Residential Rental Registry takes effect, aimed at organizing town rentals

Longboat Key residents who wish to rent their properties short term now need to register through the town’s Residential Rental Registry. 

The program, which started on Oct. 1, was unanimously approved by the Town Commission in March.

The registry is a means for the town to have a more succinct list of properties being rented out for less than six months, including rentals through online platforms, such as Airbnb and Vrbo. 

This doesn’t change the town’s existing ordinance that prohibits rentals shorter than 30 days. 

Planning, Zoning and Building Director Allen Parsons said short-term rental violations have been a consistent issue for the town, with online rentals being one of the key reasons. 

“This program will allow for the town to have a good handle on properties being rented,” he said. 

Previously, the town only required a business tax receipt, but residents who rent their properties now need to also apply for the registry. 

There are two categories of properties that need to apply: properties zoned residential that rent privately and tourism properties that are zoned residential. 

The first category would be homes in which the owners independently list the rentals, like on online platforms. For those properties, it’s a $200 fee for the initial certificate and then a $150 renewal fee. 

The second category contains only about 30 properties, according to Parsons — the ones that are tourism properties zoned as residential units.  These would be properties such as The Diplomat Beach Resort and Casa del Mar. The registration fee for those properties is $50 and $20 for renewal. 

The limited number of properties that are zoned as tourism units do not need to register. 

Aside from giving the town a complete list of rental properties, the certificate also serves a liability function. 

Each property must go through life safety inspections, looking over safe ways to exit the property, the presence of smoke detectors and having a proper address for emergency services to be able to respond. 

Once approved, the certificate gives property owners a registration number, which needs to be displayed on the online listing, Parsons said.

Approved properties will also be required to communicate aspects such as town ordinances with renters. Parsons said this will hopefully mitigate issues with neighboring residents. 

As of Oct. 4, the Planning, Zoning and Building Department received 700 applications. Parsons expects around 1,000 properties total in the registry. 

For more information or to register a property, contact the Planning, Zoning and Building Department at [email protected] or 941-316-1966.