TAMPA, Fla. — Indian Rocks Beach residents and property owners will have another chance to weigh in on proposed regulations to short term rentals — an issue, residents say, is dividing the community.

What You Need To Know

Some residents are concerned about the growing number of vacation rentals listed on sites like Airbnb driving more people into town. Meanwhile, rental owners have said the majority of tenants are respectful and follow regulations, and are getting lumped in with a handful of renters who don’t.

The debate over short-term rentals started last summer, when a group of citizens requested city leaders implement stricter regulations on the industry, which boomed during the pandemic.

Bob Florio moved to Indian Rocks Beach more than a decade ago. He said the town has changed dramatically in that time and doesn’t feel like the quaint place he moved to.

“It was a working town, now it’s a vacation town,” Florio said. “It’s nonstop people coming and going and you don’t know who your neighbors are.”

Florio said most houses around him are now short-term rentals. He said he’s had to call in noise complaints a couple times because of rowdy weekenders. Florio fears rentals are taking over the town, which is why he has a sign in his yard that reads “homes not hotels.”

“You get 18 people in two houses that are adjoining each other and they have 14 cars,” Florio said. “You can’t even move. It’s too congested to where you take your life in your hands to walk down the street.”

Florida law doesn’t allow local governments to outright ban short-term rentals, but they can pass ordinances to regulate them. Last month, Indian Rocks Beach City Commission proposed new regulations.

Some of them include:

  • No more than two people per bedroom, plus two additional people in a common area
  • A maximum of 10 guests per unit outside the city’s commercial tourist district
  • A maximum of 12 guests per unit within the city’s commercial tourist district
  • Rental units must provide one parking spot per bedroom

Art Chubb, who’s lived in Indian Rocks Beach for 45 years, said change is inevitable and welcomes the boom in short-term rentals.

“It’s a good, healthy growing pain for a community to be able to have this kind of interest in our town from all over the country,” Chubb said. 

Chubb lives in his beach home part-time and rents it out when he’s not there. While he’s supportive of short-term rentals, Chubb thinks there should be guidelines. 

“I think the city’s handling it quite well,” he said. “We have a very good commission, we’ve had a public hearing on it, and some good ideas that have been bantered back and forth.”

That back and forth will continue, as the city weighs how to keep tourism - its main economic driver - strong, while keeping true to the peaceful town residents love.

City commissioners will take the issue about again on Wednesday, March 1st at 5 p.m. They’ll be meeting at the city hall auditorium for a workshop to go over the 20-page proposed ordinance. There will also be a public comment session for people to share their feedback.

Residents can attend the meeting in-person or join over Zoom.