Alachua County, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Storm Debris (2026)

09(2) gives the Board of County Commissioners standing authority, layered on top of whatever powers a declared state of emergency triggers under Article 27, to act on storm debris once it determines the debris is a threat to public health and safety. The Board may make that finding using any of seven listed criteria: debris blocking movement and transportation for residents and emergency/relief services, debris endangering properties, conditions that breed disease and vermin, increased fire risk, the public interest in removing disaster debris from public or private land or roads to eliminate an immediate threat to life or safety, reducing the risk of additional property damage, and promoting the community's economic recovery.

09(2)(b) lets the county or its contracted agents enter private property, private roads, or gated communities, but only with the property owner's consent, for emergency vehicles including police, fire, medical care, debris removal, and sanitation crews. 09(2)(c) separately authorizes removal of debris and wreckage left by a major disaster from public or private land, public or private roads, or inside gated communities, again with owner consent, to restore safe and sanitary conditions. The same section lets the Board authorize removal of derelict vessels from public waters in coordination with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and abandoned vehicles in coordination with law enforcement, and lets the Board temporarily suspend enforcement of the County Code where the emergency requires action outside the Code.

The provision was adopted by Ord. No. 2016-12 (Aug. 9, 2016) and amended by Ord. No. 2022-03 (Jan. 25, 2022). It applies countywide but governs unincorporated Alachua County operations; Gainesville and the county's other eight municipalities run their own post-storm debris programs.