The Florida Senate

252.385  Public shelter space.--

(1)  It is the intent of the Legislature that this state not have a deficit of safe public hurricane evacuation shelter space in any region of the state by 1998 and thereafter.

(2)  The division shall administer a program to survey existing schools, universities, community colleges, and other state-owned, municipally owned, and county-owned public buildings and any private facility that the owner, in writing, agrees to provide for use as a public hurricane evacuation shelter to identify those that are appropriately designed and located to serve as such shelters. The owners of the facilities must be given the opportunity to participate in the surveys. The ¹Board of Regents, district school boards, community college boards of trustees, and the Department of Education are responsible for coordinating and implementing the survey of public schools, universities, and community colleges with the division or the local emergency management agency.

(3)  The division shall annually provide to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor a list of facilities recommended to be retrofitted using state funds. State funds should be maximized and targeted to regional planning council regions with hurricane evacuation shelter deficits. Retrofitting facilities in regions with public hurricane evacuation shelter deficits shall be given first priority and should be completed by 2003. All recommended facilities should be retrofitted by 2008. The owner or lessee of a public hurricane evacuation shelter that is included on the list of facilities recommended for retrofitting is not required to perform any recommended improvements.

(4)(a)  Public facilities, including schools, postsecondary education facilities, and other facilities owned or leased by the state or local governments, but excluding hospitals or nursing homes, which are suitable for use as public hurricane evacuation shelters shall be made available at the request of the local emergency management agencies. Such agencies shall coordinate with the appropriate school board, university, community college, or local governing board when requesting the use of such facilities as public hurricane evacuation shelters.

(b)  The Department of Management Services shall incorporate provisions for the use of suitable leased public facilities as public hurricane evacuation shelters into lease agreements for state agencies. Suitable leased public facilities include leased public facilities that are solely occupied by state agencies and have at least 2,000 square feet of net floor area in a single room or in a combination of rooms having a minimum of 400 square feet in each room. The net square footage of floor area must be determined by subtracting from the gross square footage the square footage of spaces such as mechanical and electrical rooms, storage rooms, open corridors, restrooms, kitchens, science or computer laboratories, shop or mechanical areas, administrative offices, records vaults, and crawl spaces.

(c)  The Department of Management Services shall, in consultation with local and state emergency management agencies, assess Department of Management Services facilities to identify the extent to which each facility has public hurricane evacuation shelter space. The Department of Management Services shall submit proposed facility retrofit projects that incorporate hurricane protection enhancements to the department for assessment and inclusion in the annual report prepared in accordance with subsection (3).

History.--s. 16, ch. 93-211; s. 6, ch. 2000-140.

¹Note.--Abolished by s. 3, ch. 2001-170.