City Council Discusses Citizens' Short Term Rental Complaints

Port Orange, FL - During a city council meeting on June 5, City Council Member Bob Ford told his fellow councilmen that many Volusia County citizens have expressed their concerns about short-term rentals and Airbnbs.

People have expressed their displeasure with short-term rentals because of how disruptive they can be. The council and Mayor Duquette decided to workshop the short-term rental problem in order to see if there’s anything that they can do.

Last week a truck meet took place which brought in tons of tourists and people that used Airbnbs. One resident complained that their driveway was blocked so they had to park on their lawn and another complained that there were rowdy parties multiple nights that lasted all hours of the night.

The city isn’t allowed to ban short-term rentals but their goal is to regulate it. Representative Patrick Henry of the Florida Senate came and spoke at the council meeting regarding this issue.

In 2017, Henry gave a passionate speech regarding property rights and how Airbnb is affecting neighborhoods. This issue has been heard in the state Senate and the state of Florida wants to preempt cities from coming up with guidelines for individual homeowners because they want to be the sole authority on the guidelines.

Henry and other representatives feel that it’s important for each city to set their own guidelines regarding short-term rentals. “This is going to be another hot topic when we go back to Tallahassee,” said Henry, “but I really feel that this year we’re going to have to come up with some kind of guidelines that the cities and counties can use.”