'Their rights outweigh ours': Brevard County homeowners frustrated with short-term rentals
MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla. - Homeowners are pushing back against vacation rentals taking over the town. Neighbors are getting state and county lawmakers involved to look for solutions and make statewide changes.
The grassroots group of homeowners "Save Mel Beach" hosted a town hall on Monday to give people a voice and share concerns. At the beach golf course, every seat was full of concerned citizens.
"Their rights have outweighed ours," said Cheri Hoffman who lives next to a short-term rental property.
She’s one Melbourne Beach homeowner who’s losing patience and peace with issues coming from Harbor Island Beach Club.
Homeowners in Melbourne Beach, Florida are pushing back against vacation rentals taking over the town. Neighbors are getting state and county lawmakers involved to look for solutions and make statewide change.
"Something dangerous could happen, and that’s what concerns us. People get angry when you tell them please quiet down when you’re on vacation," said Janet Dorzey’s who’s also worried about the surge in vacation properties.
Homeowners in Melbourne Beach, Florida are pushing back against vacation rentals taking over the town. Neighbors are getting state and county lawmakers involved to look for solutions and make statewide change.
"I work from home, and there are many days I have to actually pack up and go down to Dunkin' Donuts or sit in Publix in my air-conditioned car to do my job because the noise is so bad in my home that I can’t concentrate," Hoffman added.
New short-term rental vacation properties, off State Road A1A, are right behind single-family homes. State Representative Randy Fine says issues from properties like this are intensifying across the state.
"It’s something the legislature ultimately has to deal with. While I understand people’s rights to use their houses, those rights end at your border. You don’t have the right to use your house in a way that disturbs your neighbors, and that unfortunately is what many of these vacation rentals do," Fine, who represents District 33, said.
Homeowners in Melbourne Beach, Florida are pushing back against vacation rentals taking over the town. Neighbors are getting state and county lawmakers involved to look for solutions and make statewide change.
FOX 35 News took these concerns to Villatel, who’s the company running the nearby resort property of 30 homes with dozens more under construction.
"We’ve spoken to a few of these neighbors on the one-off, just telling them who we are, but we’ll probably have a more community-friendly approach once the community’s fully done," said Amil Shah who’s the VP of Revenue for Villatel.
Shah says they have a property manager on-site and don’t want to disturb the surrounding communities.
"We don’t want to be that "Airbnb party house" nor do we want to be that brand," he added.
The brand, however, is missing the mark for Dorzey who’s lived in Melbourne Beach for over a decade.
"We can’t plan anything because you never know when there’s going to be 18 people in that house and 18 people in that house screaming marco from this pool and polo from this pool," she concluded.
The town hall on Monday was step one for homeowners looking for accountability. They’re bringing issues to the forefront to see what rights they have and solutions to consider. Rep. Fine says noise ordinances and code enforcement regulations are two topics he’s looking into, so homeowners can take back their communities.