HomeMy Public PortalAboutLetters from Residents(2).pdfJan LeViner
From: Lauren Davis <visittybee@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2019 1:29 PM
To: Jan LeViner
Cc: Visitty
Subject: STVR Please enter in minutes
Please enter the following message into the minutes of tonight's meeting ,July 11 2019.
My name is Lauren Davis, resident since 2001 and a voter. I own two vacation rental homes which I
personally manage and I also manage the rental of my sister's home on Tybee. I also have my personal
home here which is never used as a rental as does my sister.
I am not in favor of excessive and unnecessary rules on Tybee.
I moved here because of Tybee's free spirit.
1.
I think Golf carts ease the burden of having so many cars driving around Tybee. Most are electric. I
believe the use of golf carts as an alternative to gas vehicles should be encouraged and not demonized.
2.
Tybee families have been sharing their Tybee homes with visitors for decades. Yes, the number of
homes is greater but Tybee also has a vast number of amazing restaurants and shops and the best
infrastructure and many more amenities that are a direct result of having more visitors. Locals benefit
tremendously.
As things stand now the City of Tybee and the Tybee Island Police Department are doing an excellent
job of handling STVRs and golf cart complaints by using common sense and the rules that are already
in place.
Tybee is not a retirement community. No more rules.
Lauren Davis
1003 Lovell
1
Jan LeViner
From: Barry Brown
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2019 11:18 AM
To: Jan LeViner
Subject: Fwd: Short Term Rentals
Sent from my iPadBarry Brown
Begin forwarded message:
From: sherry oxendine <sherry.oxendine7@ amail.com>
Date: July 10, 2019 at 11:13:11 AM EDT
To: mayor@cityoftybee.org
Cc: jbranigan(a�,citvoftybee.org, bbrown@cityoftybee.ors,
sgillen(cityoftybee.or, sessions@cityoftybee.org, jlivingston(d)cityoftybee.org,
mparks@,cityoftybee.org, amy@tybeevacationrentals.com, Dustin Church
<DChurch(atybeevacationrentals.com>, Nancy Bailey
<nancy@tybeevacationrentals.com>, Carrie Efird <CarrieAtybeevacationrentals.com>, Terry
Harris <tharris(a�tybeevacationrentals.com>
Subject: Short Term Rentals
Good morning,
Let me start by introducing myself. I am Sherry Oxendine and I am the owner of Sunburst
Cottage, located at 1514 2nd Ave on Tybee Island. I purchased this home on May 4, 2018 for the
purpose of using it as a 2nd home and a short term rental when I or family members are not using
it. My career is as a Realtor, this has been my career since 1988. I did my due diligence prior to
purchasing on Tybee by researching the restrictions of short term rentals on Tybee. What I found
out was that they are permitted. Without that confirmation I would have searched in another area.
Tybee was my top choice because my son, daughter in law and granddaughter live in Savannah
and Sunburst would give me a place to stay when I visit my family. Being able to rent the house
short term enables me to maintain and update the property and pay my taxes and fees. I knew
that I would want to have a professional vacation management rental company to handle the
rentals and oversee the maintenance needs for me. I chose Tybee Vacation Rentals due to the
fact that they have the staff to make sure my house is in good shape and taken care of (which I
pay for) TVR informs me of what and when things need to be done at my property, i.e. trimming
of the palms, general outdoor maintenance and anything safety related. They have a lot of pride
in the properties they manage and I have pride as an owner.
When I purchased this property it was in a great state of disrepair. It had been sitting vacant for
some time. The next door neighbors expressed that they were so glad that I had bought it and
jumped on making the cottage presentable and comfortable. It had been sitting on the market for
over a year and nothing had been done in many years to update. In 2018: I
1. Put a new metal roof on
2.Scraped and painted the entire exterior
3.Hired lawn maintenance to trim back overgrown shrubs, lay fresh pine straw and mulch,
pressure wash the fence, mow by weekly and trim the palms
4.Painted the entire interior including the floor
1
5.Purchased all new furnishings, including kitchen appliances and deck furniture
6.Coordinated with Tybee Vacation Rentals on pest control and safety issues
7. Properly insured Sunburst with the right amount of homeowners coverage and flood insurance
$297,00.00 was the purchase price
$35,000.00 was spent on repairs and maintenance (much to the delight of my neighbors)
$5022.00 in Insurance so the property can be repaired in case of any damages
Needless to say, without having a small but needed income from renting it short term I would not
have been able to make these repairs. I am still not even close to breaking even on my return of
investment. It is a 2nd home, but it is also an investment, just like any real estate purchase.
Without the capability of renting it short term, I will be forced to sell at a loss and the house will
sit vacant until I am able to reach a successful negotiation and closing.
There are inherent property rights that come with being an owner of a property. One of those is
the right to rent.
Per the National Association of Realtors:
Limited Scope of Zoning Authority:
While most short term regulation are adopted as a general regulation under local government
"police power" some communities have instead chosen to regulate STR's under the zoning code.
The problem with this approach is that the regulation of STR's does not fall within the scope of
local zoning authority. The reason is the long established principle that "zoning deals with land
use, not the owner, operator or occupant of the land" Zoning inherently pertains to land rather
than the land owner- it "deals basically with land use not the who owns it or occupies it."
Zoning regulation of STR's violates this fundamental principle in that it focuses not on the use of
land, but on the form of one's interest in the property (ie owner or enter) and the duration of the
occupancy (short term vs Iong term) It is residential use either way.
Many courts have already set precedent by ruling that residential rentals, whether short term or
long term, does not change the residential status of the use. They are not considered commercial
use in these court rulings.
