TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – People are still moving to Florida, and it doesn’t look like they are going to stop any time soon.
That’s the reason a Marion County state senator says he sponsored a bill that would restrict county rules on development, including ending recent voter-approved measures to protect rural areas.
State Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala introduced SB 1118 in February. He says more needs to be done to streamline development rules and make it easier to build more homes.
Then, an amendment made just last week not only bans local initiatives or referendums regarding land development regulation, overriding local control but also retroactively overturns referendums passed by voters after 2011.
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McClain appeared for the bill in the Senate Committee on Community Affairs on Monday, and it was the first time anyone had heard McClain speak on the bill.
“One of the things that happens is we have an inconsistent application of the current laws we have and we end up, one day we’re approving developments and the next day we’re trying to stop developments,” McClain said.
David Bear, the president of the non-profit Save Rural Seminole, says Senate Bill 1118 would essentially eliminate Orange County’s rural boundary and make Seminole County’s existing rural boundary irrelevant.
Before lawmakers met at the capitol Monday, he shared a petition he started with News 6 urging legislators on the Community Affairs committee to reject it.
“This bill will be the death knell of our rural boundary because it allows properties to be taken out,” said Bear. “And so, piece by piece, like a jigsaw, properties are going to start coming out of the rural boundary and the line is basically going to mean nothing.”
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In Seminole County, 82% of voters chose to reinforce the rural boundary last year, when an overwhelming majority voted to support a smart growth referendum.
In Orange County, 73% of voters approved a charter amendment and created a rural boundary in eastern Orange County.
“What gets 82% on any ballot in Florida or anywhere in the country? Nothing,” said Bear. “That tells you this is an overwhelmingly bipartisan issue.”
If SB 1118 passes, certain agricultural lands would also be classified as “agricultural enclaves,” and developers would essentially be able to bypass traditional zoning and land use discussions at the local level.
Bear says it paves the way for developers seeking to bypass public comment and seek administrative approval at the state level.
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“Unlike in the past where they’ve had to go to the Seminole County commissioners, people who are responsive to the voters here and we that we can communicate with. They had to go to them have public hearings and, ultimately the local commissioners voted,” said Bear. “That doesn’t exist anymore. What will exist now is if there is what’s called an agricultural preserved property, it will be applied for administratively in Tallahassee and they are required to approve that land being converted to residential use.”
State Sen. Carlos Guillermo-Smith, D-Orange County, is not on the Senate Community Affairs Committee, but he does represent District 17 which is the eastern, more rural section of Orange County. He tells News 6 he is actively working behind the scenes in the Senate to stop this legislation.
“This is what Tallahassee politicians often do. They see the results of a voter referendum in our local communities, they don’t like the results of those referendums, and they use their power in Tallahassee to try to overturn the will of the voters,” said Guillermo-Smith. “But this does not end here. We know the people power will actually stop legislation like this, which is why it’s really important that folks reach out to their state representatives and reach out to their senators, and tell them to vote against this legislation.”
Seminole County Chairman Jay Zembower, who represents District 2, tells our News 6 team that he and his fellow commissioners have received many phone calls from concerned constituents.
“Our legal team is looking at it right now, analyzing it. We’re speaking to our legislators, communicating to them our concerns about it,” said Zembower. “Seminole County is a Home Rule charter county, and the reason is the people who live, work, and play and go to school here decide how they want their community to look. We get it there are some bad actors around the state that legislation is appropriate for, but we’ve done a great job here in Seminole County of respecting everybody’s will and respecting our voters.”
News 6 has been looking into the implications across Central Florida and the real impact in our local neighborhoods.
SB 1118 would also impact the Farmland Preservation Area in Marion County, an area the bill’s sponsor represents.
McClain, a home builder, was elected to the Florida Senate last year, after serving in the Florida House for eight years. Before that, he served on the Marion County Commission.
News 6 reached out to his office multiple times to ask for his perspective before Monday’s meeting, and we never received a response.
Bear says he is not against development but believes balance is vital to our communities and quality of life. A spike in high-density development could strain county resources that would be responsible for providing utilities like water, sewer, and electricity and making sure our roads and infrastructure can support that growth.
“Communities can grow in all kinds of ways, and if communities don’t plan how to do that, you’re not going to like the outcome because the outcome is going to be a patchwork of sprawl and concrete jungle, and people don’t move to Florida for that,” said Bear. “If you don’t plan, what you’re going to get our cookie cutter subdivision after cookie cutter subdivision all the way out to the St. John’s River.”
On Monday, the bill passed the Senate Community Affairs Committee with a 5-3 vote.