By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
Citing the “largest incursion into local home rule authority” since the adoption of the Florida Constitution in 1968, 25 local governments have filed suit seeking to block a new law that restricts local governments from regulating development.
They filed their request for declaratory and injunctive relief in Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County on Monday.
The measure, Senate Bill 180, sponsored by Pinellas County Republican state Sen. Nick DiCeglie, was originally intended to help people rebuild properties damaged in hurricanes. But it goes way beyond that, thanks to a late amendment, with two sections in particular drawing the concern of local governments.
Section 18 freezes cities and counties from adopting land-use regulations deemed “more restrictive or burdensome” than those in place before recent or future hurricanes.
Section 28 says that the new land-use laws applies in counties listed in the Federal Disaster Declaration for Hurricanes Debby, Helene, or Milton plus “each municipality within one of those counties.” It covers every part of the state retroactively from August 2024 and prospectively through October 2027.
The law specifically says that “any person” can serve a local government with notification of intent to sue on the belief the local government has violated the law. The local government then has 14 days to correct any problem. If the government chooses to repeal the restriction, any case would be dropped. If it declines to repeal, that person can go ahead and file a lawsuit.
The suit lists specific examples of the new law that have harmed local interests.
Orange County, for example, received a letter in July from the Florida Commerce Department stating that its comprehensive plan amendment was null and void because it is “more restrictive or burdensome,” the lawsuit alleges, “without purporting to identity what it was more restrictive or burdensome than, or to whom it was more restrictive or burdensome.”
The suit also mentions how the Town of Windermere paused a tree-protection ordinance that would have required additional mitigation by developers.
Senate Bill 180 “violates the Florida Constitution and Florida law because it contains more than ‘one subject and matter properly connected therewith,’ has a defective ballot title, is a general law that classifies counties and municipalities on a basis not reasonably related to the subject of the law, constitutes an improper unfunded mandate on the Local Governments, conflicts with Florida’s Community Planning Act, and intrudes on Home Rule Powers.”
“SB 180 should be declared invalid, and the defendants should be enjoined from enforcing it,” the lawsuit reads.
The local governments in the lawsuit are: Alachua, Cutler Bay, Delray Beach, Deltona, Destin, Dundee, Edgewater, Fort Lauderdale, Homestead, Jupiter, Lake Alfred, Lake Park, Margate, Miami Shores Village, Mulberry, Naples, the Village of North Palm Beach, the Village of Pinecrest, Palm Beach, Pompano Beach, Stuart, Weston, Windermere, and Orange and Manatee counties.
Environmental and smart-growth organizations have also been critical of SB 180. A group of 41 organizations wrote to state lawmakers earlier this month urging repeal of “excessive and dangerous” sections of SB 180.
“With SB 180, the Legislature has sabotaged its own efforts to create a safer, more sustainable and more affordable future for Floridians,” the letter says.
“Initiatives like septic-to-sewer and stormwater grants to improve water quality and comply with the Clean Water Act, lighting ordinances to protect sea turtle habitat, resilience funding programs, and flood insurance rating systems rely on voluntary participation by local governments and often require changes to policies and procedures that could be deemed as ‘more restrictive or burdensome.’ If SB 180 stands as written, these critical initiatives will be delayed or blocked.”
Sen. DiCeglie is familiar with the criticism of his legislation. Speaking Friday before the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce, he acknowledged the law “has been a hot topic.”
“Most of that had to do with planning and recovery efforts,” he said. “We’re going to potentially have to make some adjustments to clarify some of the language in that bill.”
The cities and counties are calling for the trial court to declare that SB 180 violates the Florida Constitution and Florida statutes codifying home-rule powers; to declare “the purported preemptions” in SB 180 invalid as impermissibly vague; to enjoin the enforcement of SB 180; and to grant “such other relief as this Court deems just and proper.”
The lawsuit was filed by the Fort Lauderdale law firm of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.
The plaintiffs included in the lawsuit include Florida Secretary of Commerce Alex Kelly; Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie; Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: in**@************ix.com. Banner photo: Land being cleared for development (iStock image).
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