Castaways Beach Resort in 2013
2043 S Atlantic Ave, Daytona Beach Shores, FL 32118
For one of the oldest condo-hotels in the area, built in 1960, Castaways Beach Resort is in pretty good physical shape. Association, however, is not it the best shape.
Last year was a tough one for the owners. The City used the muscle and fought the Condo Owners Association for allowing owners to use it as primary residence. The City of Daytona Beach Shores contended that Castaways violated the city ordinance.
Castaways Beach Resort for years and years touted itself as a rare condo-hotel, where owners could homestead and claim it as primary residence. A group of owners wanted to get rid of the hotel part, and have it as residential condos, with no short-term rentals like in any other condo-hotel.
For the City it is a matter of zoning. The zoning allows multi-family (residential condominiums), but then there are restrictions on the size of the units (minimum 1,000 sf), number of parking spaces and other things. The owners contended that the ordinance was adopted after units were sold in Castaways beach Resort, so those, who bought before, should have been grandfathered.
In a nutshell, the city objected to them using it for anything other than short-term rentals. This was the first time the City picked up a fight against a condo-hotel Association, and it is a clear indication that they are and will be watching condo-hotels for compliance.
Can I live there as long as I want?
The city answered the question with a resounding «No». It also put an end to the discussion about the right of the condo-hotel unit owner to claim homestead. While the County said they will not say «no» to applicants, in their clarification letter they noted that the Cities may have the authority over it, and the city showed that not only they have it, they used it and keep using it. It control this is the easiest way for them to find violators, as claiming homestead yo declare to the world that you use it as your primary residence. After all, how can the city control it unless you yourself demonstrate it to them?
Quiet retirement in Castaway beach Resort and in any other Daytona Beach Shores condo-hotel is now history.
This does not mean that anything has changed for the rest of owners and wanna be owners, who are looking for a place to enjoy the beach whenever they have the opportunity, and either keep it closed or allow the front desk to rent it out when they are not here.
Which is, by the way, the definition of a condo-hotel.
