| New Legislative Bills and Florida?s Growth Management |
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An Update on Your Legislature Below is a brief summary of various new Florida growth management-related legislative bills that will take effect on July 1, 2009. Absent from this blog is the very controversial SB 360 (Community Renewal Act) and HB 2080 (still awaiting likely veto from Governor Crist; see previous blog for more information). These bills all emerged from a legislative session that had a primary focus of economic stimulation. Although a very worthy and necessary goal, environmental advocates agree that in many ways it came at the expense of our state’s environmental policy as it relates to growth management. This is unfortunate, since growing our economy and protecting our natural environment are not mutually exclusive. HB 1021 (transportation related and other topics) This bill addresses issues relating to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Among numerous provisions, the bill: - requires local governments to amend their comprehensive plans to address airport land use compatibility by June 2012; - exempts from the DRI process any “facilities determined by the Department of Community Affairs and applicable local government to be port-related industrial or commercial” or facilities located within 3 miles of (or in) a port master plan area which rely upon the utilization of port and intermodal transportation facilities; - provides for counties to incur certain costs related to relocation or removal of certain utility facilities under specified circumstances. Specifically, this bill provides that if a utility facility was initially installed to exclusively serve the FDOT, its tenants, or both, the FDOT shall bear the costs of removing or relocating that utility facility. However, the FDOT is not responsible for bearing the cost of removing or relocating any subsequent additions to that facility for the purpose of serving others; - requires a study of the I-95 corridor and feasible alternatives by the FDOT, DEP, the Division of Emergency Management, the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, the Regional Planning Councils, and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations. HB 227 (burden of proof for impact fees) This bill changes the burden of proof in challenges to impact fee ordinances. Under current law, courts will uphold an impact fee ordinance adopted by a local government if there is any “fairly debatable” cause for the ordinance – a difficult standard to overcome for a person challenging an impact fee ordinance. Under this bill, should any person challenge an impact fee ordinance, the court may not use a deferential standard of review and the government entity that enacted the ordinance must show by “a preponderance of the evidence” that the imposition or amount of the fee meets the requirements of legal precedent or law. Therefore, local governments must now meet a more difficult standard when defending their impact fee ordinances. Many people believe this bill will have a chilling effect on the adoption of impact fees, hampering the ability of local governments to generate revenue. However, others believe this bill will simply encourage local governments to require parties proposing development to provide more substantial and accurate information about the proposed development upfront, before the local government approves the development and sets the impact fee. With this better information, local governments should meet the “preponderance of the evidence” standard if faced with an impact fee challenge. HB 1213 (JTA regional authority/outer beltway taxation) This bill enhances the ability of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to plan and develop transportation projects throughout Duval County and to enter into agreements with neighboring counties. Specifically, it clarifies that the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is an independent agency of the state, serving Duval County rather than the City of Jacksonville. This legislation allows the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to enter into public-private partnerships to construct critical transportation corridors and directs a study funded by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority of the potential framework for a regional transportation authority for the northeast region of Florida. Governor Crist said the bill is meant to create “new opportunities for the people of Duval County to have faster, safer and more efficient travel in the future.” The First Coast Outer Beltway, the current project being proposed, connects I-10 and I-95 outside of the I-295 loop at no cost to the Florida Department of Transportation or the state. The beltway starts at Brannan Field-Chafee Road and will run through Clay County and end in St. Johns County. An outer beltway would open new avenues for moving commercial traffic to the Cecil Field area without adding congestion to existing roadways and provide additional capacity across the St. Johns River. Construction of the beltway could ultimately create 35,000 jobs in the region and stimulate the job markets of Duval and Clay counties. HB 0073 (expedited permitting) This bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the water management districts to adopt programs that create a 45-day expedited process for environmental resource permits, wetland resource management permits, and surface water management permits associated with businesses identified by municipalities or counties as “target industry businesses.” The bill requires a mandatory pre-application review process to reduce permitting conflicts by providing guidance regarding permits needed, site planning and development, site limitations, facility design, and steps the applicant may take to ensure expeditious permit application review. Permit applications for projects in a charter county with a population of 1.2 million or more that has entered into a delegation agreement with the DEP or water management district are eligible for expedited permitting only upon designation by resolution of the charter county's governing board. This bill will have no effect on Army Corps of Engineers permits since they are a federal organization. HB 7053 (rural agriculture industrial centers) This bill creates an alternate comprehensive plan amendment process for certain “rural agricultural industry centers” that may lead to greater economic development opportunities in the communities where they are located. Specifically, the bill establishes procedures for a landowner to apply for an amendment to the local comprehensive plan to expand the uses or facilities of a “rural agricultural industrial center,” and requires the local government to amend its comprehensive plan within 6 months if the application meets the statutory requirements. There is a rebuttable presumption that such an amendment does not promote urban sprawl. The bill defines “rural agricultural industrial center” as a developed parcel of land in an unincorporate area with an operating agricultural industrial facility that: - employs at least 200 full-time employees; - is used for processing and preparing for transport farm products or biomass material that could be used for the production of fuel, renewable energy, bioenergy, or alternative fuel; - may include contiguous land not used for the cultivation of crops but on which activities are conducted that are essential to the operation of the facility; and - is located in or within 10 miles of a Rural Area of Critical Economic State Concern (RACEC). This bill is a form of “legislative preemption,” specifically in the context of local governments. This bill preempts the concept of “home rule” because the state legislature is taking away discretion from, and in effect making the comp plan amendment decision for, local governments. A blog by Sean McDermott, Legal Intern |
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