Flagler County, FL – County Commissioner, Donald O’Brien, and County Attorney, Al Hadeed, are meeting with a sub-committee of the Florida House of Representatives to discuss who should have control over vacation rentals.
The sub-committee, “Careers and Competition,” is a part of the Commerce Committee, and is meeting Tuesday at 8 AM with a live stream available to watch here.
O’Brien and Hadeed are in favor of maintaining control of vacation rental businesses at a local level, rather than a state level. Recently, House Bill 425 was introduced and would give the state permission to pre-empt local government and cancel some existing local laws that regulate vacation rentals. If it receives a “no” vote from the sub-committee, there will be no further action on the bill in the House.
“Residents are not in favor of state pre-emption,” says Donald O’Brien. “We are doing everything possible to keep in place what Flagler County fought for in 2014.”
On Saturday, State Representative for the area and a member of the sub-committee, Paul Renner, as well as Commissioner Greg Hansen, had a town hall at the Hammock Community Center to get feedback from residents to give to the sub-committee on Tuesday. It was a full-house and no one appeared to speak for the bill.
“I’m not in favor of this bill,” says Renner. “There was a lot of compromises and I don’t believe three years is enough time to see if it is really working.”
Photo courtesy Andy Dean Photography and Shutterstockcom.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
