With second home buyers out of the market right now, many owners of properties in our second home/resort market are opting to cover their costs by renting. Of course, many people own homes and condos here as investment, taking advantage of our area as a vacation destination. But for a lot of other people, they simply owned single family homes for their own use, to enjoy on sporadic weekends or for entire seasons and are entering the rental market for the first time.
Well, the members of the Golden Isles Association of REALTORS® recently were sent a friendly reminder from the Glynn County Community Development in regards to the ‘proliferation of single family vacation rental properties‘ and I suppose it’s with good reason. They cite that:
These are being advertised as having a capacity in terms of the number of guests accommodated, but that number may exceed the capacity established by zoning limitations.
In vacation rental speak, we look at how many people can sleep in a given property. Say you have a three bedroom house in which you have a king size bed in one bedroom, a queen in another, and one twin bed and a bunkbed in the 3rd. You also have a full-size pull out sofa in the family room. That house might be advertised as ‘sleeping 9′ and three couples with their combined three children sign on to rent the house for two weeks. The problem here is that the house is zoned residential and is meant to be occupied by one family only. In most cases, a three bedroom house would be zoned for a family of five or six: parents in one room, up to two children of the same sex in the next room and up to two children of the same sex in the other. By three non-related families occupying this house, they are violating the local zoning ordinance.
Dwelling units are defined as being intended for occupancy by one family. A family is defined as including any number of people who are related by blood or marriage, but limits to five (5) the number of people who are not related by blood or marriage. To clarify, if three people who are related by blood or marriage occupy a dwelling unit together with three other people who are related by blood or marriage, but the two groups are not related to each other, the definition of family is NOT met and the situation constitutes a violation of the Zoning Ordinance.
So if you’re a property owner in this or any vacation market, keep in mind that you many be violating local zoning ordinances. Don’t say you haven’t been warned! For more information, contact the Glynn County Community Development office at 912-554-7428.
{ 0 comments }
