How Florida's Live Local Act will affect local governments' dealing with developers

Florida's Live Local Act, which had near-total support in the Legislature, has received mixed reactions in Volusia County.

While it puts more than $700 million into affordable housing programs, leaders of local municipalities and organizations point to the act as another slash on home rule.

"The Live Local Act is regrettable, in my opinion, because it undercuts the kind of planning for 'what goes where' in our cities that our residents rightfully expect we will define through our future land use maps and development codes," DeBary Mayor Karen Chasez said via email.

"When we define areas as appropriate for industrial or commercial use, it is a thoughtful process. Live Local Act will allow those property owners to place apartments on any of those sites," Chasez said. "There are transportation, infrastructure, schools and more that must be available for residential development but not necessarily so for commercial or industrial."

The new law goes into effect on July 1.

How will the Live Local Act impact local governments?

• Prohibits local governments from imposing rent controls

• Pre-empts local government rules on zoning, density and building heights in some cases

• Requires local governments to OK multifamily and mixed-use residential developments in any area zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed-use as long as at least 40% of the rental units will be affordable for at least 30 years; for mixed-use projects, at least 65% of the total square footage will have to be used for residential purposes

• Prohibits local governments from requiring developers of proposed multifamily developments from obtaining a zoning or land use change, special exception, conditional use approval, variance, or comprehensive plan amendment for the building height, zoning, and density.

• Prohibits local governments from restricting the height of a new development below the highest limit allowed for a commercial or residential building located within one mile of the new structure.

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$711 million into affordable housing

The bill puts $711 million into the Florida Housing and Finance Corporation for programs and incentives with the goal of helping both housing developers and state residents.

Here's how that money breaks down:

• $259 million for the SAIL Program: Low-interest loans to developers ($150 million of these funds are recurring for certain specified uses, such as projects near military installations)

• $252 million for the SHIP Program: Incentives for local governments to develop partnerships to preserve and produce housing

• $100 million for the second year of the Hometown Heroes Program: Provides down payment and closing cost assistance to hometown heroes (frontline community workers such as law enforcement officers, firefighters, educators, healthcare professionals, childcare employees, and active military or veterans) wanting to purchase their first home

• $100 million for Florida Housing and Finance Corporation: Implements a loan program to alleviate inflation-related cost increases for FHFC-approved housing projects

Local leaders react

Here's what some of the leaders across Volusia and Flagler counties had to say:

Bill Partington, mayor of Ormond Beach: "I would say I appreciate the concept of affordable aka workforce housing, and I think it may be accomplished at some level with this law, but really I’m not convinced this is the absolute best way to address the matter. It creates the problem of 'spot zoning' when you legislate like this without consulting with local governments and also is an attack on home rule powers. It's possible there could be some benefits to the city, but I’m not sure they are not outweighed by the impacts of higher densities that are allowed including impacts on traffic, infrastructure requirements and schools."

Karen Chasez, mayor of DeBary: "Importantly, I believe this law will be weaponized to secure concessions on industrial and commercial projects. This consequence may not have been foreseen by legislators. This is how that will happened…the owner of a commercial or industrial-zoned property wants to develop a commercial or industrial project but needs waivers, concessions or exemptions for certain aspects of the proposed project, which deviate from code. If there is pushback from the city or county on the requests, the owner brandishes the prospect of instead building an apartment complex with affordable housing. This is not a theoretical posit…it is already happening."

Greg Hansen, chair of Flagler County Commission: "Despite the preemption parts of this legislation, there are many good parts. We convened a seminar to look at ideas for workforce housing that this bill may provide. We will see the results of this seminar soon."

Chris Cloudman, mayor of DeLand: "I would like to believe that the bill was generated with good intentions in mind, looking at a solution to our growing need for more affordable housing options. However, with over 400 cities and 67 counties in the state of Florida, each with uniquely diverse culture, history and character, a one-size-fits-all state-wide approach to local zoning and land use is rarely the right fit for all. I shop at the same grocery store as you, my children attend the same schools as yours, my family is downtown with your family enjoying our many special events. Surely, we have a better idea of what is best for our community than someone living in West Palm Beach or Tallahassee, and it is certainly easier to make your voice heard at a local meeting over traveling to the state capitol building to express concerns about a local building project."

Don Burnette, mayor of Port Orange: "I applaud the legislature's willingness to tackle the hard issue of affordable housing. However, I always give pause when we give away incentives with benchmarks that may or may not go far enough and potentially impacts the ability for a community to decide for itself what its standards for good development are. Affordable housing has a different meaning and need depending on where in Florida you live. We would consider housing "affordable" if 30% or less of your family income was dedicated to it. In Seminole County, that number is over 40%. In Osceola County, it's over 60%. Here in Volusia, I believe we are pushing 50%, and it varies based on where you live in our county. Hopefully, this is one step of more to come from the legislature that can help local communities address it based on the individual needs of that community, and that makes sense for everyone who lives there."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: How Florida's Live Local Act will affect process for proposed developments