St. Pete Beach commission halts short-term rental registration proposal
Registry for short-term rental owners?
St. Pete Beach city commissioners are hitting the brakes on a short-term rental registration program because of something it already has in place that a lot of other cities do not. FOX 13’s Matthew McClellan reports.
ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - St. Pete Beach is not moving ahead, at least for now, with a new registration program for short-term rentals after commissioners questioned whether it would solve the city’s biggest enforcement problems.
The City Commission discussed the proposal Wednesday night but took no vote. By the end of the discussion, commissioners signaled they wanted staff to focus on enforcing existing short-term rental rules and consider whether inexpensive software or artificial intelligence could make that work more efficient.
St. Pete Beach rental rules
What we know:
St. Pete Beach already has restrictions that prohibit rentals of less than 30 days in many residential areas. Limited shorter rentals are allowed in some areas, including the RM zoning district and Pass-A-Grille Overlay.
Assistant City Manager Adam Poirrier told commissioners the city’s current legal team believes St. Pete Beach could create a registration program. But he said a full program could also trigger building and fire inspections and require significant staff time.
Staff studied programs in Cocoa Beach and Anna Maria, where cities dedicate two to three full-time employees to short-term rental oversight.
Registration fees could cover those costs, but the city would have to tie the fees to the actual cost of operating and enforcing the program.
Why commissioners hesitated
A central question Wednesday was whether registration would help catch property owners already breaking the rules.
Staff said the city’s most common short-term rental complaints involve properties operating where short-term rentals are not allowed or owners renting more frequently than permitted. Noise and parking complaints are less common.
Staff also warned a registry would likely capture property owners already following city rules while illegal operators could simply avoid registering.
Commissioner Karen Marriott argued the city should concentrate on enforcement.
"I think what we need to do is enforce the rules that we have," Marriott said. "I don't see ... how somebody who is running an illegal short-term rental is going to come to the city and register it."
City staff said short-term rentals do not currently stand out as one of St. Pete Beach’s largest overall code enforcement problems and said complaint numbers are declining. However, proving violations is becoming more difficult as operators learn how the city builds enforcement cases.
Protecting existing restrictions
Dig deeper:
Another concern is St. Pete Beach’s legal position.
The city had short-term rental restrictions in place before Florida limited local governments’ ability to impose new restrictions in 2011. Those grandfathered rules give St. Pete Beach more control over rentals than some neighboring beach communities.
Poirrier said protecting those rules remains a major concern.
"It is my biggest fear that we inadvertently do something in a new ordinance that would cause complications for our grandfathered ordinance," Poirrier said.
City officials said any future ordinance would need to avoid changing the duration or frequency of rentals protected under the existing rules.
Future St. Pete Beach plans
What's next:
Commissioners did not direct staff to draft a registration ordinance or build a new program.
Instead, the discussion ended with support for continuing current enforcement and potentially researching low-cost AI or data-mining tools used by other communities to identify properties violating city rules.
No new short-term rental requirements took effect Wednesday night.
The Source: Information in this story comes from the Aug. 19, 2026, St. Pete Beach City Commission meeting, the city’s meeting agenda, short-term rental guidance and official zoning materials.