Lake Worth Beach has identified potential short term rental regulations the City could impose in order to allow and regulate short term or vacation rentals. The following list of potential regulations is not prohibited under the existing statutory structure for short term rentals. However, due to the State’s preemption in Florida Statutes, if the City modifies its current Code of Ordinances to allow for Vacation Rentals (which the City has currently banned), vacation rentals should be allowed city-wide. Furthermore, the City is currently prohibited from limiting the rental duration or frequency of Vacation rentals once they are permitted.
Potential Registration Process:
As part of the Business License Application process, the City will construct a registration process for property owners to comply with all required criteria. The criteria may include:
- A Vacation Rental Registration Form that the property owner has completed and signed.
- Property owner’s payment of the fee.
- A copy of the current and active Vacation Rental License as a transient public lodging establishment with the Florida DBPR.
- A copy of the current and active Vacation Rental certificate of registration with the Florida Department of Revenue.
- A current and active Vacation Rental account with the Palm Beach County Tax Collector and Palm Beach County.
- Site sketch of the exterior includes all structures, pools, spas, hot tubs, fences, usage, and off-street parking places.
- Interior building sketch by floor, displaying all bedrooms, other room, exits hallways, stairways if any.
- In case of any emergency, the property owner or manager must provide 24/7 contact information to the City, PBSO, PBCFR, and all occupants.
Potential Regulations that the City could implement:
The following are potential regulations that the City could implement in the future. These do not include owner-occupied vacation rentals.
- A property should not be claimed as a homestead.
- The City would carry out usage and occupancy inspections to reflect commercial use, with the possibility of increasing to an annual inspection coupled with a fire marshal inspection.
- Vacation rental structures or residences will have to meet commercial fire code and accessibility criteria.
- Potential commercial structures or residences must follow the Florida Building Code Requirements.
The following are potential regulations for all kinds of structures or residences –
- External signage would have to follow the sign code. Indoor postings for waste collection schedules, noise ordinances, emergency numbers, and so on would be required.
- Consider equating the Vacation Rental Use to that of a motel, hotel, or extended stay accommodation. Each Vacation Rental has to meet the performance criteria outlined in the Land Department Regulations for such uses.
- It would be necessary to define parking standards, which may be for a single-family dwelling or a transient lodging facility (depending on occupancy level).
- Develop a potential fee schedule for violations and determine the amount of an irreversible fine for running a Vacation Rental without the required licenses and certifications.
Other Short Term Rental Regulations
Feel free to reach out to your landlord, housing authority, or community council to find out more. To get more information about other regulations, you can also visit Lake Worth Beach’s official website or contact us.