CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Homeowners in a South Cape Coral neighborhood contacted FOX 4's Bella Line with their concerns about three short-term rental properties they say are disrupting their once peaceful community with loud parties, overcrowding, and violations of the city's 7-day minimum stay ordinance.
Hear what neighbors told Line about what it's like to live next to 3 disruptive rentals:
"These people come in probably thinking, 'Oh, well, it's just one weekend,' but for us, it's every weekend," said Katie Wojtowicz, who live near one of the rentals.
The Wojtowicz family reports a constant flow of short-term guests at a nearby property, despite Cape Coral's ordinance requiring a minimum 7-day stay. When I checked the property on Airbnb, the platform allowed me to book for just two nights.
"We try to be understanding in that we live in Florida, we live in a vacation type place, but there's just no regard for the neighborhood. We can't even enjoy our own backyard anymore," said Wojtowicz.
Just down the street, two additional vacation rentals are reportedly causing similar problems. All three properties are owned by the same Airbnb host who was fined more than $30,000 by the city last week for ordinance violations.
Jim and Kelli Agles, who live near the other properties, shared photos showing large crowds and a vehicle parked on the lawn.
"When you see 10 or 12 vehicles pull up with four people in them, they pile out, women, coolers, alcohol, they're here for a party," said Jim Agles.
The couple emphasized they don't oppose rental investments generally but feel this particular host has transformed their residential area.
"Turning a residential neighborhood into a multi family hotel type zone, it's not fair to the people that have invested all their time and money in the property they live in," said Jim Agles.
Erin Maher operates her own Airbnb next door to one of the rentals, and she says she has also experienced the loud guests and crowds.
"The majority of us, individual Airbnb owners are making passive income, retirement income and so forth, and they want their homes to be taken care of," said Maher.
As a host herself, Maher says she thoroughly screens guests to avoid her property being used for parties. She hopes the city will address problematic rentals without penalizing those who follow regulations.
"I think they need to get really strict on the number of beds and heads that they're that they're incorporating," said Maher.
In a statement, Airbnb told me: "When signing up to host on Airbnb, hosts agree to abide by Airbnb's Community Standards and our Terms of Service, which stipulate that they must be in compliance with local rules and regulations."
The city encourages residents who believe someone is violating city ordinances to contact Code Compliance at 239-574-0613 or email code@capecoral.gov.
The city also says "Last year, Code Compliance added a research specialist to their staff. This position monitors online listings for evidence of any code violations, including websites like Airbnb and VRBO."
I reached out to the host through Airbnb but have not received a response.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
