Special Magistrate Lonnie Grama denied a request for rehearing Sept. 10 from property owner Francis Duggan and told him to work with city staff to remove ambiguous or misleading language from short-term rental listings for 79 South Brevard Avenue.

Duggan said he had revised his online listings after the city raised concerns about misleading advertising under city code Section 13.1-4 and that the city had acknowledged in writing that the titles and descriptions were no longer misleading. Duggan argued the enforcement had strayed into occupancy issues the magistrate had previously dismissed and said the case felt “less like a safety or compliance issue and more like a disagreement over wording.”

Deputy Director Palmer, quoted by Duggan during the earlier hearing, had said on the record that “if the advertisement said each unit sleeps 8 or 5, that wouldn't be misleading.” City staff presented screenshots and described listings where a headline indicated “16+ guests” while the listing text referenced two separate units with smaller per-unit occupancies, which staff said could mislead potential renters about what they were actually reserving.

Grama reviewed screenshots of the online listings in the hearing and said the presentation could be ambiguous to a consumer selecting dates and guest counts. He denied Duggan’s rehearing motion and recommended Duggan work with city staff to resolve the language. The magistrate also noted the city and respondent reached a short compliance extension; the transcript records the city agreed to an additional cure period (described in the hearing as “next Friday”), but the exact calendar date for that extension was not specified in the record.

Grama said the proper remedy was coordination between Duggan and city staff to clarify advertisement language and occupancy displays so prospective renters understand whether they are booking individual units or multiple units in a single posting. The magistrate denied the rehearing motion; the written order will reflect that decision.