Sanibel Adopts County’s Standards for Vacation Rentals

by SC Publisher Shannen Hayes

The City of Sanibel adopted Lee County’s minimum standards for vacation rentals in lieu of its restriction on specific locations from which reservations could not be accepted. The measure also mandates accommodations adhere to Center for Disease Control sanitation protocol.

Under the new standards, accommodation reservations can be accepted for guests in states with a COVID-19 case rate less than 700 per 100,000 residents. And which states meet the requirement can easily be found through the CDC’s Data Tracker on its website.

City Attorney John Agnew said this threshold is more “measurable” and gives vacation rental proprietors a less subjective standard. “Anyone can go to the (CDC) website and see if they are on the list or not,” said Agnew. “In my opinion, very good changes.”

The 30-day minimum stay restriction on vacation rentals has been replaced by the adoption of the standards, as well. And the decision to ratify these measures was unanimous during a special meeting of the council on Thursday, May 21, at City Hall.

Mayor Kevin Ruane said being “in line with the county is a better place to be.”

Additionally, the city attorney provided clarification for part of a proclamation signed by the mayor on Tuesday, May 16, which added Sundial Beach Resort to the list of hotels, motels and timeshares. The resort, owned by RLR Investments, applied for a license to have 227 of its units reclassified from vacation rentals to motels, which exempted them from the 30-day minimum stay restriction.

Agnew said it was undetermined when the company applied for the license, but that it was a “ministerial thing to move the units from one category to another” and found it to be legitimate after taking a long look at the process. “I was ultimately completely comfortable with the opinion that was rendered,” he said.

Face Masks or Face Coverings

Council resolved a conflict between two of its proclamations regarding face masks or face coverings, as they are called by the CDC.

A proclamation adopted on May 12 stated all employees who interact with the public and for people in public areas where proper social distancing could not be practiced were “strongly encouraged” to wear a face mask.

However, there was a prevision in an earlier proclamation which ordered places of public accommodation to strictly adhere to CDC and Florida Department of Health guidelines on face coverings.

Council unanimously voted in favor of using the language in the earlier proclamation. However, a motion by Councilwoman Holly Smith to require face coverings in places where proper social distancing could not be practiced, and seconded by Vice Mayor Mick Denham, was rejected by a 3-2 vote.

Recreation Center

City Manager Judie Zimomra gave council an update on the reopening status of the Sanibel Recreation Center, which has been closed since March 19. She said Director Patricia Phillips will return to work on Tuesday, May 26, and begin plans for reopening the center. Zimomra expects to have a plan ready for council by the next meeting on June 2.