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.

Communities can enforce state law. Orlando was all-in for recreational dollars at some point and STRs assisted with their tax dollars. Now Orlando has other interests and STRs are not wanted.

So why not make landlords babysit their renters? They can rent all they want, but responsibility isn’t disengaged. If a renter wants to live large, they need to go elsewhere and rent a hotel room. The state law is fully followed in Orlando. Landlords can STR till their hearts are content, but they live with what they chose.

It’s utterly brilliant.

The town I live in, in NH, has been grappling with the issue, along with every other resort time community. An original draft of our proposed STR bylaw, took a similar approach. A residence could only be used as an STR, if it was the owner's primary residence. In other words, "investors" couldn't buy houses to use at STR's, but if you were a snowbird and headed to FL for the winter, you could do Short Term Rentals while you were away.

The thinking in proposing this law, was to protect local residents and protect the neighborhoods, assuming folks who rented out their Primary Residents, would be more careful that investors, in who they rented to and how they maintained their home.

Much to my disappointment, the bylaw didn't get passed that way. The local Business Community mustered far more political clout than our little STR Committee.

The bylaw they enacted, adopted a raft of regulations for STR's and required a local permit. For the last 3 years (the Covid Era) STR's have been driving real estate prices through the roof. Being in the hotel business, I can firmly attest to the fact, that the saturation point will arrive at some point and the bottom will start to fall out of the STR market, which I suspect will lower property values.

In my neighborhood of 550 homes, we now have +/- 50 STR's operating. In the meantime, the value of my home has doubled in the last 3 years, but at some point, the demand for STR's has to reach the saturation point ... I think?

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.

What country do you live in? Laws are always changed and rewritten in the United States I live in.

Perfect! That is what this issue is about zoning.

You do know it is illegal for a judge to prejudicially favor one side of case over another don't you? Your statements are laughable. Favoring the State of Florida would get the judge fired.

Aren't you the person who claimed he worked in senior housing for forty years and worked under Governor Weld? Then you should know prejudice is illegal in the court of law. But then again, on another post I believe you are the same person who stated he was a car salesman all his life.

This one has been around for 12 years. There have been at least a few failed attempts to weaken it. Could it happen? Absolutely. Will it happen? My crystal ball is not that good but the failed attempts make it look unlikely.

What does anything in his post have to do with a judge? The judge makes rulings based on the law and the law allows STRs.

Best advice at this point----don't engage.:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Yeah, but sometimes I forget.

It was in response to a post that stated the reason courts decided Strs could continue is because they bring in money to Florida. Laughable! Not allowed to use prejudice or need in a court of law. Have to follow the law! This is why cities and states are still fighting. They have to prove their case "under the law" without an assumption they are going to lose their case because STRs bring in money to Florida. Again, laughable! Would get any judge fired if they used prejudice instead of the law.

Orlando
 

Orlando tackled this problem correctly post 2011. They still allow STRs, but they say how they are run and how they are tracked by the municipality, which is totally lawful. There are virtually no STRs in the city now.

Florida Short-Term Rental Report | GovOS

GREAT POST! Laws are created, altered, and changed all the time in America. Don't know why people keep posting that nothing can be done. Maybe they are investors and want you to believe their nonsense so you do not try to get it changed in the Villages? Who knows?

Now that's a valid point:beer3: