CS/HB 739 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to local government land development 2
actions; amending ss. 125.022 and 166.033, F.S.; 3
specifying the deficiencies which a county or 4
municipality, respectively, may provide comments on 5
regarding applications for development permits or 6
development orders; amending s. 163.3202, F.S.; 7
requiring local governments to adopt residential 8
infill development standards by a specified date; 9
providing a description of the term "residential 10
infill development"; providing guidelines to be used 11
by certain local governments in developing residential 12
infill development standards; requiring certain local 13
governments to adopt guidelines to be used by 14
applicants seeking areas to be designated as a 15
residential infill development; prohibiting a local 16
government from approving deficient applications; 17
prohibiting a local government from denying 18
applications if the applicant has complied with the 19
regulations; authorizing the process for applicants to 20
appeal application denials; providing timeframes for a 21
local government to issue a final decision; requiring 22
local governments to amend their development 23
regulations and comprehensive plans to incorporate 24
residential infill developments as zoning 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
classifications; amending s. 553.792, F.S.; specifying 26
the deficiencies over wh ich a local government may 27
provide comments or request information on regarding 28
applications for building permits; providing an 29
effective date. 30
31
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 32
33
Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 125.022 , Florida 34
Statutes, is amended to read: 35
125.022 Development permits and orders. — 36
(1)(a) Within 30 days after receiving an application for 37
approval of a development permit or development order, a county 38
must review the application for completeness and is sue a letter 39
indicating that all required information is submitted or 40
specifying with particularity any areas that are deficient. If 41
the application is deficient, the applicant has 30 days to 42
address the deficiencies by submitting the required additional 43
information. 44
(b) Once the applicant has provided responses concerning 45
the areas that were deficient, the county may only provide 46
additional comments on the deficiencies that are directly 47
related to the deficiencies that were identified during the 48
first review period or that directly address the responses given 49
by the applicant. The county may also make additional comments 50
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as a result of new information submitted by the applicant. 51
(c) Within 120 days after the county has deemed the 52
application complete, or 180 days for applications that require 53
final action through a quasi -judicial hearing or a public 54
hearing, the county must approve, approve with conditions, or 55
deny the application for a development permit or development 56
order. Both parties may agree to a reasonable request for an 57
extension of time, particularly in the event of a force majeure 58
or other extraordinary circumstance. An approval, approval with 59
conditions, or denial of the application for a development 60
permit or development order must include written findings 61
supporting the county's decision. The timeframes contained in 62
this subsection do not apply in an area of critical state 63
concern, as designated in s. 380.0552. 64
Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 166.033, Florida 65
Statutes, is amended to read: 66
166.033 Development permits and orders. — 67
(1)(a) Within 30 days after receiving an application for 68
approval of a development permit or development order, a 69
municipality must review the application for completeness and 70
issue a letter indicating that all required information is 71
submitted or specifying with particularity any areas that are 72
deficient. If the application is deficient, the applicant has 30 73
days to address the deficiencies by submitting the required 74
additional information. 75
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(b) Once the applicant has provided responses concerning 76
the areas that were deficient, the municipality may only provide 77
additional comments on the deficiencies that are directly 78
related to the deficiencies that were identified during the 79
first review period or th at directly address the responses given 80
by the applicant. The municipality may also make additional 81
comments as a result of new information submitted by the 82
applicant. 83
(c) Within 120 days after the municipality has deemed the 84
application complete, or 180 days for applications that require 85
final action through a quasi -judicial hearing or a public 86
hearing, the municipality must approve, approve with conditions, 87
or deny the application for a development permit or development 88
order. Both parties may agree to a reasonable request for an 89
extension of time, particularly in the event of a force majeure 90
or other extraordinary circumstance. An approval, approval with 91
conditions, or denial of the application for a development 92
permit or development order must include written findings 93
supporting the municipality's decision. The timeframes contained 94
in this subsection do not apply in an area of critical state 95
concern, as designated in s. 380.0552 or chapter 28 -36, Florida 96
Administrative Code. 97
Section 3. Subsection (7 ) is added to section 163.3202, 98
