Central Beach property owner Charles Fitz and his attorneys will find out soon whether they get their day in court now, or later, to argue their side in the ongoing dispute over the legality of short-term vacation rentals in Vero Beach neighborhoods.
Judge Paul Kanarek initially ruled that Fitz’s case had no merits and also denied his request for summary judgment.
Now the City’s trial attorney John Frost has asked Kanarek for a final judgment that would eliminate the need for a full-blown trial. Fitz’s attorneys from the Vero Beach law firm of Rooney and Rooney have said their client is prepared for the “long haul” and intends to appeal if defeated at the lower court level.
The Florida Legislature in 2011 approved a measure reserving the regulation of vacation rentals to the state, prohibiting cities and counties from beefing up their local rules after that, but grandfathering-in existing regulations.
Fitz, who owns multiple properties in Central Beach and was cited in April 2015 for renting his property on Fiddlewood Road to vacationers, argues Vero did, in fact, toughen its short-term rental regulations after the 2011 statute was passed, violating the law and leading to his citation.
City officials and their attorneys contend that Vero always had rules on the books prohibiting property owners in residential-zoned neighborhoods from renting to tenants for less than 30 days and that the changes made to the code in 2015 were just to clean up the language and clarify the regulations.
Vero also increased the fine for violating the city code as it pertains to vacation rentals from $50 per occurrence to $500 per occurrence. Should code enforcement officers, who are now under the Vero Beach Police Department, find evidence that a property owner has advertised and rented a property, and that tenants continue to occupy the dwelling repeatedly or on consecutive nights, that $500 fine could be assessed on a per day basis, according to City Manager Jim O’Connor.
The next hearing in the dispute is set for April 11.