Florida’s growth management program has been in place since 1985 and has been updated several times, most recently in 2007. The changes were made to address issues with infrastructure and to adapt to the struggling real estate market. The new law, H.B. 7203, makes several changes to the program, including fixing problems with the previous law, updating comprehensive planning, and providing time extensions for certain developments. The “glitch package” in H.B. 7203 was meant to fix some problems with S.B. 360. It included changes to the definitions of “urban redevelopment” and “financial feasibility” in Florida state law. These changes clarified that comprehensive plans for schools and transportation need to be financially feasible for a certain period of time. The law has been changed to make it easier for local governments to show they have enough money to pay for their transportation plans. They can also create special areas where they don’t have to follow the normal rules for transportation. This should help them encourage new development in certain areas. When a new development adds a lot of traffic to the area, the developer might have to pay for improvements to the roads to ease the congestion. This is called proportionate share mitigation. A new law in Florida makes it easier for all large developments to use this method to help with traffic problems. However, the law also makes sure that the money is only used for new improvements, not to fix existing traffic issues. It’s not clear yet whether local governments will have to accept this type of payment, or if developers can use it even if the local government’s rules don’t allow it. H.B. 7203 makes some changes to transportation laws in Florida. It allows for money from developers to be used for specific transportation improvements related to the development. It also creates a program to use tax money to fund transportation improvements for areas with existing transportation problems. The program has specific requirements and deadlines for creating a plan to fix the transportation issues. The local government will create a plan to fix transportation problems that are currently causing backlogs. This plan will be part of the bigger plan for the area. A trust fund will be set up to pay for the projects needed to fix the transportation issues. Once the plan is in place, it will make it easier for new developments to happen in areas that were previously held back by transportation problems. The goal is to fix the transportation issues within 10 years. Florida has a new law called H.B. 7203 that makes it easier for developers to build new homes even if there aren’t enough schools nearby. The law also allows certain urban areas to have less state oversight when it comes to their long-term development plans. This is because different areas have different needs and should be treated differently. Pinellas and Broward counties, along with certain cities, are trying out a new way to review changes to their comprehensive plans. The cities can choose to not be a part of the program, and certain types of changes are not included. The process will have some differences, like how public hearings are noticed and the role of state agencies in reviewing the changes. But overall, the goal is to make the process faster and more efficient. The administrative challenge process is similar to a small change in the law, and the DCA can also challenge it. The DCAâs challenge must focus on important regional or statewide issues. The process to challenge compliance is quicker, but there may be delays if multiple changes are being processed. Some changes canât go through the fast process. Local governments may wait for a report before making changes, and the higher standard of review may lead to more challenges. By December 1, 2008, the OPPAGA must submit a report to the governor and legislature with recommendations for a statewide program based on the findings of a pilot program. The report will be prepared in consultation with various state and regional agencies, local governments, and interest groups. The report must include a list of additional local governments that should be subject to the expedited process of the pilot program, recommended changes to the expedited state review process, and criteria for determining issues of regional or statewide importance that should be protected by the expedited process.
The bill also allows local governments to adopt plan amendments that integrate a port comprehensive master plan with the coastal management element of the local comprehensive plan, as long as the port plan did not cause a failure to comply with required plan updates.
Additionally, a new section of the Growth Management Act allows multiple counties or a county and municipalities to enter into an agreement to establish a tax increment area to generate revenue for purchasing conservation lands. The purpose of the legislation is to ensure an adequate supply of conservation lands for recreational and ecotourism purposes.
In simple terms, the OPPAGA will submit a report with recommendations for a statewide program, and new legislation allows local governments to integrate port plans with coastal management plans and establish tax increment areas for purchasing conservation lands. The tax increment revenues must be used by a certain date to buy conservation lands. If not used, the remaining money will be refunded to the parties who paid into the account. An annual audit of the account will be conducted. An organization will hold the title to the conservation lands. There will be a plan in place to manage the conservation lands, and a specific entity will be responsible for this. The DCA and the FDEP must agree that buying the land will provide recreational and ecotourism opportunities for residents in the area. If approved, a separate account will be set up for the tax increment area, and the funding will be determined annually. If a taxing authority doesn’t pay on time, they will have to pay a penalty. The tax increment funds can only be used to buy the specific real estate if all parties agree on the price. The tax increment revenues may also be used to pay off bonds, but only from the funds in the separate reserve account. The bill extends deadlines for real estate developments for three years, as long as they haven’t already missed any deadlines and are actively being built. It’s not clear if this means they have more time to meet certain requirements, like traffic plans, during the extension. H.B. 7203 extends the time for development agreements to remain effective from 10 to 20 years. The state will continue to reassess growth management policies, with a possible focus on changes to transportation concurrency. It’s helpful, but may need more support for implementation. In 2007, Florida passed a law called H.B. 7203, which made changes to the state’s Growth Management Act. This law exempts certain special districts from the Transportation Concurrency Backlog Act and gives them powers to carry out transportation projects. It also allows local governments to adopt comprehensive plan amendments without going through the state review process. The law also allows for interlocal agreements for the purchase of conservation lands. These changes were made to help manage growth and development in Florida. This column is written by a lawyer in Tampa who specializes in land use and real estate law. It is submitted on behalf of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section. The main idea is to promote principles of duty and service to the public and improve the justice system.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/house-bill-7203-growth-management-reform-fixing-the-glitches-pipelining-streamlining-and-other-evolutional-changes/
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