Changes could be ahead for a new state law that restricts local governments’ ability to control their own growth. State lawmakers said as much at Orange County’s legislative delegation meeting Tuesday, where elected leaders, community stakeholders and members of the public had a chance to address lawmakers who represent them at the State Capitol.
Since taking effect earlier this summer, Senate Bill 180 has halted some local planning efforts in their tracks. The law stopped Orange County from implementing its long-awaited growth plan overhaul, Vision 2050. It also makes the county vulnerable to legal challenges from developers threatening to sue over the county’s rural protections, including one overwhelmingly approved by voters last year.
The new law prohibits counties and cities in Florida from adopting “more restrictive or burdensome” planning measures, at least until 2027, without defining exactly what that phrase means. It also applies retroactively, affecting planning measures adopted as of Aug. 1, 2024.
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In late August of this year, Orange County commissioners voted unanimously to join a lawsuit against SB 180 that now includes more than two dozen Florida jurisdictions. Another legal challenge was recently filed by an Orange County resident and 1000 Friends of Florida, a nonprofit advocating for smart growth-management.
At Tuesday’s delegation meeting, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings made an impassioned plea of lawmakers, urging them to empower local voters and their representatives to develop and execute “policy close to home.”
“We believe the government closest to the people serves the people the best,” Demings said. “I ask you to work with us. Help us to do what we can do to protect home rule and serve our constituents.”
He said, “State preemption of local government takes away our residents' ability to have a say in how their community is governed.”
State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith told Demings he shares the same concerns about SB 180 and has already discussed them with the bill’s lead Senate sponsor, Republican Nick DeCeglie of Pinellas County.
“He has shared with me that trying to fix what was in that bill is a top priority of his in this upcoming legislative session,” Smith said. “We hope that certainly, those commitments are followed up with action.”
Smith said he and other members of the delegation were “very concerned and dismayed” about SB 180. “We look forward to certainly working with your staff to do everything we can to mitigate that damage, and perhaps change some of the language.”
Changing the law is critical for many jurisdictions across the state, Demings said. “We’re just looking for some balance there. That’s all that we ask.”
“We need the flexibility to enact environmental protections that safeguard our natural resources,” said Orange County District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson. “Wekiva and Shingle Creek — these are (drainage) basins that require vigilant local stewardship. We've lost those protections under the guise of emergency management.”
“Emergency Management” is SB 180’s official title. The law was originally intended to ensure communities can rebuild quickly after storms. But in reality, it has a much broader reach.
“When it came back to the House, (SB 180) passed unanimously — both parties,” Republican State Rep. Doug Bankson, who represents parts of Orange and Seminole counties, said Tuesday. “So it wasn't anything that we caught the nuance of it until we came back.
“And people begin to apply it and said, ‘Wait, this isn't going to work well.’”
For Bankson’s own city, Apopka, SB 180 has been “real punitive,” he said. “Because it went backwards in time, and so (it affected) things that were already in place.”
During a break between sessions at Tuesday’s delegation meeting, Bankson confirmed DeCeglie is planning to revise SB 180.
“The sponsor of the Senate Bill has already said he's looking to come back in and refine it,” Bankson said. “So I think we're gonna have a positive move to find the right balance for this bill … I think everybody is open and listening on this issue, and I think we can come to a good conclusion.”
Florida’s next legislative session begins January 13.
