[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Here's the problem that's raising its ugly head, all over the USA.

As you pointed out, Florida communities can not adopt a regulation, banning STR's. They can however, ban STR's if their existing regulations prohibited them. Herein lies the quagmire. "STR's" were seldom defined in Zoning Regulations, 20+ years ago.

The question that arises, are STR's a "Residential" use (allowed in a Residential Zoning District)?

Are they a "Business" use, only allowed in a Business Zoning District?

Or ... do they fall under a specific definition in a Zoning scheme, that makes them hotels or motels?

The answer to the questions, are being litigated in courts throughout the USA. It's not a simple question. It comes down to how a community wrote their Zoning regulations and how they defined all the particular terms. Not to get too far into the weeds, but it also depends on whether the wording of their Zoning regulations allows alternative uses, previously not contemplated when the regulations were written.

I found an interesting summary of relevant court cases on a Florida bar site. It is from 2017 so it doesn't mention the Orlando ordinance. The bottom line was that the success of lawsuits or laws depends on definitions and interpretations. What worked in one area might not work in another.