KEY WEST - It's a controversy that has twisted in this tourist city for more than five years, spawning legal action, several studies and plenty of ill will.

With residential housing values -- and rents -- at what may be an all-time high on this two-mile-by-four-mile island, efforts to curb short-term vacation rentals have been met on both sides by homeowners with raised fists.

As they wait for a judge's ruling on a new law banning unlicensed rentals, Key West officials have started issuing citations to property owners who rent for fewer than 30 days at a time without possessing the proper licenses to do so. They are also citing some owners for violating local zoning laws.

This month, Key West code enforcement officers cited 74 properties they contend have broken zoning rules, license requirements, or both. The properties each rented for $900 to $9,000 a week, with most renting for between $3,000 and $4,000, according to city officials.

Several local real-estate agents -- some of whom were touting the properties on the Internet or in promotional literature -- were also cited.

A code enforcement special master will hold a hearing on the matter on July 16.

The ongoing controversy over illegal rentals illustrates a key challenge in Key West: juggling a local economy that hinges on the tourist dollar with the needs of local residents looking for some measure of peace and quiet.

''It becomes an issue of balance -- being able to balance both of them. Quality-of-life issues are important to the residents, but also tourism is important to the economy. We have to find a way to accomplish both,'' Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekley said.

``There are many who believe that a lot of folks who do the vacation rentals are taking housing off the market.''

About 500 Key West landlords hold occupational licenses that allow them to rent their properties for less than a month at a time, while about 250 illegal rentals are estimated to be on the market. Both the legal and illegal rentals are often furnished houses or apartments that appeal to large groups or families visiting for a week or so.

Key West's latest crackdown comes as two lawsuits -- one of which argues that the city essentially permitted the rentals in one development until about 1998 -- await rulings by the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami.

Critics of the most recent rental curb campaign say the effort tramples on the rights of property owners.

''It's really about people using the political process to tell other people what to do with their property. You can always go and buy the person's property and deed restrict it,'' says Jerry Coleman, a local attorney who has litigated the issue for years.

``There is no doubt there are people out there who have a vision of what they want Key West to be, and they will impress it upon the city.''

For Bill Verge, who has lived in Key West on and off for a quarter-century, that vision includes fewer cruise ships, less traffic, no late-night noise and a reduction in the number of rental units.

''The battle there is basically to preserve the character of the neighborhoods. When every week you have some different set of people living next door to you, it doesn't feel like a neighborhood anymore,'' Verge said.

``There are a lot of nice transient renters that come down; not all of them are bad. The problem is that there isn't any way to regulate them. I wouldn't say they are any worse than any other type of tourist group.''

Neal Hirsch, owner of Property Management of Key West Inc., a real-estate company that advertised 13 of the rentals the city says are illegal, says they attract a different kind of visitor than some of the city's cheaper motels.

''It's higher-end, quality tourists that spend a great deal of money in our town,'' Hirsch said.

''This is a property rights issue,'' he added.