Lies and the Truth About the Short-Term Rental Registration Ordinance

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on,” – Winston Churchill

Unfortunately, Churchill’s quote is painfully relevant to the current debate about the short-term rental (STR) registration ordinance on Marco Island.

Countless mistruths made by opponents of the rental registration ordinance have appeared in social media and in letters to the editor. Here are just a few of the many falsehoods:

Claim: The STR registration ordinance bans short-term rentals. Reality: FALSE.

Claim: Condos, which have HOA restrictions, will be subject to the ordinance. Reality: FALSE.

Claim: All Marco homeowners will be subject to occupancy limits under the ordinance. Reality: FALSE.

Every single one of these mistruths can be easily debunked by reading the text of the ordinance on the City’s website.

That last claim is an especially egregious attempt designed to mislead voters into thinking that the rental registration ordinance will limit friends and family from staying over at their homes. It is simply not true.

Let’s be clear: this ordinance ONLY applies to rentals of less than 30 days in the single-family districts. It does NOT apply to any single-family home that is not a short-term rental. Any misinformation to the contrary is meant to do just that: mislead Marco voters.

Here’s the truth: hundreds of Florida cities and counties have implemented short-term rental registration ordinances. Others, such as the City of Naples, have outright banned short-term rentals in most zoning districts.

Yet these localities haven’t suffered from an erosion of property rights or an economic catastrophe that opponents of the registration ordinance are predicting. Does anyone seriously think that Naples - whose short-term rental ban is inherently more prohibitive than the registration ordinance being discussed on Marco - is some economically depressed shadow of its former self? Of course not.

There’s no doubt there are some great STR operators on Marco who truly care about their neighbors. But the purpose and effect of the ordinance is not to punish these model examples - it is to hold those who are operating in bad faith to the same high standard, and to provide peace to our residents.

All Marco voters should vote YES on the STR registration ordinance.