ANNA MARIA – Mayor Dan Murphy has issued a state of emergency order that temporarily prohibits new reservations being taken for vacation rental stays of less than 30 days in the city of Anna Maria.
The emergency order is part of the city’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The temporary rental reservation prohibition is effective of Wednesday, March 25.
“There shall be no new reservations for an arrival date of March 26 through June 30 of less than 30 days. Reservations with an arrival date on or subsequent to July 1 are excluded from this order,” the emergency order says.
Reservations can still be made for short-term rental stays that begin on July 1 or later.
“If a rental of 30 days or more during the period between 4 p.m. March 25 and June 30 is cancelled before the end of the 30-day period, that vacation rental shall not be permitted to be made available for rental, or be rented, for the balance of that 30-day period,” the order says.
“The occupancy of all vacation rentals beginning 4 p.m. March 25 and until June 30, regardless of when rented, shall be capped 24 hours a day based upon the allowed overnight occupancy of such vacation rental,” the order says.
This means the number of rental guests and any additional temporary visitors to the vacation rental property cannot exceed at any time the maximum occupancy allowed according to the city’s annual vacation rental registration program.
The emergency order references Chapter 27 of city code and notes misleading advertising shall be strictly enforced.
The order says that as of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, it shall be considered fraudulent and unlawful to fail to include the following two statements on any vacation rental advertisement made while the reservation restrictions remain in place:
- “On Anna Maria Island, all restaurants are closed except for takeout and all bars are closed;
- “All persons who have arrived in Florida from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have been ordered by the State of Florida to isolate or quarantine for a period of 14 days from the time of entry in State of Florida or the duration of the person’s presence in State of Florida, whichever is shorter,” the order says.
“This order is deemed necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the city of Anna Maria due to the evolving nationwide COVID-19 regulations and occurrences including but not limited to the shelter in place orders in 12 different states, the need to reduce gatherings of people in compliance with CDC directives, the closures of a massive number of Florida hotels and motels and the order from the State of Florida that certain persons arriving from out of state must shelter in place for a period of 14 days upon arrival,” the order says.
Murphy will review the emergency order at least once every seven days to determine whether it needs to remain in place to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Anna Maria.
“Violations of this order shall be punished as provided in Section 2-271 of the Anna Maria City Code, including, but not limited to:
- The suspension or revocation of the vacation rental’s registration;
- Removal of tenants in the vacation rental resulting for such reservation in violation of this order;
- Criminal penalties against both vacation rental owners and vacation rental management companies and personnel;
- Every day of non-compliance will be punished by separate fines levied against both the vacation rental owner and the vacation rental management company in the amount of $500 per day of non-compliance,” the order says.
“Days of non-compliance under this order shall include both the days of advertisements of each vacation rental in violation of this order and the days of rental entered into in violation of this order,” the order says.
Murphy signed and issued the emergency order on Tuesday, March 24. As a courtesy, he sent a copy to County Administrator Cheri Coryea that afternoon.
“Good move Mayor. Thanks,” Coryea wrote in her response.
Three potentially impacted members of Anna Maria’s vacation rental community declined comment when contacted by The Sun.
