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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 comprehensive 2
plans; amending s. 163.3184, F.S.; revising the review 3
process for adoption of comprehensive plan amendments; 4
providing that the prevailing party in a challenge to 5
a plan or plan amendment is entitled to recover 6
attorney fees and costs; providing retroactive 7
applicability; amending s. 163.3187, F.S.; providing 8
that the prevailing party in a challenge to the 9
compliance of a small scale development order is 10
entitled to recover attorney fees and costs; amending 11
s. 163.3202, F.S.; providing applicability; amending 12
s. 163.3215, F.S.; making technical changes; providing 13
an effective date. 14
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Be It Enacted by the Legisl ature of the State of Florida: 16
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Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 18
163.3184, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (g) is 19
added to subsection (5) of that section, to read: 20
163.3184 Process for adoption of comprehensive plan o r 21
plan amendment.— 22
(3) EXPEDITED STATE REVIEW PROCESS FOR ADOPTION OF 23
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENTS. — 24
(c)1. The local government shall hold its second public 25
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hearing, which shall be a hearing on whether to adopt one or 26
more comprehensive plan amendment s pursuant to subsection (11). 27
If the local government fails, within 180 days after receipt of 28
agency comments, to hold the second public hearing, the 29
amendment is amendments shall be deemed withdrawn unless 30
extended by agreement with notice to the state l and planning 31
agency and any affected person that provided comments on the 32
amendment. If the amendment is not adopted at the second public 33
hearing, the amendment must be formally adopted by the local 34
government within 180 days after the second public hearin g or 35
the amendment is deemed withdrawn The 180-day limitation does 36
not apply to amendments processed pursuant to s. 380.06 . 37
2. All comprehensive plan amendments adopted by the 38
governing body, along with the supporting data and analysis, 39
shall be transmitted within 10 working days after the second 40
public hearing to the state land planning agency and any other 41
agency or local government that provided timely comments under 42
subparagraph (b)2. 43
3. The state land planning agency shall notify the local 44
government of any deficiencies within 5 working days after 45
receipt of an amendment package. For purposes of completeness, 46
an amendment shall be deemed complete if it contains a full, 47
executed copy of the adoption ordinance or ordinances; in the 48
case of a text amendment, a full copy of the amended language in 49
legislative format with new words inserted in the text 50
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underlined, and words deleted stricken with hyphens; in the case 51
of a future land use map amendment, a copy of the future land 52
use map clearly depicting th e parcel, its existing future land 53
use designation, and its adopted designation; and a copy of any 54
data and analyses the local government deems appropriate. 55
4. An amendment adopted under this paragraph does not 56
become effective until 31 days after the st ate land planning 57
agency notifies the local government that the plan amendment 58
package is complete. If timely challenged, an amendment does not 59
become effective until the state land planning agency or the 60
Administration Commission enters a final order dete rmining the 61
adopted amendment to be in compliance. 62
(5) ADMINISTRATIVE CHALLENGES TO PLANS AND PLAN 63
AMENDMENTS.— 64
(g) The prevailing party in a challenge filed under this 65
subsection is entitled to recover attorney fees and costs in 66
challenging or defendi ng a plan or plan amendment, including 67
reasonable appellate attorney fees and costs. 68
Section 2. The amendment made by section 1 of this act to 69
s. 163.3184(3)(c), Florida Statutes, is remedial in nature, is 70
intended to clarify existing law, and applies retroactively to 71
January 1, 2022. 72
Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 73
163.3187, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 74
163.3187 Process for adoption of small scale comprehensive 75
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plan amendment.— 76
(5)(a) Any affected person may file a petition with the 77
Division of Administrative Hearings pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 78
120.57 to request a hearing to challenge the compliance of a 79
small scale development amendment with this act within 30 days 80
following the local government's adoption of the amendment and 81
shall serve a copy of the petition on the local government. An 82
administrative law judge shall hold a hearing in the affected 83
jurisdiction not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days 84
following the filing of a petition and the assignment of an 85
administrative law judge. The parties to a hearing held pursuant 86
to this subsection shall be the petitioner, the local 87
government, and any intervenor. In the proceeding, the plan 88
amendment shall be determined to be in compliance if the local 89
government's determination that the small scale development 90
amendment is in compliance is fairly debatable. The state land 91
planning agency may not intervene in any proceeding initiated 92
pursuant to this section. The prevailing party in a challenge 93
filed under this parag raph is entitled to recover attorney fees 94
and costs in challenging or defending the order, including 95
reasonable appellate attorney fees and costs. 96
Section 4. Subsection (6) of section 163.3202, Florida 97
Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (7), and a new subsection 98
(6) is added to that section to read: 99
163.3202 Land development regulations. — 100
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(6) Land development regulations relating to any 101
characteristic of development other than use, or intensity or 102
density of use, do not apply to Florida College System 103
institutions as defined in s. 1000.21(3). 104
Section 5. Subsections (3) and (4) of section 163.3215, 105
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 106
163.3215 Standing to enforce local comprehensive plans 107
through development orders. — 108
(3) Any aggrieved or adversely affected party may maintain 109
a de novo action for declaratory, injunctive, or other relief 110
against any local government to challenge any decision of such 111
local government granting or denying an application for, or to 112
prevent such local government from taking any action on, a 113
development order, as defined in s. 163.3164, on the basis that 114
