Wellington officials have set up a 24-hour complaint hotline — (561) 486-9022 — to allow residents to report problems at vacation rentals, alongside a fresh round of proposed ordinance revisions to address issues concerning noise, parking and more.
Wellington’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board learned about the hotline Wednesday, Oct. 16, the same week the number became active.
Residents “will then receive a text message with instructions on how they can upload photos, video or recordings of the complaint,” said Tim Stillings, the village’s planning, zoning and building director.
Residents can also report problems online at the village’s web site.
In turn, that could generate a text message to a property owner or manager, giving the responsible party a certain amount of time to respond, Stillings said. The time required to respond could be as few as 30 minutes, he noted.
“I didn’t understand what you meant by the system is monitored and the owner or the manager has a certain amount of time to remedy it,” Board Member Maureen Martinez said.
The village is working with a company called Granicus that contacts the owner or manager, Stillings said. Among other things, the company helps the village track which properties are advertising short-term rentals, so Wellington can check that against records showing which have complied with licensing and permit requirements.
Granicus, based in Denver, Colorado, was founded in 1999, according to online information. The company has a contract with the village worth approximately $5,000 a year, Stillings said later by e-mail.
Failure to respond on the part of the owner or manager could generate a referral to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office or village code enforcement officials, he said.
What if a party seems to be getting out of hand in the wee hours of the morning? Residents can still contact the PBSO directly in cases that appear to require immediate attention, Stillings explained. “This is a non-emergency hotline,” he said.
The issue concerns what to do about what the village calls “vacation rentals,” typically meaning home leases for 30 days or less at a time. Many of the regulations at issue apply specifically to these shorter-term rentals, not to longer-term seasonal arrangements in the equestrian calendar, for example.
The majority of the shorter rentals, often by way of brand-name online platforms, come off without a hitch, but the challenge is what to do about a troubling minority of cases that often leave neighbors alarmed and fearful about the effects in their communities, officials said.
Wellington has more than 180 vacation rentals in its borders at the moment, staff members explained. Those with repeat complaints can range from two or three at a time to as many as 10.
At the meeting, the board unanimously approved proposed changes to village rules that would add a $300 penalty for operating a vacation rental without a permit, on top of a one-time $600 permit application fee launched in March of this year. Operators already needed a business tax receipt.
The latest changes, which ultimately need Wellington Village Council approval, would require a noise monitoring system to be installed at properties where law enforcement has responded to three or more noise complaints. The devices would alert the property’s owner or manager when decibels exceed a prescribed level. Records would have to be maintained for a year on such devices.
The moves would transfer authority for certain enforcement actions from the village’s planning director to a special magistrate who hears appeals and makes decisions. This is in part to allay any “due process” concerns, Stillings said.
Under the latest plan, the magistrate could order a suspension of up to 30 days for two violations within six months, up to 180 days for three transgressions in six months, and up to a year for four violations in the same period.
Five violations in a half-year span could result in revocation of the permit allowing vacation rentals.
In cases of felony or misdemeanor charges involving injury, underage drinking, drugs or prostitution, the village could temporarily suspend or deny a permit until the magistrate has heard the case.
Wellington is trying to work within regulatory limitations imposed by state law while coming up with tools effective enough to address the problem.
Under state law, local governments cannot prohibit vacation rentals or regulate their frequency and duration.
Separate changes to village codes that could affect vacation rentals among other properties received an initial OK by the council Oct. 8, with a second and final reading expected Nov. 12.
One change sets a noise-ordinance standard to allow action against sounds plainly audible by neighbors in their own homes with windows and doors closed. Another measure requires a property owner to submit an action plan to address problems if a pattern of “chronic nuisance” activity emerges.
