VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach City Council voted Tuesday to challenge the city’s own code enforcement board in circuit court to determine whether or not a city ordinance regulating short-term or vacation rentals is valid and enforceable.
The vote was prompted by public dissatisfaction and concerns from council members about an Aug. 14 ruling of the code enforcement board to discontinue code enforcement proceedings, which included a $50 fine, on a Camelia Lane property owned by Vice Mayor Tracy Carroll and her husband, John, because, they said, the city code was vague.
For years, the Carrolls have rented their island homes on a weekly basis, something city officials maintain is not allowed in residential neighborhoods. After being warned to adhere to the code which allows rentals of 30 days or more, but not daily or weekly rentals, the Carrolls were fined over the summer.
Instead of paying a $50 fine, the couple challenged the code enforcement fine and demanded that the matter be sorted out by the Code Enforcement Board, a board that John Carroll had sat on for several years.
Hearings before the code enforcement board are quasi-judicial in nature and any attempt by the city council to appeal the decision of that board needs to be addressed at the circuit court level.
Council member Jay Kramer, who asked that the matter be brought up for a discussion and vote, said it was unfortunate that the Carrolls didn’t just pay the small fine and move on.
The council voted 3 to 1 to go to challenge the code enforcement board’s ruling, with Pilar Turner casting the lone vote against bringing the short-term rental decision to court. Turner said she would rather speak to an attorney beforehand to determine if the city stood a chance at winning.
Tracy Carroll recused herself from voting due to the fact that she has a financial interest in the outcome of the legal challenge.
“I’m relieved,” said David Hunter, an Eagle Drive resident who filed the complaint about the Carrolls renting out their Central Beach home with a code enforcement officer. Hunter was one of more than a dozen people who spoke from the podium urging the council to take action to rid the city of short-term rentals.
The city must rely on the validity — or lack thereof — of the current ordinance on the books because the state of Florida preempted the regulation of vacation rentals in the 2011 legislative session. Any ordinances on the books in June 2011 were grandfathered in, the statute says, but local governments are prohibited from trying to regulate vacation rentals with new legislation.
“I cannot begin to tell you the shock that is going on in this community,” said Honey Minuse of the Indian River Neighborhood Association, which came out last month against vacation rentals in the city.
The city will need to retain outside counsel to represent the city in the case because City Attorney Wayne Coment served as a legal representative for the Code Enforcement Board. He cannot represent the city.
No timeline or budget for hiring an attorney was discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.
