A vacation door also has a year-round neighbor

Gulf County has spent time discussing the rules surrounding short-term vacation rentals. The Port St. Joe Star reported that county commissioners considered practical concerns, including whether emergency responders could enter certain rental properties when an owner was far away. It is easy to frame that conversation as a contest between property rights and regulation. There is another question worth asking alongside it: how does a place welcome visitors without forgetting the people who live beside the rental all year? A guest may arrive for a weekend to enjoy the coast. A neighbor stays through the ordinary school weeks, the storm preparations, the quieter business seasons, and the evenings when a street needs to be a home rather than a destination. The two do not have to be enemies. But their needs do have to be seen honestly. Jesus gave a practical shape to neighborly love in Luke 10:30–37.

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