The Florida Legislature has unanimously approved revisions to the groundbreaking Live Local Act that will make it harder for cities and counties to restrict developers from building affordable and workforce housing across most of the state.
Adopted in 2023, the Live Local Act loosened zoning regulations by requiring cities and counties to approve multifamily development projects in areas already zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed-use if at least 40% of the units are affordable for households making up to 120% of the Area Median Income. The bill also created lucrative tax exemptions for developers and landlords who agreed to keep their rents below market rate.
But the new legislation (SB-1730) approved on May 1 carves out an exemption for the Wekiva Study Area, a huge swath of land spanning over 200 square miles in Central Florida. It was one of two environmentally sensitive areas of the state where the Live Local Act provisions will no longer apply after July 1 — if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the bill or takes no action.
The Wekiva Study Area spans portions of Lake, Orange and Seminole counties, including several Orlando neighborhoods, such as College Park, Pine Hills, The Packing District and Rosemont. It also takes in population centers like Ocoee, Apopka, Winter Garden, Altamonte Springs and Mount Dora.
Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine quietly worked with the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Alexis Calatayud and Rep. Vicki Lopez, both Miami Republicans, to insert language exempting the Wekiva Study Area and the Everglades Protection Area after developers sought to build a 300-unit apartment complex on property in rural northwest Seminole County using the Live Local Act.
“I’m damn happy it’s in there, but I’m not declaring victory yet,” Constantine said. He told GrowthSpotter it doesn’t make sense to allow high-density residential projects, without local input, on land the state is spending millions of dollars to protect from overdevelopment. Constantine also tried to get carve-outs for Areas of Critical Concern, like the Green Swamp and the Barrier Islands, but neither made it into the bill.
Lake County Commissioner Leslie Campione echoed his concern, saying the exemption “is critical to the protection of the Wekiva Basin, considering the hydrological sensitivity of this area and the Study Area’s connectivity to Wekiva Springs and Rock Springs.”
In other areas of the state, the bill creates more zoning flexibility by making Planned Developments, state-owned land, and land owned by religious organizations eligible for Live Local projects. It prohibits cities and counties from passing policies or local ordinances that restrict Live Local projects, like the ones adopted by several jurisdictions after the law went into effect.
Bobby Anderson, managing director of Alliance Residential, said the changes were necessary because local officials had gutted the act.
“I think the reality is the state gets it — that we have a housing crisis,” Anderson said. “And the state is — right or wrong, love the bill, hate the bill — they are putting their best foot forward to try to bring forward solutions to actually address the housing crisis, despite what some local municipalities have tried to do to stop this bill from moving forward, even in some of the areas that we’re in that claim that they know that they have a housing issue.”
Amanda White, VP of the Florida Apartment Association, said SB 1730 took a surgical approach to address key areas of the bill, clearly stating what local governments can and can’t do.
“I think the key takeaway there is that, I think what became clear after Live Local was initially passed, and when it was starting to be implemented, that additional clarity was really needed to make it draw a bright line as to how the state intended for this to be implemented across the state, so there could be uniformity in how this law was applied,”
Orange County and Orlando set a policy that prohibited Live Local projects from being approved in PDs, and restricted the height and density of Live Local projects that were in close proximity to single-family homes. A similar ordinance in Minneola set the maximum density for Live Local projects at 8 units per acre, effectively preventing the development of apartments.
“The City of Orlando and Orange County stated that planned developments weren’t allowed on zoning side of this, and nobody agreed with their ruling back then,” Anderson said. “And so now it looks like that the state is going to specify that, yes, if your planned development has commercial or office, that it does qualify as part of (Live Local).”
Among the changes to the Live Local Act, SB-1730 would:
- require administrative approval for 15% parking reduction for affordable housing within a half mile of a transit hub
- eliminate parking requirements on mixed-use property identified as Transit Oriented Development
- require administrative approval for demolition of existing structures on property approved for future Live Local housing
- encourage more affordable housing development specifically for government employees and health care workers
- set a 10% limit on the amount of non-residential use that must be included in Live Local projects that are in mixed-use districts
But separate legislation that would have restored lucrative tax incentives for “missing middle” housing is on hold while the House and Senate hash out the 2025 budget and a sweeping tax reform package that would shift revenues from the state’s tourist development tax to pay for property tax cuts.
The House voted 78-29 to approve the tax bill, HB-7033, but the Senate tabled the legislation. Among the changes proposed in the bill is a repeal of the year-old policy that allowed cities and counties to opt out of the missing middle property tax exemption if they had a surplus of apartments for residents in that income range. The opt-out provision was added last year in response to complaints from local jurisdictions about lost revenue from missing middle apartment complexes.
The proposed tax reform package would restore the 75% exemption for rent-restricted apartments for tenants earning between 80% and 120% of the area median income. It also would have tied the exemption to the property, not the owner, so it could be transferred if the property is sold.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
