Short-term rental issue needs finality
To the editor:
I didn’t really give the Short Term Beach Rental issue much though until I read Amy Loughrey’s long, rambling letter in your paper. Now I have to say that I couldn’t disagree with Ms. Loughrey more.
We bought a house on Fort Myers Beach some years ago because of those quiet neighborhoods. Our neighbors were mostly long-time, year-round homeowners with a few seasonal people. Everyone knows each other; it is quiet and has a great sense of community. We bought another place on the beach and are renting the original house year round to a family that contributes a great deal to the community through volunteering and being good neighbors. We didn’t see the “quiet center” of the island as a “resort island” at all. It is more of a beautiful small town. The south end has the condos and the north end has the party hotels, but the center keeps a unique small town charm. Converting these houses to short term rentals would go a long way towards destroying that sense of community.
I now live next door to a short-term rental. The weekly renters do not volunteer or have much of a beneficial impact on our community. Most behave themselves, but some act like everyone on the island is here to party. Calling the rental agency sometimes helps, but not always. A couple of days ago, I got to listen to a loud karaoke version of “call me maybe” five times in a row while I was trying to get to sleep. This wasn’t a party house, but a family on vacation having fun.
I would guess that Ms. Loughrey has some financial stake in this short-term rental market. There are some that think this island is here for them to extract as much money as they can from it, without regard to the negative impact it has on the islanders. Even the TDC bed tax generated rarely seems to be used to help with these impacts. We have traffic jams, no sidewalks and standing water days after a rain, and the county uses the TDC money to build baseball stadiums.
I do thank Ms. Loughrey for providing a list of emails and reminding me of the upcoming meeting.
Bill Veach
Fort Myers Beach
Short-term rental issue needs finality
To the editor:
I didn’t really give the Short Term Beach Rental issue much though until I read Amy Loughrey’s long, rambling letter in your paper. Now I have to say that I couldn’t disagree with Ms. Loughrey more.
We bought a house on Fort Myers Beach some years ago because of those quiet neighborhoods. Our neighbors were mostly long-time, year-round homeowners with a few seasonal people. Everyone knows each other; it is quiet and has a great sense of community. We bought another place on the beach and are renting the original house year round to a family that contributes a great deal to the community through volunteering and being good neighbors. We didn’t see the “quiet center” of the island as a “resort island” at all. It is more of a beautiful small town. The south end has the condos and the north end has the party hotels, but the center keeps a unique small town charm. Converting these houses to short term rentals would go a long way towards destroying that sense of community.
I now live next door to a short-term rental. The weekly renters do not volunteer or have much of a beneficial impact on our community. Most behave themselves, but some act like everyone on the island is here to party. Calling the rental agency sometimes helps, but not always. A couple of days ago, I got to listen to a loud karaoke version of “call me maybe” five times in a row while I was trying to get to sleep. This wasn’t a party house, but a family on vacation having fun.
I would guess that Ms. Loughrey has some financial stake in this short-term rental market. There are some that think this island is here for them to extract as much money as they can from it, without regard to the negative impact it has on the islanders. Even the TDC bed tax generated rarely seems to be used to help with these impacts. We have traffic jams, no sidewalks and standing water days after a rain, and the county uses the TDC money to build baseball stadiums.
I do thank Ms. Loughrey for providing a list of emails and reminding me of the upcoming meeting.
Bill Veach
Fort Myers Beach