Seminole County officials

Officials: Ordinance for short-term vacation rentals needs work

hold off on enacting rules for shortterm vacation rentals, saying the pending ordinance needs work.

Seminole commissioners on Tuesday decided to hold off enacting regulations on short-term vacation rentals such as Airbnb after raising questions about the registration process and how the rules would be enforced.

“It definitely needs some work,” commission Chairman John Horan said of the proposed ordinance.

With the increasing popularity of home-sharing sites, Seminole proposed an ordinance that would require a property owner wanting to rent a home in unincorporated areas for less than a month to apply for a “certificate of compliance” from the county at a one-time charge of $150.

A new Orlando ordinance that takes effect Sunday, on the other hand, requires an initial $275 registration, and renewals ranging from $100 to $125 every year thereafter.

Commissioner Bob Dallari questioned why Seminole property owners would have to register their homes for rental only one time.

“It would be nice for them to come back every couple of years,” he said.

Loud noise on short-term rental homes would be forbidden from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., according to the proposed ordinance. Complaints would be handled by the county’s code enforcement officers.

But Commissioner Brenda Carey said most get-togethers happen on the weekends, and code-enforcement officers work on weekdays.

“The weekend is over, and the visitors are gone, but the neighbors had to put up with all the cars and noise over the weekend,” Carey said. “It’s going to be very difficult for us to monitor this, and possibly enforce it, if we are responding after the fact.”

Commissioners directed staff to re-work the ordinance and didn't schedule a date when they would discuss the regulations again.