Florida Statutes, to read: 99
163.3202 Land development regulations. — 100
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(7) To ensure a uniform process for new development, each 101
local government with $10 million or more in total revenue must 102
adopt residential infill develo pment standards in its land use 103
regulations by January 1, 2023, and each local government with 104
$10 million or more in total revenue after July 1, 2022, must 105
adopt residential infill development standards in its land use 106
regulations within 18 months after r eaching the $10 million 107
revenue threshold. The residential infill development standards 108
must be considered in local decisionmaking. A local government 109
may adopt its own residential infill development standards or 110
may use the guidelines set forth in paragra phs (b) and (c) in 111
developing its standards. All residential infill development 112
standards must provide that a residential infill development 113
project that is located within an area that has a basin 114
management action plan adopted under s. 403.067 must comply with 115
the water quality standards established in the basin management 116
action plan. 117
(a) A residential infill development is an important 118
component and useful mechanism for a local government to promote 119
redevelopment and revitalization. A residential infill 120
development is not intended to promote the premature subdivision 121
of land which exceeds the average densities of the immediate 122
vicinity and produces excessively smaller lots than those found 123
on surrounding parcels, but should consider the current land 124
development patterns within the immediate vicinity. Residential 125
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infill developments are intended to aid in the revitalization of 126
existing communities by encouraging consistent and compatible 127
redevelopment and to promote reinvestment in established 128
neighborhoods and cure blighted parcels. For purposes of this 129
subsection, a residential infill development is an area 130
consisting of a development or subdivision of land designated as 131
such by a local government wherein the dimensional requirements 132
of the land use district are relaxed and the local government 133
review process is expedited. 134
(b) Local governments must use the following guidelines in 135
developing the residential infill development standards: 136
1. The size of the land development or subdivision may be 137
below the minimum dimensional requirements of the land use 138
category in which it is located. 139
2. A residential infill development may not exceed the 140
maximum allowable density established by the local government's 141
comprehensive plan. 142
3. A residential infill development area must be located 143
in an area with a defined development pattern. 144
4. A residential infill development area must be located 145
within one or more residential suburban or residential low land 146
use districts. 147
5. A residential infill development area must be located 148
in an area with sufficient services to avoid future public 149
service deficiencies. A local government, in reviewing an 150
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application for a residential infill development, shall consider 151
the availability of schools, public water, public sewer, road 152
capacities, law enforcement protection, fire protection, 153
emergency medical serv ice, and reasonable proximity to public 154
parks. 155
6. A residential infill development may be allowed on a 156
parcel that is adjacent to similar development. 157
7. Lots within a residential infill development must be at 158
least as large as the average lot size in the immediate 159
vicinity. 160
8. Building setbacks may be greater than or equal to the 161
average building setback found on abutting parcels. Building 162
setbacks may also be consistent with the dimensional 163
requirements of the land use district as specified in the l ocal 164
government's land development code. 165
9. If a residential infill development abuts a roadway 166
stub-out, the new roadways built must connect to the roadway 167
stub-out. 168
10. Stormwater retention facilities within a residential 169
infill development may not b e constructed to degrade or 170
adversely affect the existing character of the immediate 171
vicinity. 172
11. A residential infill development may not be larger 173
than 120 acres. Developments shall not be phased or 174
incrementally expanded with the intent to circumvent the acreage 175
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limit. 176
12. Building types within the residential infill 177
development may only include types that exist on any parcel in 178
the immediate vicinity, but may not include mobile homes. 179
(c) Each local government must adopt guidelines to be used 180
by applicants seeking designations as residential infill 181
developments. The guidelines must provide procedures for the 182
review of applications. The guidelines must require that the 183
applicant: 184
1. Consider whether the residential infill development 185
recognizes the surrounding pattern of development and whether 186
the residential infill development is contrary to the density 187
and dimensional requirements of land tracts that abut the 188
development. 189
2. Consider the surrounding pattern of development, 190
including existing road layout, densities, lot sizes, and 191
setbacks of parcels and developments that abut the subject site. 192
