On September 9, 2024, the Osceola Board of County Commissioners voted to approve an increase to County mobility impact fees, which will substantially increase the cost of development in the County. Impact fees are a one-time...more
The Live Local Act (Act), originally passed on March 29, 2023, was modified by SB328 on May 16, 2024. While the Act has been heralded as a solution to Florida’s affordable housing shortage, it has faced roadblocks since its...more
8/27/2024
/ Affordable Housing ,
Construction Project ,
Florida ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Municipalities ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
Osceola County and St. Cloud have proposed increases to some of their impact fees as further discussed in “Osceola County, St. Cloud, and Mt. Dora Propose Massive Increases to Impact Fees”. After hosting required public...more
Vision 2050 -
As one of the fastest growing regions in the United States, Orange County has been working to amend their state-required Comprehensive Plan called, “Vision 2050.” Vision 2050 is drafted with two of Orange...more
The Florida Legislature continues to modify the proposed changes to the Live Local Act (Act) through the latest version of Senate Bill 328 (SB 328), passed on February 7, 2024. For background on the original Act, see “Live...more
2/22/2024
/ Affordable Housing ,
Construction Project ,
Florida ,
Housing Market ,
Low Income Housing ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rent Control ,
Rental Property ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development
A newly proposed piece of Florida legislation, HB 1053, aims to triple the required “buffer” distance between schools and medical marijuana treatment centers that cultivate, process, or dispense medical cannabis....more
2/8/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Commercial Real Estate Contracts ,
Dispensaries ,
Educational Institutions ,
Florida ,
Healthcare ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Patient Access ,
Property Owners ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retailers ,
State and Local Government ,
Zoning Maps
The 2024 Florida Legislature is contemplating revisions to The Live Local Act (“Act”) which took effect on July 1, 2023. These changes are being considered in Senate Bill No. 328 and Florida House Bill No. 1239....more
1/18/2024
/ Affordable Housing ,
Construction Project ,
Florida ,
Housing Market ,
Multi-Family Development ,
Municipalities ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rental Property ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development
Good news is on the horizon for developers and property owners, as a statute correcting a misguided court decision is set to go into effect on October 1, 2023.
On February 8, 2023, the Fourth District Court of Appeal...more
On March 29, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 102 (Live Local Act) that becomes effective July 1, 2023. The Live Local Act, among other things, seeks to provide available and affordable housing to the...more
4/6/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
Construction Project ,
Florida ,
Housing Market ,
Low Income Housing ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
New Legislation ,
Rent Control ,
Rental Property ,
State and Local Government ,
State Funding
The long-awaited expansion of Florida’s medical cannabis industry appears to finally be in the works, with a potential major expansion of licenses on the horizon. Florida health regulators announced that the state is...more
Governor DeSantis allowed Executive Order No. 20-51 to expire on April 27, 2021. Permit holders must now notify the responsible agency or local government within 90 days of the termination of the order (no later than...more
On June 29, 2021, Governor DeSantis signed HB 1647 allowing smaller restaurants to be eligible for Special Food Service (4COP SFS) liquor licenses. Owners with businesses and properties that fall within the Orlando Main...more
On December 1, 2020, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance updating the County’s school impact fees for residential development....more
County and city governments will have one more month to hold meetings remotely after Governor DeSantis—through Executive Order 20-246—issued a final extension to the social distancing precaution before in-person meetings must...more
On August 14, 2020, the Orange County Public Schools ("OCPS") School Impact Fee Study Advisory Committee ("the Committee") held its final meeting. The Committee, which first convened in October 2018, was tasked with making...more
On August 5, 2020, the Seminole County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted to table the public hearing on the Mobility Fee Ordinance to its next regularly-scheduled meeting. If adopted, the new mobility fee...more
8/6/2020
/ Construction Project ,
Florida ,
Impact Fees ,
Infrastructure ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Local Ordinance ,
Public Hearing ,
Real Estate Development ,
Rural Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development
Governor Ron DeSantis has extended Executive Order 20-69, which permits local governments to conduct meetings remotely by utilizing “communications media technology, such as telephonic and video conferencing.”...more
On June 26, 2020, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation issued Emergency Order 2020-09, which orders “vendors who derive more than 50% of gross revenue” from on-premises alcohol sales to suspend the...more
6/29/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Business Interruption ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Direct to Consumer Sales ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Florida ,
Public Health ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing ,
Wine & Alcohol
Seminole County has commissioned a study to replace the county's road impact fee with a mobility fee. If adopted, the new mobility fee program would result in a substantial increase in impact fees for most developments....more
As of June 8, Orange County has officially opened (and partially closed) its application portals for the Orange CARES initiative. The program will allow approximately 6,500 qualifying small businesses access to a grant of...more
On May 22, 2020, the State of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) approved Orange County’s plan to safely reopen vacation rental operations within the County....more
On Wednesday, April 29, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference to announce the first step of his multi-step plan for reopening the State of Florida in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing statewide...more
On March 26, 2020, the City of Orlando announced that the next City Council meeting, which will take place on Monday, March 30th at 2 PM, will be “conducted virtually via an online platform.” This decision is part of the...more
Following the lead of Governor DeSantis, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has retracted the City of Orlando’s prohibition on the sale of all alcohol for on premises consumption as it relates to restaurants....more
Effective immediately, Governor Ron DeSantis has issued Executive Order No. 20-68, which impacts operations across the state of Florida for at least the next thirty days as follows...more