| The lawsuit which Last
Stand brought against the city of Key West over the
city's allowing transfer of transient rental licenses, which we won, is
causing the city to revamp its rules on such transfers, to clarify them.
We'll be monitoring the revamping process. The suit and its
results are explained in the article below, from the December 15 Key
West Citizen. |
Lawsuit prompts city to revamp rule
By MANDY BOLEN Citizen Staff
A recent lawsuit that halted the transfers of transient licenses
from a New Town resort to various Old Town properties has led
Key West officials to revise and clarify the city law that
governs such transfers.
The environmental group Last Stand sued the city for allowing
developers to transfer transient licenses from Parrot Key
Resort, the former Hampton Inn, to various locations in Old
Town, some of which were being used for long-term rentals.
The lawsuit pointed out that the city's law does not allow such
transfers from one zoning district to another if the sending
property is in a zoning district that allows transient rentals.
In other words, the Parrot Key licenses would have to be
transferred to other properties within the same zoning district.
The license could be moved if Parrot Key was in an area that no
longer allows transient rentals, but such rentals are permitted
in North Roosevelt Boulevard properties.
"It's become increasingly apparent to me that we need to clarify
things in the ordinance," Planning Director Amy Kimball-Murley
said Friday.
She recently told the Key West Planning Board that her office
had begun revising the ordinance.
"There are not a lot of pending transfer applications right now,
and the city manager and city attorney felt it was appropriate
to start revisions now," she said.
Many previously pending transfers were coming from Parrot Key,
and have been halted by the lawsuit and a subsequent settlement
agreement between the city and Last Stand.
In the agreement, the city halted all but two of the license
transfers, and allowed two that already had been relocated to
remain in their new location.
During the revision process, Kimball-Murley wants to clarify
what is allowed and what is not, while also considering a
conversion formula that would take into consideration the
additional occupants in a unit that is changed from a small
hotel room to a three-room suite.
"Obviously, the larger suite would hold more people, and that
has to be taken into consideration for hurricane evacuation
times," she said. "We're just hoping to make the law more clear
and create a consistent answer for everyone."
City Commissioner Bill Verge, who is the commission's liaison to
the Planning Board and served on the board for several years,
acknowledged the need for the revisions.
"The law has got to be rewritten because of the Parrot Key
lawsuit," Verge said. "But also, we've got to be dynamic. We're
not the same city we were 10 years ago."
Kimball-Murley does not have a definite finish date for the
revised ordinance but wants to bring some suggestions forth in
the next six months or so, she said.
mbolen@keysnews.com
Published Monday, December 15, 2008 |
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