Steven M. Seibert, Secretary of the State Dept. of Community Affairs (DCA), signed this week an order approving the City of Key West's ordinance which prohibits unlicensed short term rentals here, including gated communities and condominium complexes. The City Commission originally approved Ordinance 98-31 back in 1998.
The law was initially approved by the DCA, the agency that oversees growth management here, in January 1999, and then was upheld by an administrative law judge last September. A number of transient rental landlords appealed.
Seibert's ruling this week cleared the way for the ordinance to finally go into effect— but opponents have 30 days to appeal again. Sources told KWTN that it is unlikely that the City would attempt to enforce the new law until the appeals have run their course.