Vacations Only

Last month the council of the city of North Miami Beach passed an ordinance with a 5-2 vote to prohibit short-term rentals in efforts to stop noisy weekend parties.

Many residents feel that short-term rental are distributing neighborhoods because these homes are often rented out to rambunctious partygoers, according to city attorney Darcee Siegel.  He also said in the meeting, “It's a problem, and not only in this city -- in various cities.”

Under this new ordinance, single home owners are prohibited from renting their home to anyone for less than 3 months at a time, as well as makes it illegal to rent out their home more than three times a year.

For those who already have a short-term rental business license will not be penalized, but will be grandfathered in, however under the new ordinance, they must acquire business tax receipts from the city every year.  For those not grandfathered in, could be charge with a whooping fee of $250 a day, unless they are located in the mobile home area located east of Biscayne Boulevard between 135th Street and 145th Street, which is the only area exempted from North Miami Beach's new ordinance.

Those with short-term rental business licenses who wish to be grandfathered in must contact the city as soon as possible to obtain a permit for each vacation home rental that will cost only $60 a year per home.  However, a permit can be denied if there are any code enforcement violations on the home.  Those who do not obtain a permit and are later found guilty of illegal short-term renting could be charge with a $250 fine per day and $500 a day for repeat offenses.

This new ordinance comes at a bad time for homeowners, who have suffered due to the recession, that could have made up to $10,000 for renting their home during the week of Super Bowl, which will be held in Miami in February 2010.

During the proposal of the ordinance, two rental business owners have come forward that will be grandfathered in. One of them is Guy Tenenbaum, who supports the ordinance and said,“We're happy because if the law did not pass, we'd continue the same way we did for years. We live in the neighborhood, and we don't want Eastern Shores to become a big party house.'' The another is Eric Harari, who rents to travelers that attend international events, said, “For me, it will not change much. I've paid my taxes since day one.''

After the meeting, one of the councilwoman that voted against the ordinance expressed that the new ordinance doesn't agree with zoning codes that do not explicitly prohibit short-term rentals.  She also said, “When you change your zoning code to prohibited uses, you turn your zoning code upside down.”

City officials are relying solely on residents to report any illegal short-term rentals and will not be driving around neighborhoods to enforce this new ordinance.  Time will soon tell if this new ordinance will restore peace again into these neighborhoods.