PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — It's an issue that has been a hot topic across Tampa Bay in recent weeks: short-term rentals. For many areas, each city, town, and county has its own local ordinances policing what is and isn't allowed.
Now, as local officials wait to see if Governor Ron DeSantis signs SB 280 into law, local governments are trying to sort out how to comply with potentially new state law while properly enforcing quality-of-life standards.
In Harborview, there are several neighbors who have issues with short-term renters. One neighbor, Hillary Simpson, wants to know why the county has ordinances in place to restrict short-term rentals if they're not being enforced.
Simpson said she is on the phone with code enforcement nearly daily and just wants to be able to go 24 hours without short-term renters disturbing her family.
"Noise is definitely the one that is the most disruptive," Simpson said.
Simpson said her neighbors often wake up her toddlers in the middle of the night. The rental unit's backyard is adjacent to hers. She said when parties go on, the noise is unavoidable.
"You know, we're coaxing our children back to sleep, and then we're up for several hours after that," she shared.
Simpson shared a video that can be viewed at the top of this article. It shows a neighbor entering her property just before her husband arrives home. Simpson said this is the short-term rental that has caused repeated problems in her neighborhood.
"And one of the renters had jumped over the fence, and promptly jumped back over when he saw our dogs coming towards him," she said.
Simpson said the property manager and 911 were called.
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"There's a ton of unknown, and that can be a little scary when you bought a home in a neighborhood where you intended to raise your children because it was safe and quiet and peaceful," she said.
Today, Pinellas County commissioners looked at how to better enforce the short-term rental ordinance, as well as comply with a potentially new law passed by the legislature but not yet signed by the governor.
"They're not armed with anything to enforce our codes," Commissioner Dave Eggars said, referring to code enforcement officers. "They don't have sound meters in their car."
Now, the county is considering creating registration fees, setting amounts for violation fines, and creating code enforcement positions solely dedicated to short-term rental complaints.
"If you don't put teeth in this, it's just talk," Eggers said.
"I really just hope that the county commissioners and the county can develop some way to enforce these codes, because regardless if Senate Bill 280 becomes signed or is vetoed, the codes that are in place are still problematic, and there's no way to enforce them," Simpson said.
The county commission shared their next steps are to see if SB 280 is signed into law by Gov. DeSantis. Then, it'll look into reworking its code enforcement department to better police short-term rentals in Pinellas County.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, X, and Instagram pages.