3. Confirm the following in the designation application: 193
a. The residential infill development connects or will 194
connect to central water and sewer. 195
b. Law enforcement for the local government jurisdiction 196
has no objection to the residential infill development. 197
c. The average response time of the local government fire 198
and emergency medical services and the area of the residential 199
infill development is within the average response times. 200
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d. At least one park or playground is located within 2 201
miles of the residential infill development. 202
e. The schools serving the area of the residential infill 203
development have sufficient capacity for the residentia l infill 204
development or concurrency provisions have been made to ensure 205
adequate capacity. 206
f. The roads within the residential infill development 207
will be constructed to conform with the existing roadway network 208
found in the immediate vicinity. New roads will be required to 209
connect to stub-outs that were originally constructed to connect 210
new development with existing developments. 211
g. The sidewalks within the residential infill development 212
will be installed along one side of collector and arterial roads 213
when existing sidewalk infrastructure is located within 100 feet 214
of the development. 215
h. Minimum lot sizes will be determined by the average lot 216
size of parcels in the immediate vicinity or at least 5,500 217
square feet, whichever is greater. 218
i. Infill development will be either determined by the 219
dimensional requirements established for the land use district 220
in which the site is located or determined by the average 221
setback and height of existing structures on parcels in the 222
immediate vicinity. 223
(d)1. A local government may not approve a deficient 224
application as a residential infill development. Where 225
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deficiencies exist, the applicant bears the burden to prove the 226
benefits of the residential infill development outweigh the 227
deficiencies in services. 228
2. A local government may not deny an applicant's request 229
for designation as a residential infill development if the 230
applicant has complied with the development standards of this 231
subsection. 232
(e) An applicant may appeal a denial of an application 233
through an administrative appeal. The local government must 234
render a decision within 30 days after receiving the 235
administrative appeal. If the local government fails to issue a 236
final decision within 30 days, the application is deemed 237
approved. 238
(f) Each local govern ment must amend its development 239
regulations to include residential infill development as a 240
zoning classification and must incorporate it as an appropriate 241
land use classification under the local government comprehensive 242
plan. 243
Section 4. Paragraph (a) o f subsection (1) of section 244
553.792, Florida Statutes, is amended and paragraph (c) is added 245
to subsection (2) of that section, to read: 246
553.792 Building permit application to local government. — 247
(1)(a) Within 10 days after of an applicant submits 248
submitting an application to the local government, the local 249
government shall advise the applicant what information, if any, 250
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is needed to deem the application properly completed in 251
compliance with the filing requirements published by the local 252
government. If the local government does not provide written 253
notice that the applicant has not submitted the properly 254
completed application, the application shall be automatically 255
deemed properly completed and accepted. Within 45 days after 256
receiving a completed appli cation, a local government must 257
notify an applicant if additional information is required for 258
the local government to determine the sufficiency of the 259
application, and shall specify the additional information that 260
is required. However, the local government may only request more 261
information on the additional information provided to the local 262
government by the applicant and may not make new comments on the 263
original application. The applicant must submit the additional 264
information to the local government or re quest that the local 265
government act without the additional information. While the 266
applicant responds to the request for additional information, 267
the 120-day period described in this subsection is tolled. Both 268
parties may agree to a reasonable request for an extension of 269
time, particularly in the event of a force majeure or other 270
extraordinary circumstance. The local government must approve, 271
approve with conditions, or deny the application within 120 days 272
after following receipt of a completed application. 273
(2) 274
(c) Notwithstanding any local ordinance that may otherwise 275
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apply to the contrary, if an applicant provides additional 276
information based on deficiencies identified by the local 277
government in the application, the local government may only 278
provide additional comments that are directly related to the 279
deficiencies that were identified during the first review period 280
or that directly address the responses given by the applicant. 281
The local government may also make additional comments as a 282
result of new informa tion submitted by the applicant. 283
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 284