Why I Support the STR Registration Ordinance Ballot Question

During my campaign, and over the initial 18 months of my City Council tenure, I have supported our business community. As many of you know, I proposed creating a standing City Council Committee devoted to our business community entitled: The Business Development and Redevelopment Committee. I also tried to get the City Council to create our own STR Registration Ordinance that was based on the newly adopted Collier County STR Registration Ordinance. Unfortunately, both of these efforts went down in defeat as I could not muster enough support from my fellow City Council members to pass them. I am supporting the STR Registration Ordinance that will be on the August Ballot. I do not think it will harm our business community, just level the playing field for hotels, motels, and single-family homes that offer short-term (transient) accommodations. 

For decades, Marco Island hotels and motels have provided excellent accommodations for short-term visitors in the Residential Tourist (RT) District. As commercial businesses registered with the State of Florida and Collier County, they have had to meet the most stringent safety and health standards. Their rooms, restaurants, pools and spas are clean, safe, and regularly inspected. They have state-of-the-art fire safety systems (smoke & fire detectors, sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers), clearly marked emergency evacuation plans, and daily pool inspections conducted by Collier County officials. They are all registered with the State of Florida and Collier County and pay their taxes.

During the same time span, operators of short-term rental (STR) units in the Residential Single Family (RSF) District have not been held to the same high standards for safety and health as our hotels and motels. Many of these STR units operate continuously, 52 weeks a year, with countless short-term (transient) visitors passing through their homes. Even though these STR units are designated by the State of Florida as businesses and therefore must register with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), they have been allowed to operate on Marco Island at a lower standard for safety and health. They are not routinely inspected for fire, pool, and other safety and health standards.

The RSF District is pretty self-explanatory; it designates a stable, residential zone that is targeted to single families that reside there full-time or seasonally. It was not intended to be a transient zone with visitors constantly moving in and out like the Residential Tourist District. 

The STR Registration Ordinance on the August ballot does not propose banning short-term rentals in the RSF District. It simply requires that STRs in the RSF District must register and meet the same high standards for safety and health that visitors and residents demand of our hotels and motels. I don’t know why this discrepancy has been allowed to continue for decades but precedent is no excuse for allowing this to continue any longer. 

I understand that the proposed ordinance places additional financial and regulatory burdens on those individuals and corporations that operate these STR businesses. However, this is a small price to pay to protect the health and safety of our visitors and residents and to ensure the integrity and stability of our neighborhoods in the RSF District. 

For these, and other reasons, I strongly support registering short-term rentals in the RSF District and will vote Yes on the ballot question: “Rental Registration Program for RSF Properties in the City of Marco Island.” 

Lastly, since this is such an important issue to our residents, I urge you to ask each candidate running for a seat on the Marco Island City Council in the November election where they stand on this issue.

Sincerely,

Marco Island City Councilman Rich Blonna