No 'party houses' in Wellington: Village tightens rules on short-term home rentals
WELLINGTON — The village has tightened its rules for short-term home rentals in an effort to squash “party houses.”
The Wellington Village Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, Dec. 5, to approve a new set of regulations for short-term rentals that include having all property owners acquire a $600 special-use permit to rent their residences.
"What the permit will allow us to do is to establish some penalties as well as suspensions and revocations,” said Tim Stillings, the village’s planning and zoning director. “Should we need to go that far.”
Stillings told council members that the village staff has drafted the new regulations in response to resident complaints about noise, parking and neighbor encounters at specific rental properties with repeated offenses.
He said they would allow the village to enforce its rules by citing violators without needing to issue a warning first.
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Mayor Anne Gerwig said Wellington didn't want to lose all of its short-term rentals but needed a way to crack down on those used as "party houses."
“We're not trying to get rid of vacation rentals in our community,” Gerwig said. “We know we can't do that. We need them."
"But we want to hold them to the highest standards,” added Council member John McGovern.
The village staff said most short-term rentals in Wellington have operated without issues and that a set number of properties keep getting complaints. They mentioned encounters with neighbors, homes rented for parties blaring with loud music and guests knocking on residents' doors to park in their driveways.
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Other municipalities around Palm Beach County have looked into tightening their rules for short-term rentals, such as Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach and North Palm Beach.
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What is considered a short-term rental in Wellington?
Wellington has 247 short-term rental units, according to Granicus, an online platform that the village staff will use to track their compliance.
The village defines short-term rentals as properties that are leased more than three times a year for fewer than 30 days.
Stillings said the new set of regulations would not apply to most properties leased during Wellington’s equestrian season, which are usually rented out for months.
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What do Wellington's new short-term rental regulations include?
Stillings said the violations would apply to the property owners, not the tenants, and may be accompanied by a $125 fine. He added each day an existing violation continues will constitute a separate violation, except for maximum occupancy citations.
The new short-term rental regulations include:
All short-term rentals will be required to apply for a one-time special permit of $600.
Property owners will be required to post a notice about Wellington’s regulations in the rental property for guests.
Parking on swales, lawn landscape areas, within a public area or on a right of way is prohibited.
The maximum occupancy of one per bedroom with a maximum of four cars. One additional vehicle per room is allowed if the parcel is one acre or larger.
The maximum overnight parking is limited to the number of vehicles that can be properly parked.
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How will the new regulations be enforced?
Under the new code, all short-term rentals must have a special-use permit that can either be suspended or revoked after a certain number of violations.
A second violation in 12 months may result in a permit suspension for up to 30 days.
A third violation in 12 months may result in a permit suspension for up to 180 days.
A fourth violation in 12 months may result in a permit suspension for up to one year.
A fifth violation in 12 months may result in a permit revocation.
A permit may also be revoked if there is either a felony or misdemeanor charge on the property resulting in injury or a drug and prostitution charge.
Before, the village was required to issue a warning and that resulted in a lack of enforcement and properties with repeated offenses, Stillings said. Now, the village staff and deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office can immediately issue a violation for noncompliance.
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Wellington council tightens ruled for short-term rentals: 'The only way'
McGovern said Wellington needed tougher regulations for short-term rentals than those created in 2020 to ensure enforcement of village rules. One area where village officials heard calls for change was Sugar Pond Manor, a neighborhood near Big Blue Trace and Paddock Drive.
"This is probably stronger than we had originally intended to be,” McGovern said. “We allowed several years to pass and saw how it went, and that led us to having residents from Sugar Pond come and tell us that this isn't working. Now we have to try something that is firmer or stronger.”
Village manager Jim Barnes said the permit will put more responsibility on property owners to perform background checks and vet to whom they are renting.
“This would at least take that extra step to ensure that there was some onus on the owner to make sure they performed a due diligence,” Barnes said.
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Gerwig said the special-use permit should not be a problem for "good” renters and it would allow the village staff to zero in on properties with recurring offenses.
“Which they might not like,” Gerwig said. “But we're just having too big of a problem to ignore.”
“This is the only way I think we can proceed to protect our neighborhoods,” she added.
Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wellington targets 'party houses' with new rules on short-term rentals
