Fort Walton Beach Ordinance — 2181--Creating COO Section 1.81 Short Term Rental Requirements — reading text

in addition to any other applicable fees prior to a renewal approval, except as otherwise approved by the city manager or their designee 8. 13. 11. False information. It shall be unlawful for any person to give any false or misleading information in connection with the application for registration required by this article. 8. 13. 12. Territory embraced. The provisions of this article shall apply within the City of Fort Walton Beach. 8. 13. 13 Prohibition on advertising for special events in residential zoning districts. Advertising for special events( including but not limited to weddings or weddin receptions, spring break parties, bachelor parties, family reunions, class reunions, company banquets, company retreats and/ or company picnics, or other similar event or celebration) in a residential area and/ or residential zoning district is prohibited. 8. 13. 14 Commercialspecial events prohibited in residential areas. Commercial special events are prohibited in all residential zoning districts. 8. 13. 15. Charter Bus Services Prohibited. No Short Term Vacation Rental Business shall permit any Charter Bus Services to provide trans ortation to or from any Short -Term Vacation Rental Property. The owner, operator, or responsible person of a Short -Term Vacation Rental Pro e is charged with the duty, and shall be responsible for informing all tenants, guests, and occupants of the Short -Term Vacation Rental Property that Charter Bus Services are not permitted to transport individuals to or from the property. A Short Term Rental Business that violates this section either by directl permitting Charter Bus Services or by failing to notify tenants of the restriction, shall be subject to nenalties as outlined in section 8. 13. 20. 8. 13. 16. Exemi)tion for pre-existing agreements. Notwithstanding agy other provision of this ordinance, rental agreements with prospective occupants for short-term vacation rental units, or contracts for commercial special events at a short-term vacation rental unit, that were pre-existing, as of the enactment of the effective date of the ordinance enacting this section, ( hereinafter " pre- existing agreements") are exempt from the provisions of this ordinance for a period of one ( 1) year. All bookings made subsequent to the enactment of this ordinance are subject to the provisions of this ordinance. All advertising must be compliant within one hundred twenty { 120) days of the effective date of this ordinance. If a short- term vacation rental unit is cited for a violation of this chapter, ( that mould not be a violation if it were not for this section), when the short- term vacation rental unit is occupied under the terms of a pre- existing agreement, the short-term vacation rental owner may defend such violation based on the fact that the short-term vacation rental unit was exempt from this section due to it being; occupied pursuant to a pre- existing agreement. Such defense shall be determined based upon the following information, and a on gLny additional information su lied by the short-term vacation rental owner or otherwise determined by the fact finder: 1) Copy of deposit or payment information evidencing that the agreement was a pre- existing gUeement. 2) Copy of e- mail or other communication evidencing a bindingpre-existing agreement. 3 Information from the occupant confirming that there was a binding agreement in a time frame to make the agreement as pre-existing agreement under this section. If it is reasonably determined by the cily staff, and confirmed by the cijy council that an information supplied to the City of Fort Walton Beach in support of an application for exemption, or in support of a defense based upon pre- existing agreement, was intentionally false or fraudulent. the person supplying the false or fraudulent information shall be subject to a fine as set by the city council by resolution. 8. 13. 17. Grandfathering. 1 Notwithstandiniz the above the owner or authorized a ent of a short- term vacation rental that either ( a) has a pending development order application as of the effective date of this ordinance or has a structure that has been used as a short-term vacation rental as of the effective date of this ordinance, may apply for the status of grandfathered for a period of five 5 years, as to occupancy limitations, and may cap its occupancy based upon the criteria and procedures set forth herein. Short-term vacation rentals that have an occupancy of twenty- four 24 or less and that otherwise co1pply with the ocMancy restrictions set forth in this article, will not require grandfathering to maintain that occupancy. a. The short- term vacation rental owner. or agent. as aavlicable andfathenLnF, applicant") shall com Tete a gandfathering a lication as prescribed by the city, which shall be submitted under oath and upon penalty of perjury, and provide verifiable written proof of the following criteria: i. The use as a short- term vacation rental was existing and le all established as of the effective date of the ordinance adopting and creating Chapter 8. 13. ii. The number of bedrooms in the short- term vacation rental was existing and legally established as of the effective date of the ordinance adopting and creating Cha ter 8. 