Engrossed verion of HB 7207

Here's a link to the final, engrossed version of the Growth Managment Act bill that will go to the Governor.

More bills on their way to the Governor

Ok, no analysis here, but I've identified a number of bills of interest (well, maybe) to land use practitioners that passed both houses and are on their way to the governor.  I've tried to provide links to the PDF versions of the enrolled bills; they are from the Senate site (even for the House bills), which is a little easier to use.

In no particular order:

My favorite -- Bill that reenacts the burden/standard of proof in impact fee cases from the 2009 legislation.

Bill that clarifies (probably expands) the scope of the Ag exemption for stormwater management and wetland permitting.  I think this is an outgrowth of the Duda Ranch case from last year.

Bill that limits building official's authority to require inspections of residential structures when a permit is requested for other structures on the same site.   There MUST be a horror story behind this one.

Bill addressing affordable housing agencies, trust funds AND GMA requirements in 163.3177.   The planning aspects seem benign; I can't tell about the rest.

Bill addressing substantive and procedural issues with the Florida Building Code.    This includes some things that look complicated with respect to the adoption of national codes and standards.

The "Vacation Rentals" Bill.   The preemption only applies to new regulations and frankly I don't know if the langauge actually prevents a local government from requiring vacation rentals to be in commercial zone districts.

Inside this Bill that requires e-filing by state attorneys and public defenders is a new requirement for attorneys to file all petitions and pleading with DOAH electronically

I'm sure that there are other fun bills that I've missed - let me know your favorites.

Best
Robert

Ah, DCA, we hardly knew ye

Here's a  link to the bill that will transfer DCA's community planning functions (among others) to the "Department of Economic Opportunity."    The Florida Building Commission goes to DPBR.  Emergency Management (and the scary powers of FEMA, etc.) go to the Office of the Governor.   There is a "transition period" until October 1 to accomplish the mass transfer of functions (and, presumably, to spend all the supposedly saved tax funds on new business cards and letterhead).

I can't even bring myself to comment.   Everybody pray that we don't get a major hurricane this year.

Major amendments to the Growth Management Act

Wow.   Major amendments to the Growth Management Act were apparently adopted by the Legislature on Friday, at the tail end of the session.    It's over 300 pages, so analysis will have to wait.

Here's a link to the bill, (HB 7207).
Behind the scenes, there was major confusion on Thursday.   The House had adopted a version of the bill two weeks ago (HB 7129).  It was in a Senate Committee, along with a complete amendment from Bennett that (apparently) represented the consensus of what should pass.  However, Bennett's own bill was also waiting for action by the entire body, with a separate set of amendments that were similar but not the same.   On Thursday, the Senate took up Bennett's bill, passed the amendments and approved the amended bill.  Someone then realized that the Senate had in effect passed the wrong bill. 

On Friday, a conference committed report on a different bill was brought forward which had all of the agreed on language (that was also sitting in the Senate committee as the amendment to HB 7129).  The House passed, it, and then the Senate passed it as well. 

Given the other fights between the House and Senate on Friday, this demonstrates a significant amount of consensus.

Irony - Legislature Passes Unnecessary "Savings Bill"

On April 27, the Governor signed Chapter 2011-14, effective immediately.  That bill was almost entirely directed at saving the 2009 amendments to the GMA, which had been invalidated for imposing a mandate to amend plans on local governments.  Here's a link to the Chapter law.     On May 2d, the 1st DCA overturned the circuit court decision invalidating the 2009 Legislation -  here's the link.    The court's ruling was based on its determination that the Plaintiffs named the wrong defendants and failed to name the correct defendant - the state land planning agency.   Irony, indeed.

I believe that any issues from the 2009 legislation not dealt with in the "savings bill" have been addressed in the later growth management act amendments.

Legislation 1 - Bert Harris Act amendments

Some (relatively) minor amendments to the Bert Harris were passed.  Clarifies the definition (structurally) of an "existing use," shortens the time for the government to provide the "ripeness"/settlement alternatives and clarifies language about that provision, clarifies the waiver of soveriegn immunity and - most importantly- mostly undoes the Hall's River case holdings on the "application" of a statute, rule or ordinance. 

Attached is  a link to the bill text that went through the House and Senate and was enrolled by the House.  I believe that the Senate's final version was the House's version and the bill will go to the Governor.