Yesterday, April 1, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis issued
Executive Order 20-91
, the "Safer at Home" order. Many of our members are wondering, how this affects them and their RV park business. Florida ARVC's staff and legal counsel has reviewed these orders, and this is what it means for our RV park and campground members:
Starting on Friday, April 3, all those in Florida are to stay at home unless they are obtaining or providing essential services or conducting essential activities. Under this order
RV Parks and Campgrounds
are providing "Commercial Lodging Establishments" and their employees are providing essential services and conducting essential activities, and are therefore allowed in remain open to serve their guests who are residing in their RV park during this time. This order expires on April 30, 2020.
RV parks and campgrounds (commercial lodging establishments) are also providing an essential accommodation and service to travelers unable to safely travel home or to another location, and are accommodating "Essential Lodgers". In addition, many RV parks and campgrounds provide propane distribution services and U.S. mail distribution services for their guests, all deemed as "essential".
Lodging service in some localities has been specifically restricted to only "Essential Lodgers", allowing new reservations for specific groups of people. For example: COVID-19 responders, traveling medical staff and other needy or in-need populations. Such restrictions do not yet apply on a statewide basis. In these area provisions for long term stays, those staying with an agreement for over 30 days is in most cases allowed.
We have had some questions regarding how this and previous orders impact "Vacation Rentals". It is our legal counsels recommendation that RV parks and campground cease their rentals of Cabins and Park Models which in some cases could be defined as vacation rentals and were ordered to close with
Executive Order 20-87
. However, long-term rentals over 30 days are allowed. Here is our
legal advisory
regarding this order.
Social distancing and CDC requirements are in place for all facility and lodging accommodations.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT ORDERS APPLY TO YOUR COUNTY OR AREA?
Here is a great tool, which
is now a public link, provided from our lobbying firm's subscription service. It is used to track government activities and contains an inventory of all state and local orders broken down by region. It is very helpful.
IMPORTANT: Once you open up the link, you will need to scroll ALL the way down to the very bottom of the page. Here you will see the different Florida regions. Click on those region links to see the details. To access this chart and data base, click here:
COVID-19 Lobby Tools
A LETTER STATING YOUR EMPLOYEES ARE "ESSENTIAL"
As a safety precaution for your employees as they travel to and from work,
it is suggested they have a letter signed by their employer stating they are essential and their place of employment is essential
. Here is letter template that you can use to customize with your park name on your business letterhead and easily reproduce.
To open and review:
CLICK HERE FOR ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEE LETTER TEMPLATE
.
We continue to work closely with our public sector partners to ensure we are providing you with the most current information that may impact your business.
If you have any further questions, or need more information, please don't hesitate to contact the Florida ARVC office at 850-562-7151. Or text, call, or email Bobby Cornwell directly - cell: 850-544-4472, email:
[email protected]
As always, we advise you to consult with your personal attorney, accountant, and professional advisers on any legal matter regarding your business operations.
