A Fair and Responsible STR Program for Marco Island

Short-term rentals have been one of Marco Island’s most divisive issues. Residents have legitimate concerns about noise, parking, trash and the changing character of residential neighborhoods. Property owners and managers have equally legitimate concerns about property rights, unnecessary regulation and the cost of compliance.

This issue matters even if you do not live near a disruptive rental today. The quiet home next door could be sold tomorrow and converted into one. A problem that seems distant can arrive on any residential street with a change in ownership. Every resident therefore has an interest in ensuring that Marco Island can identify vacation rentals, hold problem properties accountable and protect our neighborhoods.

The history of Marco Island’s short-term rental ordinance has often been reduced to two false claims: the ordinance was “illegal,” and its failure cost taxpayers $700,000 to $800,000. Neither claim tells the whole story. The important question is what we learned and whether we can now create a program that is fair, effective, financially responsible and legally sound.

What Really Happened to Marco Island’s STR Ordinance?

For years, residents asked the City to address disruptive vacation rentals. When the City failed to act, they used the citizen-initiative process available under the City Charter. They organized, drafted a proposal, collected the required signatures and placed the issue before the voters.

They were responding to real problems, including late-night noise, excessive vehicles, overflowing trash and homes being operated in ways that disrupted surrounding neighborhoods. Despite substantial opposition, particularly from parts of the real estate and property-management community, approximately 56 percent of Marco Island voters approved a short-term rental registration program on August 23, 2022.

Why the ordinance was nullified

The ordinance was not struck down by a court because registering short-term rentals is inherently illegal.

City Council adopted Ordinance 22-08 in December 2022 and placed it in Marco Island’s Land Development Code. In 2023, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 250, which retroactively restricted affected communities from adopting more burdensome land-development regulations after September 28, 2022. Because Marco Island’s ordinance was adopted during that period and placed in the Land Development Code, the City Attorney concluded that it was invalid under SB 250. Council then declared it null and void.

That distinction matters. The problem was not municipal registration itself. It was how the ordinance was structured, where it was placed in the City Code and when it was adopted.

Marco Island’s 2015 vacation-rental ordinance was placed under Chapter 8, Businesses, rather than in the Land Development Code. Sarasota currently operates a registration program under a separate vacation-rental chapter of its City Code. These examples demonstrate that Marco Island can explore a new ordinance now, without treating it as a land-development regulation, provided each requirement is carefully drafted and legally reviewed for compliance with current state law.

Simply moving the entire 2022 ordinance into another chapter would not make every provision lawful. For example, Florida law limits how municipalities may regulate the duration and frequency of vacation rentals. Knowing why the previous ordinance failed, however, gives Marco Island a clearer path toward a legally defensible program.

What did the program actually cost?

Claims that the failed program cost taxpayers $700,000 to $800,000 are misleading.

The City’s October 6, 2023, Rental Registration Fund ledger showed approximately $425,313 in gross expenses. After roughly $144,439 in credits, reversals and reclassifications, about $280,874 remained charged to the fund. Registration revenue reduced the net cash requirement to approximately $235,273 at that time.

There were real costs, including $87,179 for GovOS software, along with legal, payroll, printing and administrative expenses. However, some payroll charges were later reassigned, vehicles purchased for the program retained value and were used elsewhere, and the larger figures included staff and legal work dating back to before the referendum.

The previous program cost taxpayers money and was not managed as carefully as it should have been. That does not mean $700,000 to $800,000 was simply lost because residents exercised their right to place an initiative on the ballot. We should learn from those mistakes while describing them accurately.

The Ordinance Is Gone, but the Problem Is Not

Conditions have improved since 2022. Property managers have become more responsive, many owners have taken greater responsibility, technology has improved and enforcement of existing noise, parking and trash ordinances has become more effective.

That being said, the problem has not disappeared. Individual properties continue to repeatedly disrupt their neighbors. In some cases, residents have become so frustrated that they have moved away. That represents a failure to protect their right to peacefully enjoy their homes.

One poorly managed vacation rental can affect several surrounding properties through late-night noise, excessive vehicles, overflowing trash and a constant turnover of guests who may not understand that they are staying in a residential neighborhood.

Most STR owners operate responsibly and should not be judged by the conduct of a small number of bad actors. Responsible owners and professional managers also have an interest in addressing those operators because problem properties damage the reputation of the entire vacation-rental industry and create pressure for broader restrictions.

No resident should assume this issue will never affect them. Homes and rental practices change. A full-time residence can become a heavily marketed vacation rental under its next owner. Marco Island needs an accountability system before another neighborhood situation reaches a crisis point.

