Lauderhill, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Storm Debris (2026)

Chapter 8½ of the Lauderhill Code gives the emergency management official (city manager, or the mayor, vice-mayor or a designated commissioner down the chain of succession set out in Sec. 8½-1(c)) the power under Sec. 8½-4(c)(8) to enter private property to clear debris and to perform emergency work necessary for health, safety and welfare, whether before, during or after the emergency. The section deems ALL private roads, including those inside gated communities or homeowner and condo associations, to be public roads for ingress and egress during the emergency and for the period afterward until debris is fully removed.

An association or community can exempt itself in writing before debris removal begins, but if it does, the section makes that association solely responsible for its own timely debris removal and all associated costs; the same result follows if an association instead demands compensation for the city's use of its private road, which automatically triggers the same exemption and cost responsibility. This provision has applied since September 1, 2004. The emergency powers under this chapter take effect immediately upon declaration and stay in force until the emergency terminates, though individual powers can be extended by the city commission for a set period once the emergency itself ends.

Sec. 8½-6 requires the highest-ranking official to report all actions taken under these powers back to the city commission when the emergency ends or at any commission meeting held during it, giving residents a public record of how the debris-access power was used.