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News & Notes
Growth Management
Both House and Senate growth management bills are poised to be heard next week before making their way to the floor. The House bill, HB 7129, is expected to be heard in the House Infrastructure Council on Monday, April 21, while the Senate bill, SB 474, will be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday, April 22. Both bills make significant changes to local comprehensive planning requirements. Of particular significance to counties, both bills delay by one year the requirement to meet current financial feasibility requirements, while the Senate bill allows a one year postponement for school concurrency. With respect to the latter, the Senate bill also includes language that would not only limit a county’s ability to place development conditions on new schools but it would also preclude them from denying comprehensive plan or zoning amendments based on inadequate school capacity. Both bills also place a significant emphasis on transportation concurrency, granting blanket transportation concurrency exemptions for all urban infill and urban redevelopment areas, while removing the current statutory requirement that these exempted areas include long-term mobility strategies. Related to the overall concurrency issue, both bills propose that a 1-2 year study of alternative mobility funding be undertaken, wherein options to the current concurrency system and proportionate share process will be analyzed. The principal difference between the House and Senate versions is that the House bill includes a voluntary pilot program that is available to Clay, Duval, and St. Johns Counties.