Marco Island Lacks Essential Information

Marco Island does not have a reliable municipal inventory of every property operating as a short-term rental. Listings may appear across multiple platforms, operate intermittently or be managed through companies and business entities whose names do not readily identify the properties they represent.

Without local registration, the City may not know precisely how many STRs are operating, where they are located, who manages them or whom to contact when a problem occurs. This makes enforcement cumbersome and, in some cases, nearly impossible.

When a legitimate complaint arises at 11:30 at night, residents should not have to search property records or rental websites to find someone responsible. Police and code enforcement should be able to identify and contact that person immediately.

The lack of reliable data also prevents the City from accurately measuring the industry’s economic contribution and monitoring compliance with state, county and tax requirements. Short-term rentals generate tourist-development taxes and contribute to Marco Island’s economy. That should be recognized, and residents should be able to see how Marco Island benefits from those dollars. If properties are operating without required licenses or tax registrations, the City should know that as well.

A properly designed registration system would provide an inventory of active rentals, responsible-party contacts, state licensing information and verified violation histories. It would support enforcement, improve financial transparency and recognize responsible operators without turning registration into a punitive program.

A Better Way Forward

Marco Island should not resurrect the 2022 ordinance, but at the same time, its failure should not become an excuse for permanent inaction. Other Florida municipalities operate vacation-rental registration programs within the limits of state law. Marco Island should study what works elsewhere and build a program tailored to our community.

This time, the process should begin by bringing the affected parties together.

Establish an STR Advisory Committee

City Council should create a temporary Short-Term Rental Advisory Committee with balanced representation from STR owners, professional property managers, real estate professionals, residents living near vacation rentals, neighborhood or condominium representatives and residents who have experienced documented STR problems.

Police, fire, code enforcement, finance, other appropriate City departments and the City Attorney should provide technical guidance. The committee’s mission should be clear and limited: recommend a simple, legally defensible and financially responsible registration and accountability program based on successful models elsewhere in Florida.

Create a simple accountability system

At a minimum, the City should know:

• Which homes are operating as vacation rentals

• Who owns and manages each property

• Who is available 24 hours a day while it is occupied

• Whether required licenses and registrations are current

• The property’s lawful parking capacity

• Whether basic building and fire-safety requirements are satisfied

• Whether the property has verified violations, not merely complaints

A complaint is not automatically a violation. A fair system must protect owners from frivolous or retaliatory complaints while protecting residents from repeat nuisance properties.

Noise should still be enforced as noise, illegal parking as illegal parking and trash violations as trash violations. The program should not impose an entirely different set of neighborhood rules because the occupants are renters. Its purpose should be to identify the responsible party and ensure accountability when existing laws are violated.

Every rental should have an owner or designated representative available whenever the property is occupied. Responsible managers already provide this service and should barely notice the program. Repeated failure to respond, false registration information, operating without registration or repeated verified violations should result in escalating enforcement.

Keep it lean and transparent

Marco Island must also learn from the cost of the previous program. The City should not begin by hiring six employees, purchasing multiple vehicles or investing in expensive software.

Existing personnel and technology should be used wherever practical. Additional resources should be added only when actual workload demonstrates a need. Registration fees should cover the reasonable cost of the program, not become a source of general revenue.

Council should receive an annual public report showing registrations, revenue, expenses, complaints, verified violations, response times and enforcement results. Residents and rental operators should be able to see whether the program is working and what it costs.

Finding Common Ground

Complete agreement on short-term rentals may never be possible, but it is not necessary. Property owners and managers should be able to operate lawful businesses without unnecessary interference. Residents should be able to expect that repeated commercial disruption in their neighborhoods will be addressed. Those interests are not mutually exclusive.

Even residents who have never experienced an STR problem should care about getting this right. The peaceful house next door may be owner-occupied today, but nothing guarantees it will remain that way. A fair system should be established before a neighborhood is harmed, not after residents have endured years of disruption.

The best solution will not come from one side writing an ordinance and handing it to the other. It will come from bringing together the people who own, manage, regulate and live near short-term rentals to build something fair, reasonable and effective.

Marco Island has already learned what did not work. We should now use those lessons to create a limited and transparent program that respects property rights, supports responsible rental operators and protects every resident’s right to peacefully enjoy the place they call home.

Thank you for caring for Marco,

- Teri Sommerfeld

Candidate for Marco Island City Council

Learn more about Teri, her background, and her vision for a brighter future for all who call Marco Island home.

(C) 2026 Teri Sommerfeld
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Teri Sommerfeld, 2026 candidate for Marco Island City Council

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