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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDerosa. Dania Beach Commission. Renter. Comment. Ex. W.Exhibits(2-24-25) HARTSELL | OZERY, P.A. 61 N.E. 1ST Street, Suite C Pompano Beach, Florida 33060 (954) 778-1052 www.HartsellOzery.com February 24, 2025 Board of City of Dania Beach City Commissioners 100 W Dania Beach Blvd. Dania Beach, FL 33004 Via Electronic Mail: jdavis@daniabeachfl.gov; msalvino@daniabeachfl.gov; llewellen@daniabeachfl.gov; lrimoli@daniabeachfl.gov; ajryan@daniabeachfl.gov; msingh@daniabeachfl.gov; jdavis@daniabeachfl.gov; agarcia@daniabeachfl.gov; csosacruz@daniabeachfl.gov; clottier@daniabeachfl.gov; eboutsis@daniabeachfl.gov; ladams@daniabeachfl.gov; eriera@daniabeachfl.gov; emcclendon@daniabeachfl.gov; enorena@daniabeachfl.gov; clajoie@daniabeachfl.gov; lhuriash@sunsentinel.com; tony.pipitone@nbcuni.com RE: February 11, 2025, City Commission Hearing Regarding Amending the City of Dania Beach’s (the “City”) Vacation Rental Ordinance, Which Will First Hearing on February 25, 2025. Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Commissioners, On behalf of my Client, Mr. Shawn De Rosa, please accept these comments and include them within the public record for the upcoming February 25, 2025 City Commission Hearing, regarding the request to amend Chapter 16 entitled Vacation Rental Ordinance (the “Ordinance”). Attached hereto is the proposed Vacation Rental Ordinance as Exhibit “A”. On February 11, 2025, the City approved significant changes to the Vacation Rental Chapter of the City’s Code of Ordinances: 1) to allow third persons to visit the occupants of a Vacation Rental; 2) include an acknowledgment of the new City noise Ordinance, Ord. Section 17-81. Section 17-81 states: It shall be unlawful for any person or business to cause or permit to originate from the real property he, she, or it controls, any sound which can be heard at a distance of one hundred (100) feet from the building, structure or vehicle from which the sound is emanating, at a volume, which is unreasonably loud. Further, between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., it shall be unlawful and considered unreasonably loud sound to cause or permit to originate from the real property he, she, or it controls, any sound which can be heard from any property line of the emitting property. This phrasing of this Ordinance is not only vague and ambiguous, with regard to the interpretation and enforcement of the Ordinance, but the Ordinance itself will allow for the increased negative impacts of City of Dania Beach February 25, 2025 City Commission Hearing Comment Letter Page 2 noise and disturbances within the City’s residential neighborhoods, by allowing an unlimited number of visitors to these Vacation Rentals, at any point in the late night or early morning. Enforcement of the current Vacation Rental and Noise Ordinance has already shown to be difficult to enforce and subjective to the officer. This new Ordinance now “ties the hands” of officers responding to noise complaints at Vacation Rentals, resulting in the potential for Vacation Rental Violators to escape regulation to the detriment of the adjacent residents. For instance, Code Enforcement or Law Enforcement will now have to determine who are the “third persons” and who are the “occupants,” but also, what is considered an “overnight” stay. This Ordinance would allow for an unlimited number of “third persons” to visit at all times of the late night or early morning, while evading what appears to be the intent of the Ordinance.Vacation Renters can simply recategorize any additional visitors above the “10 person” maximum, as “third persons,” who are not staying overnight, resulting in additional calls to enforcement officers throughout the day/night due to excessive noise and disturbance allowed and facilitated by this new Ordinance. This leaves far too much to the enforcement officer to interpret, resulting in interpretations and ultimately, applications, of this change that are not consistent with the intent of the City, in the best interest of the surrounding neighborhood, and its residents. Our Client lives adjacent to a Vacation Rental property and has been forced to make numerous complaints to the City, specifically related to unreasonably loud noise, exceeding the maximum Vacation Rental occupancy, as well as parking and waste disposal violations. Additionally, many of his neighbors within this residential area have the same complaints and concerns. Attached hereto are Witness Statements via email as Composite Exhibit “B”. This is a residential area and the Vacation Rental property impacts the specific neighborhood character that