It’s evident that the officials involved have some ‘persona’ benefits, at everybody else’s expense.
After the Gold Rush
My wife and I have enjoyed 5 years of part time residency in Flagler Beach. We have introduced many friends and relatives to the area with the result that 6 other couples rent fall and spring when we are in town at our condo. However, we have witnessed the demise of a number of great restaurants and business that we patronized over the years. I can’t help but wonder why, considering these difficulties, the council seems bent on driving away visiters. Without short term rentals we and many others could not afford to own our property pay taxes, and spend locally.
All I can see from this change is more \”For Sale\” signs, and abandoned properties as the housing market continues to sag….in short, a Ghost Town.
Doug Van Steinburg
Toronto, Canada
Well written
Toby, it’s good to see a well written, concise article explaining the situation and its impacts. I don’t think most people understand what sudden changes in enforcement can have.
flagler beach short term rentals
Hi Toby,
I have a feeling you may have a lot more traffic on your site !
Your article was very well written and it points out exactly who this would affect and what a economic disaster this would be for Flagler beach.
I have sent your link to over 300 people including the mayor, the commissioners , most every business owner in Flagler beach , and the vacation home owners.
I cant thank you enough for writing such a great story to help us get the word out ! Keep up the good work !
Carla Christy
Thank You
Thank you Toby for your article about the short term rental issue.
I’m one of the property owners that has been called before the Code Enforcement Board, and I am very appreciative of your attempt to make the public aware of what is going on. It is very important for business owners and home owners to contact the city commissioners and let them know our position on this matter. They will be meeting Sept. 25 at 5PM at city hall to have a workshop on this issue. I hope there are hundreds of people at that workshop.
Carol Fisher
Flagler Beach Code Enforcement
Thank you for your attention to this troubling matter.
If the City of Flagler Beach is willing to devote considerable resources in active transient rental enforcement, it’s time to raise the question of the value of the ordinance itself.
Is such an ambigous, outdated ordinance good for the City itself?
An increasingly large proportion of home sales go to people who want to have a second residence in Flagler Beach to use until they are able to retire here. For many, the financial demands of carrying a mortgage for that home is heavy and they rely on the income from short-term rentals to ease the burden. Removing that income will clearly make home ownership unaffordable for a large number of current and prospective owners. We can expect to see such owners forced to sell as well as potential buyers being turned away. That can only exacerbate an already sluggish real estate market and hurt those attempting to sell their homes. That would be an immediate boon to buyers with plenty of money, but it’s not good for the market in general.
Beyond local homeowners, there is a positive ripple effect of vacation rentals on the local economy. Absentee owners who do short-term rentals need the services of managers, cleaning crews, landscapers, and other maintenance people. Overnight visitors spend money on lodging, restaurants, entertainment, retail, transportation, gas, and other items purchased within the city.
All these people would certainly be adversely affected by a reversal of the City’s, up-to-now, laissez-faire policy.
Those behind this new get-tough approach, whoever they may be, can certainly point out that property owners who choose to violate the ordinance were not ignorant of it when they purchased their homes and were aware that the City could decide to begin enforcing it at any time. Be that as it may, it begs the question of the wisdom of the ordinance in the first place.
There is a simple solution to the problem. Remove the ordinance from the books. Require homeowners who do vacation rentals to register and pay transient occupancy tax revenues, sales tax revenues, property taxes, and business license taxes.
This would benefit the City’s tax coffers and the economy in general. It would bring an underground economic activity above-board and make money for the City instead of having the considerable expense of attempting to police it.
Flager Beach Rental Properties
Did anyone ever consider that these two short term renters were breaking the law, maybe because they were not aware they were to charge their guests and not collecting the Flagler County 3% tourism tax which must be charged on all short term rentals under 6 months. The state of Florida looks for violators of this law as they should. The people that rent short term houses and condos are no different then hotels and resorts on this tax. The guest needs to be charged and pay this tax which is submitted to the State of Florida and is sent back to the county to be used to generate more tourism and short term rentals.
One Bad Apple
As a business owner, I appreciate the "speculator" and their goals.
But, what about those of us who chose Flagler Beach as our home, in a single-family community, so we could enjoy and protect our back yards – not as an investment or as a speculator – a year-rouond, tax paying, law -abiding citizen.Why should we have to "swallow the fact that next door there is a long-term rental couple on the ground floor, while the upper 2 floors are being rented out on a short-term (weekly) basis. The "owners" IGNORE all codes and tax laws (but are licenced). What can we do to protect our investment – THIS IS MY BACKYARD!