MIAMI-DADE COUNTY EMERGENCY ORDER 09-20

Canceled per Emergency Order 24-20

WHEREAS, section 252.38(3)(a), Florida Statutes, gives political subdivisions the authority to declare and enact a State of Local Emergency for a period of up to seven days, thereby waiving the procedures and formalities otherwise required of the political subdivision by law; and

WHEREAS, on March 1, 2020, the Governor of Florida issued Executive Order Number 20-51, directing the State Health Officer and Surgeon General to declare a Public Health Emergency due to the discovery of COVID-19/novel Coronavirus in Florida; and

WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, the Governor of Florida issued Executive Order Number 20-52, declaring a State of Emergency for the state of Florida related to COVID-19/novel Coronavirus; and

WHEREAS, on March 12, 2020, the County Mayor declared a State of Emergency for all of Miami-Dade County; and

WHEREAS, COVID-19/novel Coronavirus poses a health risk to Miami-Dade County residents, particularly elderly residents and those who are immunosuppressed or otherwise have high-risk medical conditions; and

WHEREAS, minimization of contact is necessary to avoid risk of COVID-19 infection for the residents of the County; and

WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued guidance entitled "15 Days to Slow the Spread," encouraging social distancing and maintaining a 6 foot separation between residents to slow the spread of infection and that events with more than ten attendees either be cancelled or held virtually; and

WHEREAS, the CDC guidelines are based upon the amount of community spread within a community and become more stringent where there is minimal to moderate or substantial community spread; and

WHEREAS, numerous persons have congregated in Miami-Dade County for spring break and other social activities, and are congregating in and around hotels without observing the social distancing guidelines as recommended by the CDC; and

WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of Miami-Dade County to prevent crowds of people inside and around hotels, as COVID-19 continues to spread through both the local community and throughout the nation; and

WHEREAS, hotels, motels, and short-term vacation rentals and other commercial lodging establishments may serve as shelters or housing options for healthcare professionals, first responders, national guard members, law enforcement, state or federal government employees, airline crewmembers, other essential personnel, patients, patients' families, journalists, and others responding to the COVID-19 emergency, or displaced residents or visitors, persons unable to return to their home due to exigent circumstances, such as fire or flood, persons utilizing hotels as transitional living arrangements, persons sheltering in hotels due to domestic violence, hotel employees, service providers and contractors, or individuals, who, for any reason, are temporarily unable to reside in their home; and

WHEREAS, some Miami-Dade County residents rely on hotels and motels for weekly and monthly long-term living arrangements and the closure of commercial lodging establishments would negatively affect their living arrangements; and

WHEREAS, section 252.46, Florida Statutes, directs local governments to act consistent with Federal recommendations in responding to emergency situations; and

WHEREAS, sections 8B-7(2)(e) and (o) of the Code of Miami-Dade County ("Code") authorize the County Mayor to limit the movement of persons inside Miami-Dade County in order to safeguard life and health,

THEREFORE, as County Mayor of Miami-Dade County, I hereby order:

1. To aid the availability of hotel rooms for (1) healthcare professionals, (2) first responders, (3) National Guard members, (4) law enforcement, (5) state or federal government employees, (6) airline crewmembers, (7) patients, (8) patients' families, (9) journalists, (10) others responding to COVID-19, (11) displaced residents or visitors, (12) persons unable to return their home due to COVID-19 impacts on travel, (13) persons who must vacate their homes due to exigent circumstances, such as fire or flood, (14) persons utilizing hotels as transitional living arrangements, (15) persons sheltering in hotels due to domestic violence, (16) hotel employees, service providers, and contractors, or (17) individuals who, for any reason, are temporarily unable to reside in their home ("Essential Lodgers"), the following restrictions shall apply to commercial lodging establishments:           

• Hotels, motels, and other commercial lodging establishments shall not accept new reservations for persons other than Essential Lodgers.  

• Hotels, motels, and other commercial lodging establishments may accept reservations for new Essential Lodgers.

2. Notwithstanding section 33-28(D)(3) of the Code, the maximum daytime and overnight occupancy for short-term vacation rentals shall be up to a maximum of two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons per property not to exceed a maximum of ten persons. New rental agreements shall not be entered into on a nightly or weekly basis, effective March 23, 2020.

3. The provisions of this order shall serve as minimum standards. Municipalities may impose more stringent standards within their jurisdictions.

4. This order shall be effective immediately.

5. The County Mayor may amend the provisions of paragraphs 1 or 2 by written notice to the County Clerk.

6. This order shall expire upon the expiration of the existing Miami-Dade County State of Local Emergency, except that if such State of Local Emergency is extended, this order shall also be deemed to extend for the duration of such extension. This order may be cancelled earlier by action of the County Mayor.

7. This order shall be provided to all appropriate media consistent with the requirements of section 8B-7(2)(n) of the Code.