Indian Rocks Beach won’t compromise with vacation rental owners who sued

John Pfanstiehl, a 33-year resident of Indian Rocks Beach, has been fighting the slow creep of vacation rentals in his community for more than a decade.Last year, he saw victory: the city commission imposed a sweeping set of restrictions on vacation rentals in May, including a 10-person occupancy limit for units in residential areas, required annual inspections and noise restrictions.“We packed the meeting,” Pfanstiehl said. “The residents were fed up with how they’re losing the city.”It took less than six months for those restrictions to spur seven lawsuits by vacation rental companies. Pfanstiehl was irate when he learned that city officials would consider loosening some restrictions they passed last year to settle those lawsuits.One rental company filing against the city was Delaware-based AP 6 LLC. The company argued in its suit that a 10-person occupancy limit unreasonably limits the revenue it can earn from private properties.The settlement deal would have ditched city requirements for annual inspections, instead requiring them every two years. The 10-person maximum occupancy limit would increase to 14 in residential areas, among other changes. In exchange, all seven companies would drop the lawsuits.Vacation rentals are a sore subject for residents of Indian Rocks Beach. The beach town of a little over 3,600 residents had more than 2,300 short-term rental listings on sites like Airbnb and VRBO in July, according to rental tracking site AirDNA.Some homes may have multiple active listings, inflating AirDNA’s count. Pfanstiehl estimates a number closer to 500.But many residents can recount the daily annoyances of vacation rentals on their block — whether that’s parked cars crowding a cul-de-sac, vacationers accidentally entering the wrong house or noise carrying through the night. A grassroots movement with the catchphrase “homes not hotels” has formed in opposition to vacation rentals in residential communities.Before 2011, vacation rentals couldn’t operate in Indian Rocks Beach’s single-family districts — only in a commercial zone designated for tourist activity. In residential areas, short-term rentals were required to host the same tenant for at least three months. City commissioners started amending that ordinance in 2011, spelling trouble down the line.In 2014, a new Florida law said local ordinances passed after June 2011 couldn’t limit the duration of stays in short-term rentals as Indian Rocks Beach’s rules did. In neighborhoods, vacation rentals could host a revolving door of single-night guests.Commissioners passed more restrictions on vacation rentals in 2018. But they missed their chance, Pfanstiehl said, to impose occupancy limits, stirring more resident discontent.Five years later, residents got some of the limits on tourist traffic they asked for. And they weren’t going down without a fight when the city commission mulled weakening those restrictions last week.In roughly two hours of public comment, residents leveled grievances against vacation rentals next door.“They threaten the tranquility, stability and continuity of our town,” 66-year-old retiree Patti Katz said. “Our city has the means to fight these attacks as other cities have and prevail.”When City Commissioner Jude Bond proposed considering the settlement further, he was greeted with jeers. At times he and other city officials went back-and-forth with members of the audience.The commission ultimately rejected the settlement deal, deciding 3-2 to send the city’s legal team back to the drawing board with the rental companies. The lawsuits will likely reopen, City Attorney Randy Mora said, potentially costing the city around $800,000 in legal fees.For residents, it was a successful battle in a never-ending saga.“It’s been tiring,” Katz said. “We have to keep fighting this over and over again.”The cycle also feels tedious for Steve Van Leeuwen, who owns two rentals in the city. He told commissioners that rentals give back to Indian Rocks Beach through tourism taxes.“If you don’t want tourists, don’t live here,” he said. “I really don’t think (residents in opposition) have anything to do.”Former City Commissioner Lan Vaughan, who helped write the 2023 ordinance, said he has faith it will hold up in court. Commissioners modeled the ordinance off of rules that have passed legal muster in Anna Maria Island, Holmes Beach and Flagler County, he said. Holmes Beach is fending off a lawsuit filed against its fire department over vacation rental rules.But the fight may have more chapters. In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed Senate Bill 280, which would have made moot rental restrictions like the ones Indian Rocks Beach passed. Some residents fear a future bill will succeed.“If we don’t take this battle to Tallahassee, where they have the ability to overrule everything we’ve done, what are we doing?” resident Jorge Blassio said.

Indian Rocks Beach won’t compromise with vacation rental owners who sued

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