Short-term rental owners in Palm Coast will now have to pay an annual fee of $450, limit guests to 10 and face penalties for violations including excessive noise under a new ordinance passed by the City Council on Tuesday.
The council voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the ordinance that will go into effect March 3. Before that deadline, owners of rentals booked through Airbnb and similar companies will have to register their units with the city.
The currently seated city council of Palm Coast (from left): Council Member Ty Miller; Vice Mayor Teresa Pontieri; Mayor Mike Norris; Council Member Ray Stephens; and Council Member Charles Gambaro.
Under the new ordinance, a maximum of 10 individuals will be permitted per rental property, with two people allowed per bedroom. Children younger than 3 will not be considered in the total guest count.
Maximum capacity per unit debated
City Council member Charles Gambaro suggested the occupant count might be exempted for those properties where owners/operators live on the premises.
“It (short-term rentals) is a public-safety issue,” Gambaro acknowledged and said he supported regulation but added that he was also sympathetic to rental owners’ property rights. “Nine times out of 10 (owners are) going to keep things in order.”
While City Councilman Ray Stephens originally sided with Gambaro, in the end he conceded to the 10-guest limit along with Mayor Mike Norris, Vice Mayor Teresa Pontieri and City Councilman Ty Miller who were supportive of the measure.
Background checks will be required for all tenants, including a sexual-offender check, but that requirement may be waived if owners contract with companies like Airbnb or others which routinely require checks of guests anyway.
Violations of noise, garbage, parking and other regulations are also covered under the ordinance as well.
‘Home rule’ an issue across Florida
Residents on both sides of the issue — those who complain of nuisance issues associated with rental units, as well as Palm Coast homeowners who make a business of renting units in their home or within town — have spoken out on regulation in recent months.
In 2014, the Florida Legislature passed a law to allow local governments the ability to handle issues like noise, trash and parking associated with short-term rentals, but continued to prevent them from regulating the duration of the turnover rate or the maximum number of occupants.
In February 2024, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 280 which stipulated the maximum number of people allowed to stay overnight in a vacation rental to be determined by the number of bedrooms, with two people per bedroom and an extra two people permitted in a common area. Gov. Ron DeSantis later vetoed the legislation.
It is that discrepancy and other issues of so-called “home rule” that have prompted municipalities across Florida to review existing ordinances or adopt new ones governing Airbnb, Vrbo and other short-term rentals.
Draft version of ordinance prompts questions
At a Dec. 10 workshop, the City Council wrangled with several issues that came up in a debate about draft versions of the ordinance.
In agreeing upon the terms of the vacation rental ordinance, Palm Coast officials tried to assure the public that the city would enforce those regulations for both homeowners and guests.
“Yes, we will police the violations (and fees associated with them) as per the ordinance,” Norris said Tuesday night.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Airbnb, other vacation rentals to face local rules in Palm Coast