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Stop SB 540

Fellow planners, Senate Bill 540 will be before the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, April 11, its last stop before going to the full body.

The bill would:

  • Upend the direction of the Governor’s Executive Order 23-06 that calls on “the Department of Economic Opportunity and local governments to improve local government long-term comprehensive planning that ensures sustainable growth while protecting our natural resources.”
  • Adversely impact the oversight of workforce housing supply called for in the Live Local Act because a consistency challenge would not apply to the housing requirements mentioned in SB 102.
  • Dismantle the effectiveness of local community comprehensive plans to the substantial detriment of critical state and local resources, including coastal and other environmental resources, affordable housing initiatives, and other vital community needs.
  • Effectively erase the accountability of local government development decisions to the comprehensive plan. (Read the staff report here.)
  • Grant that the prevailing party in administrative challenges to a comprehensive plan or amendment, including small-scale amendments, is entitled to recover attorney fees and costs in challenging or defending the order, including reasonable appellate attorney fees and costs. This would make consistency challenges from residents, landowners, and many developers cost prohibitive. 

We have sent a letter to Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) requesting that she not schedule the bill to the Senate Rules Committee, where it would likely be approved. We also sent a letter to Rules Committee Chair Sen. Debbie Mayfield (R-Melbourne) requesting she consider stopping the bill.