By Pattie Detwiler | January 03, 2013 at 06:21 PM EST
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Governor Scott, Florida House Representative Ben Albritton and Florida Senator Bill Galvano to discuss the Florida Bed and Breakfast Industry and the effects the deregulating of the Vacation Rentals, and unlicensed BnB's have had on this industry. I suggested the State either deregulate Bed and Breakfast Inns in Florida or go after the unlicensed bed and breakfast inns.
An alternative discussion on licensing Bed and Breakfast Inns was had regarding the possibility of only needing one license for a Bed and Breakfast instead of the additional Restaurant License. If you have a Bed and Breakfast license in Florida, it should automatically include serving breakfast without the additional expense of the restaurant license as well. The state inspectors for your BnB and Restaurant License are the same people and usually inspect both at the same time.
We also discussed the surplus insurance market that Bed and Breakfasts fall into. BnBs are mostly residential in nature with much added fire safety measures in place that make their properties more protected than a regular residential home. Ben Allbritton was in favor of looking into this issue on our behalf.
I also received a telephone call from Julius Halas, the Florida State Fire Marshall and we will be having many more conversations about how the Bed and Breakfast fire safety requirements are being interpreted around the state.
I'll keep you informed on these issues. |
