JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The state has approved a plan to resume the operation of vacation rentals in Duval County, effective immediately, according to a news release Wednesday from Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry’s office.
The move comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis opened the door on Friday to the return of vacation rentals in the state. He announced that vacation rentals could soon roll out the welcome mats again -- if county and state officials give the go-ahead.
“Tourism is a major part of our local and state economies. By getting these businesses back up and running in a responsible way, we are helping employees and their families get back on their feet and return to some sense of normalcy," Curry said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the state also approved Nassau County’s plan to reopen its vacation rentals. Details were forthcoming.
As part of the city’s plan, vacation rentals must adhere to the following guidelines, as laid out by Mayor Curry’s office:
Social distancing
o 10-person occupancy cap for vacation rental units
o Encourage visitors and staff to adhere to social distancing to maintain a safe distance of 6 feet from other individuals
o Stagger arrival times to prevent congregating
Staff requirements
o All staff members:
- Should follow appropriate CDC guidelines for sanitation and protection.
- Be required to train on and adhere to the minimum standards established by thisplan.
- Should not report to work if experiencing symptoms.
- Shall receive a wellness check upon arrival to work. The wellness check, at a minimum, will consist of a temperature check. Staff members who have a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will not be permitted to work.
Cleaning & sanitation
o Property owners and managers will adhere to all DBPR sanitation guidelines already in place as addressed under 61C-3.001 Sanitation and Safety Requirements of the transient lodging statutes.
o Property owners and managers will follow the CDC related guidelines that are for public spaces, businesses, schools and homes which expand upon the State of Florida & DBPR requirements already in place for safety and sanitation for all lodging.
- Vacation rentals should be allowed flexible time between stays based upon the use of CDC cleaning and sanitization procedures. Lodging units being cleaned are all different and some will take more time or less time, depending upon the size of the unit being sanitized.
Guest communications & interactions
Vacation rental companies or owners must:
- Provide guests with pre-arrival communications to include copies of pertinent executive orders (State and County) and safety plans
- Provide guests upon check-in additional copies of pertinent executive orders (State and County) and safety plans
- Display materials on-site within the vacation rental unit outlining those in-effect orders and safety measures
- Limit guests traveling from cities with populations greater than one million located in an area with substantial community spread as designated in Governor Ron DeSantis’ Executive Order 2020-82 and Executive Order 2020-86
o If possible, provide contactless check-in and check-out processes.
o Limit staff interactions with guests during stay unless necessary such as maintenance emergency calls. All staff must follow proper preventative measures if interacting with guests during stay.