the residents desired when they moved to that community. Passing this Ordinance will allow these short-term renters to continue their repeated violations with a larger ability to not be cited, which will negatively chip away at impacting the local resident’s property rights and property values. The effects of this Ordinance give rise to a claim under the Bert Harris Act (the “Act”), which provides a cause of action for a property owner who is aggrieved by a government action that “inordinately burdens” the owner’s property.1 §70.001 Fla. Stat. (2024). The Act provides in pertinent part: When a specific action of a governmental entity has inordinately burdened an existing use of real property or a vested right to a specific use of property, the property owner of that real property is entitled to relief, which may include compensation for the actual loss to the fair market value of the real property caused by the action of government . . . . §70.001(2), 1 The term “inordinately burdened” “means an action of one or more governmental entities has directly restricted or limited the use of real property such that the property owner is permanently unable to attain the reasonable, investment-backed expectation for the existing use of the real property or a vested right to a specific use of the real property with respect to the real property as a whole, or that the property owner is left with existing or vested uses that are unreasonable such that the property owner bears permanently a disproportionate share of a burden imposed for the good of the public, which in fairness should be borne by the public at large. Fla. Stat. §70.001(3) (e) (emphasis added). City of Dania Beach February 25, 2025 City Commission Hearing Comment Letter Page 3 Fla. Stat. (2024). Vacation Rentals within residential neighborhoods is a statewide issue; there is no illusion to the concerns of safety, noise, trash, and parking that occur related to Vacation Rentals. Attached hereto are photos related to issues and concerns of the Vacation Rentals within the City’s residential neighborhoods as Composite Exhibit “C”. These complaints impact permanent resident’s quiet peaceful enjoyment of their property; i.e. they are permanently unable to attain the “reasonable, investment-back expectation” for the existing use of their property. Additionally, residing near a Vacation Rental would have negative impacts on the property value to the local neighborhood. To deprive the City’s constituents of such rights would be a disservice. As Vacation Rentals are a growing business, as such, we request a response and disclosure if any voting commissioners, including the Mayor and Vice Mayor, have filed a Form 8B for any conflicts of interest related to matters on Vacation Rentals. As this matter has a significant impact on the local community, we want to ensure the best interest of the residents are met. It is appreciated that the City is attempting to fix the problems that have been existing with the growth of Vacation Rentals, however the proposed amendments to the Ordinance will not have the intended effect that the City and its Residents want. As such, we respectfully request that the City Commission reconsider this Ordinance’s amendment and have the Commission seek community comments and insight to find an amicable solution to this matter. Thank you for your time and consideration of these comments. Respectfully, HARTSELL | OZERY, P.A. cc: the Client /s/ Jordan Snyder Jordan K. Snyder, Esq. Jordan@Hartsellozery.com ORDINANCE NO. 2025-______ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA, TO AMEND CHAPTER 16, ENTITLED “VACATION RENTALS”, OF THE CITY’S CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING SECTION 16-2 TO CLARIFY ADVERTISING PROHIBITIONS FOR VACTION RENTALS, DEFINING VACTION RENTAL OCCUPANCY AND SPECIFICALLY REFERENCING THE CITY’S NOISE ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; CODIFICATION; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. , the City has a grandfathered Vacation Rental ordinance in place, which is found at Chapter 16, of the City’s Code; and the City desires to provide clarity as to three matters: (1) that a vacation rental property in the City is required to be leased for five consecutive days, and as such, any advertisement for the property should reflect this requirement or face a code violation; (2) defining vacation rental occupancy as those authorized to stay overnight in the property (no more than 10 persons), while allowing visitors, which could exceed the 10 person capacity – with the qualifier that these visitors cannot stay overnight; and (3) that the City amend the ordinance to specifically reference the City’s noise ordinance