13. The number of bedrooms shall be based mon the property appraiser's residential profile of the property, and other documents of record, as needed. iii. The short-term vacation rental must be registered with the city and must be in compliance with all applicable City of Fort Walton Beach codes and ordinances.  2) The grandfathering application and supporting proof shall be submitted to the city for review by the city staff in consultation with the cijy attome . If city staff determines that all of the criteria set forth in the above subsection are meL staff shall confirm the requested occupancy of such short-term vacation rental. If all of the criteria are not met, then the City of Fort Walton Beach shall notify the grandfather applicant of that fact and the occu anc level that can be approved. in writing, 3) Within twenty ( 20) dgys after such notice, an evidentiary hearing may be rgquested by the grandfatheriLig applicant before the city council to provide the grandfatherigg applicant an opportunity to provide evidence and/ or testimony in su ort of the occupancy requested. A determination by the city council after such evidentiary hearing shall be final. If no hearing is requested during that time period, the occupancy level shall be set at the level determined by the city staff upon initial review. a. Written notice of the date, time, place, and purpose of the hearing shall be mailed by the City to all owners of property located within three hundred 300 feet of the boundaries of the ploegy for which the grandfatheredd rights are sought, according to the latest certified tax roll. Such notice shall be mailed not later than fifteen ( 15) days prior to the date of the scheduled hearing. Additional, notice will be published in a local newspaper of general circulation at least ten 10 da s prior to the public hearing. b. The city council shall render a decision to either issue or den the grandfathering application. C. The decision shall be mailed to the grandfathering applicant and shall include findings of fact and conclusions of law and shall state s ecificall the maximum occLipangy that is gandfathered for a five-year period. 4 An application for grandfatheriLig shall be submitted if at all by no later than the time of registration of the short-term vacation rental but not later than August 1 2025. If the city extends the date that registration is required, the deadline for the application for grandfathering shall also be extended to the same extended date. If a short-term vacation rental has been registered, but a final determination as to the occupancy level based upon grandfathering has not yet been made, such short-term vacation rental may allow occupancy up to the occupancy reguested in the grandfathering a lication until such time as a final determination as to occupancy has been made. 5) If the city staff determines that any information supplied to the City of Fort Walton Beach in support of an application for grandfatheringwas intentionally false or fraudulent -the person supplying the false or fraudulent information shall be subject to a fine as set by the city council by resolution. If there is such a determination by city staff, the City of Fort Walton Beach shall notify the grandfathering applicant of that fact, and within twenty (20) days, after such notice an evidentigy hearing ma be r uested by the grandfatheriRg applicant before the city council to provide the grandfatheringgpplicant an opportunity to provide evidence and/ or testimony to show that the information supplied in support of the application for gandfathering was not intentionally false or fraudulent. The determination by the cily council after such evidentiary hearing shall be final. If no hearingiquested during, that time period, the initial determination by the cily staff shall be final. 6) If a short- term vacation rental is not registered for a period in excess of twelve 12) months, any UandfatheriLig determination shall be deemed abandoned and shall noo longer be applicable to that short- term vacation rental. 7) If a grandfathered use ceases for a period of six ( 6) months, then the grandfathering shall be considered to have lapsed, and the short- term vacation rental will be subject to all occupancy requirements as set forth herein. 8) An applicant may only submit one grandfathering application per short-term vacation rental. 9) An appeal of a city council decision on a grandfathering application shall bg by petition for certiorari review to the circuit court of Okaloosa Count based solely on the record of the hearing before the city council. The aRplicant is responsible for providing a verbatim transcript of the record of that hearing. Such an appeal must be filed within thirty_(3_0) days after the city renders its decision. 8. 13. 18. Enforcement. The provisions of this article shall be enforced as provided under the Code Ordinances of the City of Fort Walton Beach and by such other means as arespecified herein below: 1) Code enforcement: The code enforcement division may enforce the terms of this article by bringing a case to the code enforcement special magistrate or code enforcement board, whichever is applicable. 2) Civil citation: The Fort Walton Beach Police Department, City Code Enforcement division, or any other duly authorized officer or authority, may