Collier County approves short-term rental registration process to protect neighborhoods

Laura Layden
Naples Daily News

Collier County commissioners have adopted new registration rules for short-term rentals.

The board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the rules, which have been years in the making.

They'll apply to vacation and other short-term rentals of six months or less in the county, outside city limits, taking effect Jan. 3.

Following a few speakers and a brief board discussion, Commissioner Bill McDaniel motioned to approve the new ordinance. A second came from Commissioner Andy Solis.

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Commissioners agreed they didn't need a detailed presentation from staff on the legislation, saying it had been discussed "ad nauseam" over many years.

The registration requirements are designed to protect residential neighborhoods. They'll require rental owners to provide local contact information for their properties, making it easier and quicker to address and resolve unruliness when it arises.

Naples continues to be the premier spot for vacation rentals.

The intent is to "encourage the appropriate management of these properties, and protect the general health, safety, and welfare of the residents and visitors to Collier County."

"The core of this ordinance is that we need a contact person when somebody is partying at 2 a.m. That is the heart and the soul of this ordinance. It really doesn't do anything else," County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow explained to commissioners.

He frowned upon making any last-minute changes to the language of the new rules, pointing out there had already been so much back and forth on them with the local industry, going back to 2019. He said county staffers never seemed to get a "consensus on anything."

Collier County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow

"I think this language works. I really do," Klatzkow said.

Under the new rules, owners will have to obtain a Collier County registration certificate for each of their short-term vacation rentals — and provide a contact that's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to address any law enforcement actions, code violations or emergencies involving their property.

There will be a one-time fee of $50 for registration.

Registration will generate a unique identification number for each property or unit, which owners will have to include in any marketing or advertising they do for their rentals.

Failure to register a short-term rental could result in a fine or civil citation, up to $500 per violation, per day.

The new rules will apply to single- and multi-family homes, as well as condominiums. Single rooms and apartments will have to be registered too if used as temporary rentals.

Owners of vacation rental properties are already required to obtain a license through the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation and register with the Collier County Tax Collector's office to pay a mandatory tourist development tax.

Jamie French, deputy department head for the county's Growth Management Department, told commissioners the new registration process will provide code enforcement with information that's otherwise hard to come by, as it's not readily available from those other sources.

A 52-foot houseboat on Naples Bay in downtown Naples is available for rent through Airbnb.

"It's not duplicative to us. It's unique," he said.

When code enforcement receives complaints about short-term rentals, it handles them based on the issues reported and the laws that apply to those problems. Complaints usually involve noise, trash, parking or maintenance.

The county has no authority to regulate rentals, French said, and it still won't after the registration rules take effect. State law doesn't allow it.

Through the registration process, the county will create a searchable database for contact information.

There will be an easy online platform to register, French said, which should be up and running shortly. Notices will be sent out to affected owners, at least the ones the county knows about.

The number of short-term rentals that will have to get registered is estimated at 10,000 to 14,000.

This house is a geodesic dome in Golden Gate Estates in Collier County and is available for rent through Airbnb.

Brad Estes, with the Poinciana Civic Association, told commissioners he wholeheartedly endorsed the new registration rules. He said his quaint community of Poinciana Village, located across from Grey Oaks Country Club between Pine Ridge Road and Golden Gate Parkway, has struggled to deal with disruptions from short-term renters because it has been so difficult to identify and reach their owners.

The community's association has sent out 300 to 400 letters to property owners related to problems caused by their temporary rentals over the past four years, Estes said, and he can count on one hand the number who responded. 

"It's a situation that is not just in our case distracting and a threat to our community character, but there are communities that have actually had very serious consequences from this," he said.

"How you approach it, I don't know," Estes said. "But we think information is the first thing, who owns it, and who is going to be responsible and who is going to be immediately responsible."