Officials Draft and Finalize Volusia County’s Plan for Approval to Operate Vacation Rentals.

Written by Kristen Schmutz

Belden Communications News

Adhering to the Governor’s Order 20-123, Volusia County Council approved the county’s drafted plan to operate Vacation Rentals, today. 

The Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR) sent out a list of Recommended Safety Measures and Best Practices yesterday to all 67 counties in Florida. While other counties have utilized this list as recommendations, Volusia County has decided to adopt the list as the minimum standard. 

The list of the recommendations from the DBPR can be found here.

Along with the aforementioned recommendations, the county has also added a few other regulations to the plan. 

-Any Vacation Rental reservations from the area identified by Executive Order of the Governor, where isolation or quarantine must be for periods longer than the mandated quarantine period. Guests occupying those vacation rentals must adhere to the quarantine restrictions. 

- The property owner and manager will provide COVID-19 guidance of any local restrictions that are in place during the guest stay and other related local information. This information is found at County Information. 

-Property owners and managers shall adhere to all DBPR sanitation guidelines already in place as addressed under 61C-3.001 Sanitation and Safety Requirements of the transient lodging statutes. 

-Property owners and managers shall follow the CDC related guidelines that are for public spaces, businesses, schools, and homes which expand upon the State of Florida and DBPR requirements already in place for safety and sanitation for all lodging. 

-Property owners and managers shall ensure those safety protocols referenced in this plan are in place and publicly displayed, regarding shared or multi-residence amenities such as pool, gyms, and other communal spaces. 

-Property owners and managers shall supply all employees or contractors with CDC related safety guidelines while operating in the short-term rental industry units to alleviate the transmission of the virus and provide further protection for employees and guests. 

-Property owners and managers shall supply guests with CDC guidance for guests traveling with pets and service/assistance animals if the property is pet friendly. 

-Property owners and managers shall also share other CDC resources to any guest while staying in their units. 

-The property owner and/or property manager shall provide a copy of the county’s plan, to the occupant making the reservation by e-mail before stay which preserves the included hyperlinks. 

-Any complaint received by the County that a property owner, property manager or occupant has failed to comply with any provision of this plan shall be reported to DBPR. This plan may be rescinded by the county manager. 

The county’s plan also allows individual cities to opt-out of this plan, so long as they submit the request in writing to the County Manager. Since County Council has approved the plan, it will be sent out to the DBPR Secretary for approval. Once approval is received, the plan will go into effect immediately.