the development order which materially alters the use or density 115
or intensity of use on a particular piece of property rendering 116
it which is not consistent with t he comprehensive plan adopted 117
under this part. The de novo action must be filed no later than 118
30 days following rendition of a development order or other 119
written decision, or when all local administrative appeals, if 120
any, are exhausted, whichever occurs la ter. 121
(4) If a local government elects to adopt or has adopted 122
an ordinance establishing, at a minimum, the requirements listed 123
in this subsection, the sole method by which an aggrieved and 124
adversely affected party may challenge any decision of local 125
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government granting or denying an application for a development 126
order, as defined in s. 163.3164, which materially alters the 127
use or density or intensity of use on a particular piece of 128
property, on the basis that it is not consistent with the 129
comprehensive plan adopted under this part, is by an appeal 130
filed by a petition for writ of certiorari filed in circuit 131
court no later than 30 days following rendition of a development 132
order or other written decision of the local government, or when 133
all local administrati ve appeals, if any, are exhausted, 134
whichever occurs later. An action for injunctive or other relief 135
may be joined with the petition for certiorari. Principles of 136
judicial or administrative res judicata and collateral estoppel 137
apply to these proceedings. Mi nimum components of the local 138
process are as follows: 139
(a) The local process must make provision for notice of an 140
application for a development order that materially alters the 141
use or density or intensity of use on a particular piece of 142
property, including notice by publication or mailed notice 143
consistent with the provisions of ss. 125.66(4)(b)2. and 3. and 144
166.041(3)(c)2.b. and c., and must require prominent posting at 145
the job site. The notice must be given within 10 days after the 146
filing of an applicatio n for a development order; however, 147
notice under this subsection is not required for an application 148
for a building permit or any other official action of local 149
government which does not materially alter the use or density or 150
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intensity of use on a particula r piece of property. The notice 151
must clearly delineate that an aggrieved or adversely affected 152
person has the right to request a quasi -judicial hearing before 153
the local government for which the application is made, must 154
explain the conditions precedent to the appeal of any 155
development order ultimately rendered upon the application, and 156
must specify the location where written procedures can be 157
obtained that describe the process, including how to initiate 158
the quasi-judicial process, the timeframes for initiat ing the 159
process, and the location of the hearing. The process may 160
include an opportunity for an alternative dispute resolution. 161
(b) The local process must provide a clear point of entry 162
consisting of a written preliminary decision, at a time and in a 163
manner to be established in the local ordinance, with the time 164
to request a quasi-judicial hearing running from the issuance of 165
the written preliminary decision; the local government, however, 166
is not bound by the preliminary decision. A party may request a 167
hearing to challenge or support a preliminary decision. 168
(c) The local process must provide an opportunity for 169
participation in the process by an aggrieved or adversely 170
affected party, allowing a reasonable time for the party to 171
prepare and present a case f or the quasi-judicial hearing. 172
(d) The local process must provide, at a minimum, an 173
opportunity for the disclosure of witnesses and exhibits prior 174
to hearing and an opportunity for the depositions of witnesses 175
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to be taken. 176
(e) The local process may not require that a party be 177
represented by an attorney in order to participate in a hearing. 178
(f) The local process must provide for a quasi -judicial 179
hearing before an impartial special master who is an attorney 180
who has at least 5 years' experience and who s hall, at the 181
conclusion of the hearing, recommend written findings of fact 182
and conclusions of law. The special master shall have the power 183
to swear witnesses and take their testimony under oath, to issue 184
subpoenas and other orders regarding the conduct of the 185
proceedings, and to compel entry upon the land. The standard of 186
review applied by the special master in determining whether a 187
proposed development order is consistent with the comprehensive 188
plan shall be strict scrutiny in accordance with Florida law. 189
(g) At the quasi-judicial hearing, all parties must have 190
the opportunity to respond, to present evidence and argument on 191
all issues involved which are related to the development order, 192
and to conduct cross -examination and submit rebuttal evidence. 193
Public testimony must be allowed. 194
(h) The local process must provide for a duly noticed 195
public hearing before the local government at which public 196
testimony is allowed. At the quasi -judicial hearing, the local 197
government is bound by the special master's findin gs of fact 198
unless the findings of fact are not supported by competent 199
substantial evidence. The governing body may modify the 200
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conclusions of law if it finds that the special master's 201
application or interpretation of law is erroneous. The governing 202
body may make reasonable legal interpretations of its 203
comprehensive plan and land development regulations without 204
regard to whether the special master's interpretation is labeled 205
as a finding of fact or a conclusion of law. The local 206
government's final decision mu st be reduced to writing, 207
including the findings of fact and conclusions of law, and is 208
not considered rendered or final until officially date -stamped 209
by the city or county clerk. 210
(i) An ex parte communication relating to the merits of 211
the matter under review may not be made to the special master. 212
An ex parte communication relating to the merits of the matter 213
under review may not be made to the governing body after a time 214
to be established by the local ordinance, which time must be no 215
later than receipt o f the special master's recommended order by 216
the governing body. 217
(j) At the option of the local government, the process may 218
require actions to challenge the consistency of a development 219
order with land development regulations to be brought in the 220
same proceeding. 221
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 222