Emergency Directive 20-02 1st Amendment County of Monroe , ,o g.
at4 ' - BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
The Florida Keys 3 ' Mayor Heather Carruthers.District 3
'\ , . Mayor Pro Tem Michelle Coldiron.District 2
r Craig Cates.District I
David Rice.District 4
Sylvia J.Murphy.District 5
MONROE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
EMERGENCY DIRECTIVE 20-02 FT
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First Amendment _': -T;
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April 1,2020
SUBJECT: CLOSING OF THE KEYS TO VISITORS --, ,A cam)
WHEREAS, Section 252.38(3)(a), Florida Statutes, gives political subdivisions the cr o
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 . ,.n �, d
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WHEREAS, on March 1,2020, the Governor of Florida issued Executive Order Number ?0, N
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20-51, directing the State Health Officer and Surgeon General to declare a Public Health o a o 0
Emergency due to the discovery of COV ID-19'novel Coronavirus in Florida; and i a I
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WHEREAS, on March 9,2020, the Governor of Florida issued Executive Order Number g p
20-52, declaring a State of Emergency for the state of Florida related to COVID-19/novel .,%
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Coronavirus; and m ;
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WHEREAS, on March 15, 2020, the County Mayor declared a State of Emergency for pC - W
all of Monroe County in order for the County to take actions to protect the health, safety, and b
welfare of the community due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic; and
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WHEREAS, COVID-19/novel Coronavirus poses a health risk to Monroe 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 mare stringent where there is minimal to moderate or substantial
community spread; and
WHEREAS, due to the intensity of COVID-19 in other hot spots in the nation, the Governor
has imposed additional screening measures for travelers departing from hot spots, see, Executive
Orders 2020-80 and 2020-82; and
WHEREAS, due to the intensity of COVID-19 in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, the
Governor has imposed heightened restrictions on residents and businesses in those two counties,see,
Executive Order 2020-70;
WHEREAS,the Governor issued Executive Order 20-89 on March 30,2020 which found that
over sixty (60)percent of Florida's identified COVID-19 cases are in South Florida, which makes up
a large percentage of Florida's population; and
WHEREAS,Executive Order 20-89 imposes additional restrictions on the South Florida
counties of Monroe,Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach; and
WHEREAS, due to the intensity of COVID-19 community spread in Miami-Dade County,
Miami-Dade County issued a series of orders to curtail the spread of the virus by prohibiting
gatherings by boaters or"rafting" (Miami-Dade Executive Order 8-20), and closing non-essential
businesses (Miami-Dade Executive Order 7-20, as amended), closing parks,beaches, and recreational
facilities (06-20, as amended), and gatherings of groups of 10 or more people in public (10-20); and
WHEREAS, due to the acceleration of the number of cases of COVID-19 in the
neighboring counties and the high volume of traffic between Monroe County and the
mainland of Florida; and
WHEREAS, on March 20, 2020, the County issued emergency directive 20-02 closing the
County to tourism ; and
WHEREAS,Emergency Directive 20-02 included a 14 day ban on renting of lodging
properties; and
WHEREAS, since the issuance of that directive, the Governor banned the renting of vacant
rentals in Executive Order 20-87; and
WHEREAS, the President has extended the CDC's nationwide social distancing guidelines
through the end of the month of April 2020; and
WHEREAS, the County Mayor's declaration of local emergency and Section 11-3 of
the Monroe County Code vest the Emergency Management Director with the authority to
issue emergency directives; and
WHEREAS, in the interests of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the
residents and visitors to Monroe County, it is:
ORDERED that
1. The Florida Keys are closed to all tourists and leisure visitors until the current
state of local emergency is lifted or this directive is rescinded by subsequent
order.
2. For purposes of this directive, the term lodging establishment means: any hotel,
motel, vacation rental property, regardless of duration of stay, other transient
rentals such as marinas, RV parks and timeshares.
3. No lodging establishment shall accept reservations, including extensions to
current reservations, until the state of emergency is lifted or this directive is
rescinded by subsequent order.
4. Effective Sunday March 22, 2020 at 6 p.m., all lodging establishments shall
cease renting to tourists until further notice. This ban shall not apply to rentals
to transitory military personnel, first responders, health care workers,
construction workers actively engaged in projects in the County, and others
engaged in formal business in the Florida Keys.
5. Each municipality is authorized to exercise its police powers to enforce this
directive for properties located within its jurisdiction through code compliance
and law enforcement agencies. Each municipality is authorized to enact its own
emergency directive that is more restrictive than this directive.
6. The Monroe County Tax Collector is authorized to assist with enforcement of
this directive. Any violation may be reported to the Monroe County Tax
Collector at 1-855-422-4540.
7. This ban is subject to periodic review and revision. This amendment shall
supplement the original Emergency Directive 20-02 but shall rescind any portion
thereof in conflict.
8. Per F.S. 252.46(2), this order shall take effect immediately upon being filed with
the Monroe County Clerk.
Signed: Date: April 1,2020 Time: LEcp,e1„—
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einer,Emergency Management Director
Approved as to form and legal sufficiency in advance.
Robert B. Shillinger, Monroe County Attorney