MARK SCHUMANN

On behalf of his client, Charles Fritz, attorney Garry Rooney filed a complaint in Circuit Court Wednesday against the City of Vero Beach.

Rooney contends the City’s recent efforts to clarify zoning regulations and more strictly enforce a ban on short-term rentals are in violation of a 2011 act of the Florida Legislature (supported by Rep. Debbie Mayfield), which prohibits municipalities from taking further action to limit so-called vacation rentals.

According to Rooney, Fritz owns several residential properties within the city limits of Vero Beach that he intends to rent for periods of less than 30 days.

In January, the City Council adopted an ordinance clarifying the City’s long-standing ban on commercial activity in residential areas to include short-term, or transient rentals.  The Council subsequently adopted more stringent penalties for code violations. Willful and persistent violators are now fined up to $500 dollars a day.

Rooney contends the ordinance passed in January, which specifically defined transient rentals as a commercial activity, and the subsequent ordinance increasing fines for code violations, are both in violation of the Florida Legislature 2011 band of further regulation of vacation rentals.