"Residential use" has been consistently interpreted s meaning that the use of the property is for
living purposes, or a dwelling, or a place of abode. The transitory or temporary nature of such
use does not defeat the residential status."
Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns about Short Term Rental Regulations. I look
forward to meeting all of you when I am on Tybee.
Regards,
Sherry Oxendine
Sherry Oxendine
Keller Knapp Realty
Cell: (404) 695-2600
2
Jan LeViner
From: Barry Brown
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2019 11:15 AM
To: Jan LeViner
Subject: Fwd: July 11, 2019 Council Meeting, Re: Short -Term Vacation Rentals
Sent from my iPadBarry Brown
Begin forwarded message:
From: Kathy Sanford <harrier(a7nycap.rr.com>
Date: July 9, 2019 at 9:08:12 PM EDT
To: <mayorrekityoftybee.org>, <ibranigin(a?cityoftybee.org>, <bbrowncityoftybee.org>,
<ssessions(a?cityoftybee.org>, <wdoyle@cityoftybee.org>,<ilivingston(cilcityoftybee.org>,
<mparks(atcityoftybee.org>
Subject: July 11, 2019 Council Meeting, Re: Short -Term Vacation Rentals
Transmitted via e-mail only
July 10, 2019
The Honorable Jason Buelterman, Mayor of Tybee Island
The Honorable John Branigin, Member, Tybee Island City Council
The Honorable Barry Brown, Member, Tybee Island City Council
The Honorable Shirley Sessions, Member, Tybee Island City Council
The Honorable Wanda Doyle, Member, Tybee Island City Council
The Honorable Julie Livingston, Member, Tybee Island City Council
The Honorable Monty Parks, Member, Tybee Island City Council
Re: Short -Term Vacation Rental Issues
Dear Mayor Buelterman and Members of the City Council:
I respectfully request that this letter be included in the record of the City Council
Meeting of July 11, 2019, where a presentation is scheduled on the topic of Short -Term Vacation
Rentals. My concern is the possible banning of STVR's based on a generalization of all STVR
owners as greedy and uncaring about the quality of life of year-round residents. Any discussion
should acknowledge the category of owners who are part-time residents, possibly planning to be
full-time residents, who try to participate in the community when we are there and also want the
quality of life on Tybee to remain enjoyable for Iocal residents (as I consider myself to be when I
am there). I don't get to vote, although I pay full taxes (i.e., no homestead exemption).
When my late husband and I house -hunted on Tybee in August 2015, we had no plans to
enter the vacation rental market. Our intent was to find our future retirement home, with a plan
to initially live there in the late winter and early spring and become permanent residents within 5
i
to 10 years. Consistent with this plan, we spent 105 consecutive days on Tybee each year during
2016, 2017 and 2018 — late January through early May — and enjoyed it so much that we
accelerated our schedule and set a moving date for February 2019. That did not come to fruition
as my husband unexpectedly passed away on January 1. While my plans are unclear at the
moment, I continue to maintain my property on Tybee and hope to live there at some point in the
future. Therefore, I continue to have a vested interest in quality of life on the island.
Short-term rental was suggested to us by year-round Tybee residents and our decision to
participate was based primarily on the consideration that it was better both for us and the
neighborhood for the house to be monitored, maintained and occupied rather than vacant when
we were not there. Yes, the income does help me offset expenses which is certainly helpful, but
it was never our goal to exploit the character of the island for our financial gain. The character
of the island is the reason we loved it there. Local businesses that rely on tourism contribute to
that character, and I believe having my house occupied year-round instead of seasonally helps
promote the success of those businesses.
As part-time residents in 2016-2018, my husband and I:
• Hired a plumber, an electrician, a handyman and a groundskeeper who all live on Tybee
(and requested that our rental agency use the same vendors throughout the year),
• Shopped at IGA, Chu's, XYZ Liquors and the Farmer's Market,
• Ate at Tybee restaurants 99% of the time that we ate out,
• Attended events at the Tybee Post Theater,
• Patronized other local businesses such as Tim's Bike Rental and Salon Isobe,
• Participated in the volunteer tree -planting effort in February 2017 to fill gaps in the
median near Jaycee Park caused by Hurricane Matthew,
• Participated in community fundraisers such as the BBQ dinner and Huc-a-poos' garage
sale in the Spring of 2017 for local fire victims,
• Donated the proceeds of a personal garage sale to residents impacted by Hurricane Irma,
and
• Encouraged our guests -- via our property's Facebook page -- to patronize local
businesses, particularly after Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.
I hope the above list will persuade you to think of STVR owners as community members,
not absentee investors only interested in money and exploitation. I do not believe I am the only
STVR owner who is an active participant in the community with as much concern as year-round
residents about quality of life on the island.
My house sits 20 feet away from another short-term rental. While I have not been there
during the Summer, we did experience three St. Patrick's Day weekends and three Spring
Breaks. Although we did not have problems, I can understand how impactful it would be if the
house were over -occupied, there were too many cars and the occupants were hooting and
hollering and playing loud music all night. The agency that manages our rental and the one next
door does not rent to unrelated groups of people under the age of 25 and does enforce vehicle
limits. In fact, most of the negative reviews on the agency's Facebook page are from potential
renters who were turned away because of the age restriction and actual renters corrected during
their stay about the parking restriction. Managing these impacts does appear to be doable without
2
banning STVR's altogether.
As a current part-time resident and potential future full-time resident, I hope
workable solutions can be found that do not impede use and enjoyment of property by those of
us who choose — for a variety of reasons — to participate in the short-term vacation rental market.
Sincerely,
Kathy Sanford, Owner
Egrets' Landing, 15 Soda Rock Lane
harrier(nycap.n.com
3