Largo is putting new rules around homes and condos rented repeatedly for stays of less than a month, requiring owners to register annually, pass safety inspections and pay a $600 fee.
City commissioners unanimously approved the changes Tuesday after months of complaints about noise, parking, trash and crowded homes operating as vacation rentals.
The city estimates between 600 and 800 such properties are operating within Largo.
Under the ordinance, a short-term vacation rental generally includes a house, condo or similar residential property rented more than three times in a year for stays shorter than 30 days, or advertised as a place regularly rented to guests. The definition covers the kinds of properties commonly listed through Airbnb and Vrbo.
The market ranges from modest apartments to large homes aimed at groups and families. Airbnb lists the average October price for a Largo vacation rental at about $147 a night, with houses averaging about $165.
What Largo can do about those rentals is shaped heavily by state law.
Florida lawmakers in 2011 barred cities from adopting new rules that prohibit vacation rentals or regulate how frequently or how long they can be rented. Local restrictions adopted on or before June 1, 2011 were allowed to remain.
That helps explain why neighboring St. Petersburg has a different system. Its code generally treats a property as residential when stays shorter than a month occur no more than three times during any consecutive 365-day period. More frequent short stays are considered a transient accommodation use, which faces different zoning restrictions.
Largo did not enter the state preemption era with the same restrictions in place. Its new rules instead focus on registration, inspections, parking and nuisance enforcement, areas the city says remain within its authority.
Under the new program, every short-term rental will have to register with Largo and renew annually. Before operating under the program, a property must pay the registration fee and pass inspections by Community Standards and the Fire Department’s Risk Reduction Division. Those inspections will be repeated as part of the renewal process.
The initial registration and annual renewal will each cost $600. City officials say the money will cover staffing, equipment and software needed to run the program without shifting those costs elsewhere.
The ordinance also sets limits on occupancy and parking. Rentals are allowed one person for every 150 square feet of permitted living space and must provide one off-street parking space for every three guests. Street parking does not count toward that requirement.
Each property must have a designated responsible party available 24 hours a day. If a problem cannot be handled by phone, that person or an agent must be able to get to the property within two hours.
Owners must also provide the city with a state lodging license, attest that required taxes are being collected and remitted, disclose the property’s maximum occupancy and bedroom count, provide contact information for the responsible party and submit a parking plan.
Tuesday’s discussion quickly moved from what the rules say to whether Largo can enforce them when problems actually occur.
Commissioner Michael DiBrizzi said registering properties would be easier than dealing with noise and other complaints that often come after normal business hours.
“This whole thing is going to come down to enforcement,” DiBrizzi said. “I want to see aggressive enforcement to what we’re putting down.”
City Manager John Curp said the city built enforcement costs into the fee structure and intends to dedicate staff to the program.
“We have the resources to enforce this,” Curp said. “We have built the fee structure around hiring enforcement and that will be done.”
The city has already filled one position for the program and posted another. Staff said it is also close to selecting software that can locate short-term rental listings, maintain registrations and help track violations.
Largo plans to begin notifying owners and rolling out registration in November, with the full program scheduled to launch Jan. 1, 2027.
Several commissioners pressed for code enforcement coverage during nights and weekends, when many noise and party complaints occur.
Vice Mayor Chris Johnson said the city should build those hours into the new positions rather than rely primarily on police after normal business hours.
“I think if we don’t have that coverage, it’s just not going to happen the way we want it to,” Johnson said.
Police Chief Mike Loux said officers already respond to loud parties, parking complaints and other disturbances, but those calls compete with emergencies and other higher-priority incidents.
The commission also adopted a chronic nuisance ordinance that applies to all properties, not only vacation rentals. Once police, fire or code staff document a pattern of nuisance activity, the city can require an abatement plan and eventually take unresolved cases before a special magistrate.
City Attorney Sarah Allen said Tuesday that cities had almost no time to react when the state restrictions took effect in 2011.
“The statutory preemption that limited us from adopting regulations as of June 1, 2011, that bill was signed June 2, 2011,” Allen said. “They didn’t give jurisdictions time to adopt it.”
For residents who have spent months pressing Largo to act, the question is now whether those new tools will change what happens at the properties causing repeated problems.
Dagan Harris, speaking for several residents, urged officials to focus first on repeat offenders rather than waiting for the new system to solve everything at once.
“End of the day is action and teeth,” Harris said. “Quit talking about it and do something.”
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