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Alleged short-term rentals in Belleair Shore investigated
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 |
BELLEAIR SHORE – City Attorney John Elias gathered evidence that one property owner has illegally offered a Gulf Boulevard house for weekend rentals and negotiated with the attorney for a second property owner over similar allegations.
Most of the town’s elected officials agreed their purpose wasn’t just to punish the property owners, but to stop them from offering the homes for short-term rental.
A hearing was scheduled for May 28 before the town’s Special Master on charges against Rhonda Hogan of Tampa, who has allegedly been offering her house at 1280 Gulf Blvd. for short-term rental. If the special master found that the property owner has offered the house for rent, he could impose a fine of up to $250 a day.
The second home, owned by William Lowe, was also to face a hearing May 28 but his attorney advised Elias that both Lowe and the lawyer would be out of town that day. He asked for a continuation, claiming that if the property at 980 Gulf Blvd. had been offered for rental, it no longer was being rented.
At the May 21 Town Commission meeting, Mayor John Robertson said this may be true as the Internet advertisements appeared to have been stopped at the beginning of May. The mayor has provided Elias with copies of ads he claimed have appeared on the Internet during the past year listing the two homes for rent.
As of the May 21 meeting, Hogan had not responded to the summons ordering her to appear before the special master.
Robertson claims one ad shows Hogan’s house has been available for rent for as much as $6,000 a weekend. Neighbors have complained about rowdy parties, beach litter and indiscriminate parking.
To stop the rentals, the town last year adopted new codes barring short-term rentals, created a magistrate’s court in the town and last winter launched legal action against the two property owners.
The newest member of the town commission, Richard Jordan, pressed several times for information on how much it has cost the town to take legal action. Robertson and other commissioners said they were more interested in halting the rentals than in recovering a few hundred dollars the city has spent.
“This is not about money,” said Commissioner Bob Schmidt Jr., “It’s about making them stop. They have been ignoring us.”
A court hearing for Lowe was rescheduled to June 11, but Elias was instructed to seek an agreement with Lowe that would permanently halt any short-term rentals of his house. Such an agreement must include a provision that any future conviction for short-term rental would be treated as a second-offense, increasing potential fines to $500 a-day.
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Article published on Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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