The Florida Senate

¹290.0055  Local nominating procedure.--

(1)  Any county or municipality, or a county and one or more municipalities together, may apply to the ²department for the designation of an area as an enterprise zone after completion of the following:

(a)  The adoption by the governing body or bodies of a resolution which:

1.  Finds that an area exists in such county or municipality, or in both the county and one or more municipalities, which chronically exhibits extreme and unacceptable levels of poverty, unemployment, physical deterioration, and economic disinvestment;

2.  Determines that the rehabilitation, conservation, or redevelopment, or a combination thereof, of such area is necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of such county or municipality, or such county and one or more municipalities; and

3.  Determines that the revitalization of such area can occur only if the private sector can be induced to invest its own resources in productive enterprises that build or rebuild the economic viability of the area.

(b)  The creation of an enterprise zone development agency pursuant to s. 290.0056.

(c)  The creation and adoption of a strategic plan pursuant to s. 290.0057.

(2)  The governing body of a county as defined by s. 125.011(1) shall nominate all enterprise zones within the county.

(3)  A county or municipality, or a county and one or more municipalities together, may not nominate more than one enterprise zone. However, any county as defined by s. 125.011(1) may nominate more than one enterprise zone.

(4)  An area nominated by a county or municipality, or a county and one or more municipalities together, for designation as an enterprise zone shall be eligible for designation under s. 290.0065 only if it meets the following criteria:

(a)  The selected area does not exceed 20 square miles. The selected area must have a continuous boundary, or consist of not more than three noncontiguous parcels.

(b)1.  The selected area does not exceed the following mileage limitation:

2.  For communities having a total population of 150,000 persons or more, the selected area shall not exceed 20 square miles.

3.  For communities having a total population of 50,000 persons or more but less than 150,000 persons, the selected area shall not exceed 10 square miles.

4.  For communities having a total population of 20,000 persons or more but less than 50,000 persons, the selected area shall not exceed 5 square miles.

5.  For communities having a total population of 7,500 persons or more but less than 20,000 persons, the selected area shall not exceed 3 square miles.

6.  For communities having a total population of less than 7,500 persons, the selected area shall not exceed 3 square miles.

(c)  The selected area does not include any portion of a central business district, as that term is used for purposes of the most recent Census of Retail Trade, unless the poverty rate for each census geographic block group in the district is not less than 30 percent. This paragraph does not apply to any area nominated in a county that has a population which is less than 50,000.

(d)  The selected area suffers from pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general distress, as described and measured pursuant to s. 290.0058.

(5)  To the greatest extent possible, the boundary of an area nominated must coincide with the boundaries of census geographic block groups.

(6)(a)  The ²department may approve a change in the boundary of any enterprise zone which was designated pursuant to s. 290.0065 on or before July 1, 1995, if such change is limited to a deletion of area from the enterprise zone and if, after the change is made, the enterprise zone continues to satisfy the requirements of subsections (3), (4), and (5).

(b)  The governing body of the jurisdiction which authorized the application for an enterprise zone may apply for a change in boundary by adopting a resolution that:

1.  States with particularity the reasons for the change; and

2.  Describes specifically and, to the extent required by the ²department, the boundary change to be made.

(c)  All applications for boundary changes must be submitted to the ²department by April 1, 1997. Any boundary changes approved shall be effective July 1, 1997.

(7)  Before June 30, 1999, the governing body of any county operating under home rule charter adopted pursuant to s. 10, s. 11, or s. 24, Art. VIII of the State Constitution of 1885, as preserved by s. 6(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution of 1968, with a population of at least 2 million persons, may apply to the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development to amend the boundary lines of an enterprise zone within the county for the purpose of increasing by no more than 80 acres the noncontiguous area of the enterprise zone located closest to the path where the center of the August 24, 1992, storm known as Hurricane Andrew crossed land. The Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development shall approve an application made pursuant to this subsection if it is consistent with the categories, criteria, and limitations imposed by this section upon the establishment of such enterprise zone.

History.--s. 46, ch. 84-356; s. 57, ch. 86-152; s. 25, ch. 88-201; s. 5, ch. 89-352; s. 21, ch. 92-319; ss. 21, 37, ch. 94-136; s. 2, ch. 96-412; s. 1, ch. 97-251; s. 5, ch. 98-220.

¹Note.--

A.  Repealed December 31, 2005, by s. 37, ch. 94-136.

B.  Section 9, ch. 2001-101, provides that "[n]otwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, the governing body of an inland county with a state-designated enterprise zone and a population greater than 500,000 may apply to the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development to amend the boundaries of one noncontiguous area of an enterprise zone. The office shall approve the application as long as the amended area does not exceed 4 square miles and is consistent with the categories, criteria, and limitations imposed by section 290.0055, Florida Statutes, upon the establishment of such enterprise zone. The enterprise zone boundary-amendment application must be received before December 31, 2001."

²Note.--Section 20.17, which created the Department of Commerce, was repealed December 31, 1996, by s. 3, ch. 96-320.