The 30-day rental rule

AL GREEN
Contributing Columnist
green@lbknews.com

Ever since the Europeans decided they could vacation in the sun more conveniently and for less money away from Longboat Key, certain merchants have been claiming they would all return if the 30-day rule on residential leases were rescinded.

Now with the election of a group of commissioners whose overriding concern is the commercial life of the town, this so-called bugaboo is being brought up again. When things are bad, it is human nature to look for a reason, but in this case, it is an excuse not based on the facts.

Fact: During the period when we were inundated with Swedish, German and other Europeans, the 30-day rule was in effect.

Fact: There are approximately 10,000 residential units on Longboat Key. Of these, 8,500 are condominiums and subject to rules at least as restrictive as the town codes, and in 90 percent of the cases, more restrictive.

Of the remaining 1,500 private homes, half are in homeowner associations that have their own restrictions on rentals. These include The Bayou, Queen’s Harbour, the Islandside homes and Emerald Harbour.

If you take all the rest, you have roughly 750 houses, and most of those are inhabited by full-time owners who are hardly candidates for renting out their homes. Of the rest, many are already in the rental pool, have been very happy with their long-term occupants and don’t want the headache that comes with short-termers.

Of course, many homes are on some of the smaller canals in the northern portion of the key, and if truth be known, have been renting out on a short-term basis for years. Consequently, any change in the rules would have no noticeable effect, except in very specific situations that would kick back on the full-time neighbors in the vicinity while not helping the advocates of the change in any macro-fashion.

Even now, policing the rule is difficult. It depends upon civilian complaints. If 30-day requirements are tough to supervise, two-week rules would be impossible.

All this talk of changing the rules as a way of jump-starting business on the key is pure persiflage. As I have written in the past, in the season the good businesses are busy over their heads and then live off the winter’s fat through the lean times. Any additional wintertime population would just make it even busier but have no affect on the slow times.

Residential property will continue to gain in value since no one is making any more seaside property, and the commercial properties on Longboat key that provide the wanted goods and services will continue to prosper. At least half of the current square footage that is zoned exclusively for commercial use will eventually have to be rezoned residential. All Commissioner Brenner and his colleagues are doing is beating a dead horse and listening to the whining of the losers.

When the Town Commission approved the Key Club Project, I wrote that they were selling out the homeowners on Islandside; if they change the rules on rentals, they will be selling out those single-family residents who are enjoying the quiet life. Isn’t his why one chooses to live on Longboat Key in the first place?

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