The Florida Senate

This bill as filed amended statutes for various trust funds – terminating certain trust funds and providing for revenue sources for a newly created trust fund.

The conference report provides instead for various provisions relating to growth management:

·     Makes concurrency for parks and recreation, schools, and transportation facilities optional for local governments.

·     Applies and revises the expedited comprehensive plan amendment process statewide.

·     Deletes the requirement that comprehensive plans be financially feasible.

·     Deletes the twice a year limitation on comprehensive plan amendments.

·     Revises the small scale amendment process.

·     Specifies that population projections should be a floor for requisite development except for areas of critical state concern.

·     Allows additional planning periods for specific parts of the comprehensive plan.

·     Abolishes 9J-5 (DCA’s growth management regulations and incorporates certain provisions into the bill).

·     Removes many of the state specifications and requirements for optional elements in the comprehensive plan, but allows local governments to continue to include optional elements.

·     Expands and revises the optional sector plan process.

·     Reduces the requirements of the evaluation and appraisal process.

·     Revises the rural land stewardship program.

·     Restricts the state’s ability to interpret joint planning agreements.

·     Clarifies and broadens the window for permit extensions.

·     Creates a 4-year development of regional impact permit extension.

·     Removes industrial areas, hotels/motels, and theaters from the list of developments of regional impact.

·     Creates an exemption from the DRI process for mining projects and allows those mines to enter into agreements with the Department of Transportation.

·     Adds a new 2-year permit extension, but caps the maximum extension at 4 years.

·     Prohibits local governments from having referenda for local comprehensive plan amendments.

·     Encourages planning innovation technical assistance.

·     Sunsets the Century Commission in two years.

·     Clarifies requirements for adopting criteria to address compatibility of lands relating to military installations.

·     Allows a certain plan amendment to be readopted by a local government without being resubmitted to the state land planning agency.

·     Clarifies when a local government can reject a proposed change to a development of regional impact.

·     Encourages adaptation strategies.

·     Requires DOT to study the proportionate share calculation.

·     Allows DCA to have procedural issues on their website.

If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law.