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BREAKING: Governor DeSantis approves opening of short-term rentals in Okaloosa & Walton County

As of Tuesday morning, short-term rentals have been approved in both Okaloosa & Walton County from the Governor. At 11:01am, Okaloosa County was officially approved for vacation rentals. When asked about the approval, Chairman Trey Goodman responded, “Okaloosa County is proud to support Okaloosa County with a safe and responsible reopening plan for short term […]

Jared Williams

As of Tuesday morning, short-term rentals have been approved in both Okaloosa & Walton County from the Governor. At 11:01am, Okaloosa County was officially approved for vacation rentals.

When asked about the approval, Chairman Trey Goodman responded, “Okaloosa County is proud to support Okaloosa County with a safe and responsible reopening plan for short term rentals.”

According to Florida Representative Mel Ponder, “Okaloosa County’s vacation rental industry has worked tirelessly over the past several days to make this a reality. We want to thank the Governor for his leadership and quick turnaround in approving Okaloosa’s plan to reopen the vacation rental industry locally.”

After coordinating individually with commissioners last week, County Administrator John Hofstad made the decision to proceed with submitting a reopening safety plan to the Governor over the weekend.

Effective immediately, short-term rentals are allowed in the following counties:

Okaloosa
Walton
Bay
Escambia
Franklin
Gulf
Santa Rosa

Walton County will hold an emergency commissioner’s meeting today at 2pm to discuss the ban-lift from the state.

The DBPR previously released a webpage that would shows the approval status of counties who submitted a reopening request. That page will be updated later today to reflect the approval and Okaloosa & Walton County will get an official letter.

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