Clewiston commissioners direct staff to workshop short‑term rental rules after attorney briefing and developer comments

The Clewiston City Commission on July 15 directed staff to convene a workshop to study short‑term rental regulation after a briefing from the city attorney and comments from industry representatives who urged predictable local rules.

City Attorney Dylan summarized recent statutory changes that authorize local registration programs and inspections; he said the city's current code does not explicitly regulate short‑term vacation rentals and offered examples of common ordinance provisions (registration, minimum safety standards, parking rules and inspections). "It doesn't appear that we really have anything in our current code of ordinances regarding these," Dylan said, noting that a workshop would allow the commission to evaluate options without immediate regulatory action.

Developer Bob Dystra of Sport Tech Resorts urged the city to adopt clear, predictable standards to support financing for lodging and glamping projects, and cautioned that a lack of regulation elsewhere has led to lawsuits. Dystra said feasibility work ranks the Clewiston area highly for water‑ and outdoors‑based lodging projects and encouraged the city to "get ahead of the curve" with measured rules that allow development while protecting neighborhoods.

Commissioners asked staff to gather more information on the number of short‑term rental units in and near city limits, implications for tourism or bed‑tax revenue, and examples from comparable communities. The commission agreed a workshop is the next step; staff will return with proposed agendas and sample ordinance language for consideration.

Next steps: staff will inventory known short‑term rental listings, research regulatory models and bed‑tax approaches, and schedule a workshop for commissioners and relevant departments.