TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Two new bills making their way through the Florida Legislature could significantly impact local land development regulations.

Senate Bill 1118, introduced by Sen. Stan McClain, would change how land-use decisions are made, limiting local government authority and requiring a supermajority vote for certain comprehensive plan changes. The measure is on the agenda for review Monday at the Senate's Community Affairs committee, which McClain chairs.

What You Need To Know

  • Senate Bill 1118 and House Bill 1209 in the Florida Legislature would threaten local control over land use

  • The Senate Community Affairs committee has SB 1118 on its agenda for Monday 

  • The measure would limit local government authority and require a supermajority vote for certain comprehensive plan changes

  • David Bear of Save Rural Seminole says he is concerned the measure would lead to more urban sprawl

A similar bill, House Bill 1209, introduced by Rep. Kevin Steele, supports the same idea.

McClain is a Republican who represents Levy, Marion and parts of Alachua counties. Steele, also a Republican, is from Dade City. 

Critics say the legislation could accelerate urban sprawl and strip local communities of their ability to control growth.

David Bear with Save Rural Seminole appreciates all things rural and green, and the new legislation in Tallahassee has him concerned over the lasting consequences overdevelopment has on Florida’s most beautiful lands.

“Me and a lot of other people in Central Florida or in Seminole County have been fighting for years to control and make our growth be purposeful so that we are growing as an urban core and not sprawling out perpetually into the rural area," Bear said. "And the concern was, rightfully so, that this bill is going to absolutely decimate those efforts because what the bill does is it preempts all of the county’s ability to preserve rural areas.”

Senate Bill 1118 and House Bill 1209 would limit cities' and counties' ability to control future development. Under the proposed legislation, the bills would authorize property owners to apply for administrative approval of a development regardless of future land-use designations and prohibit local government from enacting or enforcing certain local regulations or laws.

“And instead of the normal process, where developers have to apply to the county to get permission to change zoning, to get lines changed, hearings where individual residents are noticed and have an opportunity to speak and comment — instead, this bill has the audacity to remove all of that power from us locally," Bear said. "Instead, make all those decisions in an administrative hearing in Tallahassee.”

Steele, author of House Bill 1209, said the bill is about giving landowners full control over what they want to do with their land.

“I am about preservation," Steele said. "This is not about people selling their land and capitalizing and having some major golf course and development come in. It's about having the landowner have the authority or some input into what happens in the value of their land.”

But that’s not how Bear sees it. He’s adamant that local control is essential for communities to grow responsibly and protect Florida’s green spaces. The bill does include a carve-out to protect certain wildlife areas, like Central Florida’s Wekiva Study Area, but Bear said it is crucial to make sure those ultimately don’t become the only areas that remain Florida wild.

“So that they (people) have natural spaces to go and so they can see what the natural Florida is so they can love it,” Bear said.

Both bills are still in their early stages, making their way through the legislative process.