Belleair Shore To Begin Crackdown On Violators Of Short Term Rental Lawby Leo Coughlin BELLEAIR BLUFFS - Two property owners in Belleair Shore are going to feel the impact of enforcement as the Town Commission, which meets in this nearby city, decided August 22 to proceed on their violation of the short term rental ordinance. One of the owners, Rhonda Hogan, was given a grace period when the subject came up last month. She owns three properties - one reportedly has a pending sale - and last month, rather than getting tough right away, the commission allowed her to set out what measures she would take to solve the problem. According to Mayor John Robertson, no changes took place and, in fact, he said he believed rentals extended into 2008 but he did not know if they were in violation of the ordinance. The Belleair Shore law is the same as that of the county that limits short term rentals to 30 days and no more than three of these in a year on a given property. Another alleged violator is David Sfeerrazza. Robertson will appoint a special master from among the names of three lawyers who have been submitted. The master then will hear the alleged violations and then decide on dispositive action. The commission finished up its work on the state required comprehensive plan and will adopt an ordinance at next month's meeting establishing the town as the planning agency. As to the idea of repainting house numbers on the curb along Gulf Boulevard, the commission dispensed with this as unnecessary. No one really liked the idea and town rules call for homes to be well marked with numbers. Hearings on the town budget for fiscal year 2008 are scheduled September 5 and 19. Spending in the coming year will be $200 less than the current year with a total of $89,400 expected. This is considerably lower than the town budget of several years ago when it was $100,000 or more. Thank the careful management of Robertson and his colleagues for this. The millage rate is less than 1 mill, at .5256, lower even than the rollback rate which is .5486. The rollback rate designates the what millage would be needed to raise the same amount as in the previous year.
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