Planning board recommends edits to short‑term rental ordinance — noise monitors, response time, language additions

The Planning and Zoning Board reviewed a draft short‑term rental ordinance the town council will consider at second reading and voted to forward a set of recommended amendments addressing enforcement and neighborhood impacts.

Staff introduced the ordinance and said it would appear on next week’s council agenda; board members asked specific implementation questions about response times, fines, and enforcement tools. Board members discussed the community concern that very short rentals can lead to parties and nuisances; staff explained state preemption limits what cities can require on rental duration but said the town can regulate registration, inspections, advertising, noise, and enforcement procedures.

After discussion the board voted to forward suggested changes to the council, including: adding Haitian Creole to required language notices where the draft referenced English and Spanish; exploring the requirement or option to install an indoor noise‑monitoring system; shortening the on‑call response window for the person responsible for the unit from two hours to 60 minutes for emergency or nuisance complaints (board suggested 60 minutes but left precise wording to council staff); requiring a record‑keeping regime where the operator or responsible party maintains a guest log and an on‑site inspection at the end of each rental period (log available to the town on request); adding language to note Miami‑Dade County licensing requirements “if applicable”; and adding daily fines or a daily fine structure for continuing violations.

Board members referenced practices in other jurisdictions, including Hollywood’s noise‑monitor requirement and Broward County licensing examples, and asked staff to consider how the town’s enforcement program could identify unregistered short‑term rentals. Staff said the council will consider a companion resolution to help the town locate and monitor rentals for enforcement.

A motion to forward the draft ordinance to council with the board’s suggested edits passed on a roll‑call vote with all voting members recorded as yes: Board member Cruz; Board member Julia; Board member De La Sierra; Vice Chair Senra; and Chairman Leoncio. The board asked staff to prepare language options for the council and to confirm any Miami‑Dade County licensing references before second reading.