Board recommends allowing short-term vacation rentals in CPO district; forwards amendment to council

The Orange Park Planning and Zone Board voted unanimously to forward a proposed amendment to Article 7 (short-term vacation rentals) to the town council with the board’s recommendation to approve.

Planner Smith said staff’s revisions clean up language in section 20-140 to make single-family and two-family dwelling references consistent and add the Commercial Professional Office (CPO) zoning district to the list of districts where short-term vacation rentals are allowed when the property’s principal use is residential. Smith told the board the change responds to a council referral after a property owner operating a short-term rental from a building zoned CPO sought clarity on whether that use is permitted.

Board members discussed whether the LDRs and the ordinance language required additional cross-references; Smith explained staff would ensure the LDR rewrite and ordinance language align and that the amendment is intended to allow short-term rentals in CPO when the principal use is residential, not to authorize short-term rentals in commercially used properties. Board member Johnson asked whether the change affects owners who operate short-term rentals from properties primarily used as commercial offices; Smith said it would not.

A motion to forward the amendment to town council with the PZB’s recommendation to approve carried 5-0. Recorded ayes: Johnson; Hale; Jernigan; Niles; Hawkins. The board’s motion specifically authorized staff’s revisions to Article 7, as provided in the meeting packet, and asked staff to coordinate any technical cross-reference fixes in the LDRs during the broader LDR update.