provisions for clarity purposes; and these clarifications will resolve concerns raised in enforcement and will assist the City in better regulating vacation rentals, without interference with state law requirements. That the preceding “Whereas” clauses are ratified and incorporated as a record of the legislative intent of this Ordinance. That Chapter 16, entitled "Vacation Rentals” be amended as follows: * * * * * * EXHIBIT “A” 2 ORDINANCE #2025-______ (g)Code violations. (1) If an owner of a dwelling unit used for vacation rentals has been cited and found to be in violation of a zoning, building, housing, density, life/safety or fire code or regulation by the county court or code enforcement special magistrate, the order of the court or special magistrate shall include payment of an administrative fee for each required inspection or re- inspection of the dwelling unit in an amount to be determined by resolution of the city commission. The required inspection fees shall be included as part of the administrative costs assessed by the city and shall be included in any liens filed by the city. (2) Each day of renting a dwelling unit for vacation rental use without having a vacation rental certificate shall constitute a separate and distinct violation of this section. (3) Advertising for less than five (5) consecutive days shall be indicia of a violation and shall result in a notice of violation to issue. * * * (i)Vacation rental occupants. (1) Maximum occupancy of a dwelling unit for vacation rental use shall not exceed two (2) persons per bedroom plus two persons, but in no event shall the total occupancy of any single vacation rental dwelling unit exceed ten (10) persons or violate the minimum housing standards of chapter 8 "buildings" of this Code. Third persons may visit the occupants, but no more than 10 persons may stay overnight, as occupants of the vacation rental. (2) The occupant(s) of each vacation rental dwelling unit should receive a written copy of this chapter and the city's pet, noise, and trash regulations. (3) The written agreement between the property owner and the occupant(s) should specify all of the following: (i) The name of all persons who will be occupying the unit; (ii) The license tag numbers for all vehicles that the occupant(s) will be parking at the unit, with a total number not to exceed the number of legal parking spaces at the unit, as designated on the vacation rental certificate; (iii) The occupant(s)' agreement to abide by all the requirements of this section, and acknowledgement that his or her rights under the agreement may not be transferred or assigned to anyone else without a new agreement being entered into between the new occupant(s) and the owner; and (iv) The occupant(s)' acknowledgement and agreement that violation of the agreement or this section may result in immediate termination of the agreement and eviction from the vacation rental unit by the owner or resident agent, and potential liability for payment of fines levied by the city. (v) The occupant(s”) acknowledgement of knowledge of the City’s noise ordinance – Section 17-81, of the City’s Code of Ordinances, which provides that it is unlawful to allow noise that can be heard from distance of one hundred (100) feet from the 3 ORDINANCE #2025-______ building; and between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., it shall be unlawful and considered an unreasonably loud sound to cause or permit to originate from the real property he, she, or it controls, any sound which can be heard from any property line of the emitting property. (4) Occupants may only park in the spaces designated on the vacation rental certificate sketch. (5) All occupants must evacuate from the vacation rental upon posting of any nonresident evacuation order. * * * Section 3.That all ordinances or part of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of the Ordinance are repealed. Section 4.It is the intention of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Dania Beach, and it is hereby ordained that the provisions of this ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of the City of Dania Beach, Florida. The sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or re-lettered to accomplish such intention, and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section," "article," or other appropriate word. Section 5.That this Ordinance shall be effective 10 days after passage on second reading. PASSED on first reading on __________________, 2025. PASSED AND ADOPTED on second reading on ___________________ 2025. First Reading: Motion by: _________________________________ Second by: _________________________________ Second Reading: Motion by: _________________________________ Second by: _________________________________ FINAL VOTE ON ADOPTION: Unanimous ____ Yes No Commissioner Lori Lewellen ____ ____ Commissioner Luis Rimoli ____ ____ Commissioner Archibald J. Ryan IV ____ ____ 4 ORDINANCE #2025-______ Vice Mayor Marco Salvino ____ ____ Mayor Joyce L. Davis ____ ____ ATTEST: ELORA RIERA, MMC JOYCE L. DAVIS CITY CLERK MAYOR APPROVED AS TO FORM AND CORRECTNESS: EVE A. BOUTSIS CITY ATTORNEY 2/22/25, 12:14 PMhartsell-law.com Mail - INDEPENDENT WITNESS NEIGHBOR STATEMENT F… 28, 2024 (see email thread) 402 SE 5th street short term rental Page 1 of 2https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ik=b9bd9c78af&view=pt&search=al…hid=thread-f:1823162515047045606&simpl=msg-f:1823162515047045606 Jordan Snyder <jordan@hartsellozery.com> INDEPENDENT WITNESS NEIGHBOR STATEMENT Fwd: AirB&B Issue APRIL 28, 2024 (see email thread) 402 SE 5th street short term rental 1 message Begin forwarded message: From: melinte diana <meldiamarg@yahoo.com> Date: February 4, 2025 at 3:57:05 PM EST To: shwderosa@aol.com Cc: shwderosa@aol.com Subject: AirB&B Issue To Whom it May Concern, I am validating my neighbors concerns of the AirB&B house located at 402 SE 5th St Dania FL 33004, regarding loud noise, excessive parking and occupancy throughout last year, 2024. There were numerous times throughout the year that I walked my dog, or went for walks with my young children, and I had to go around the corner where the house is located using the street, as the public space in front of the house was occupied by numerous cars; the driveway was full, so the guests parked on the grass and sidewalk. As one of the neighbors, I am well aware the house is an AirB&B and I did call the agent listed on the sign in front of the house leaving a voicemail regarding the excessive partying, noise an occupancy as well as the distress to the neighborhood. Not to mention the smell of marihuana. I remember in a few instances, Shawn was outside, in front of his house, and me asking how he puts up with that. He mentioned he called the police. As this happened a few times last year, I do not recall the exact dates, however I do recall the one specific incident when Shawn was so very upset with the noise, he called the police; and it was the same time I also left a voice mail for the realtor. As per Shawns records, that day happens to be April 28th 2024. Regards, Diana Nash 525 SE 4th Ct Dania FL 33004 954 604 1258 COMPOSITE EXHIBIT “B” 2/5/25, 6:18 PMhartsell-law.com Mail - 2nd statement Fwd: Air bnb 402 SE 5th street Dania Page 1 of 1https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ik=b9bd9c78af&view=pt&search=…msgid=msg-f:1823258440605134356&simpl=msg-f:1823258440605134356 Jordan Snyder <jordan@hartsellozery.com> 2nd statement Fwd: Air bnb 402 SE 5th street Dania Begin forwarded message: From: meryleoshins <meryleoshins@gmail.com> Date: February 5, 2025 at 12:27:20 PM EST To: shwderosa@aol.com Subject: Air bnb I would like to make a complaint about the house at 402 SE 5th Street. It is an air bnb. For many years now, the loud noise of people partying inside and outside the house has interrupted my sleep and caused me sleepless nights. There is also a problem of cars illegally parking on the street making it hard to get around . Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Meryl Oshins 319 SE 5th Street Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, an AT&T 5G smartphone 2/13/25, 3:11 PMhartsell-law.com Mail - New Witness statement Fwd: Noise with Airbnb at 402 SE 5th st Dania Page 1 of 1https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ik=b9bd9c78af&view=pt&search=all…thid=thread-f:1823810547576774149&simpl=msg-f:1823810547576774149 Jordan Snyder <jordan@hartsellozery.com> New Witness statement Fwd: Noise with Airbnb at 402 SE 5th st Dania 1 message Begin forwarded message: From: JOE FEDERICO <fed9009@aol.com> Date: February 11, 2025 at 7:29:08 PM EST To: shwderosa@aol.com Subject: Noise with Airbnb at 402 SE 5th st Dania To whom it may concern, Over the last several years, there has been long term excessive noise and excessive partying at the short term rental located at 402 SE 5th st. This has disrupted the quiet peaceful enjoyment of our single family residential neighborhood. Additionally, there has been excessive occupancy and many cars parked everywhere blocking the public right of way. I use the sidewalk a lot as I walk my dogs. I would greatly appreciate any and all efforts by city officials to bring this property into compliance. Thank you for your attention with resolving this issue as soon as possible. Sincerely, Joseph Federico 419 SE 6th St Dania beach, FL 33004 Sent from my iPhone COMPOSITE EXHIBIT “C”