Editorial | Landlord or renter? Time to get involved
After 30-plus people — including a representative from one of Lee County’s Realtors associations — railed in opposition, Cape Coral City Council nixed a pair of ordinances that would have increased the city’s rental registration fee from a one-time levy of $35 to $600 annually while giving Cape Coral police and code enforcement the authority to remove tenants from unregistered properties.
The ordinances were geared toward short-term rentals, city officials said, adding the increased fee would have raised $6 million a year. The city planned to allocate $125 per unit to its enforcement efforts with the remainder to be funneled into a new fund for tourism-based initiatives and infrastructure.
Both the hike — a 1,700% increase, as acknowledged by one council member — and the proposal to allow police to perform evictions — excuse us, “civil removals” via a code special magistrate process, caused great consternation.
Council did the right thing, two right things, actually, in the wake of the outcry last month: It did not move the ordinances to a final public hearing and it allowed Councilmember Jennifer Nelson-Lastra to work with the city manager to create a stakeholder group to weigh in on how to best address the issues.
Ms. Nelson-Lastra did more than that — she put together an 18-member City of Cape Coral Vacation Rental Advisory Group which will meet publicly during Council’s summer hiatus.
Its first meeting, which will include a 30-minute citizens input time, will start at 3 p.m. Friday, June 20, in conference room 220A at City Hall.
Discussion at the first session will include the purpose of the group and ordinance, goals and projected outcomes, annual cost and process of enforcement currently, review of other municipalities’ ordinances, proposed cost of enforcement with new system/processes, proposed new annual or one-time rate for vacation rentals and business tax receipt versus a fee.
Sounds like a good start.
If you own rental property, rent, or are thinking of investing in the Cape market, we urge you to take part.
Breeze editorial