Counting
down
to
a
legislative
session
deadline
in
two
weeks,
a
new
batch
of
updates
to
the
state’s
landmark
Live
Local
Act
may
hinge
on
legislators
resolving
a
dispute
over
provisions
included
in
the
bill
to
expand
the
scope
of
the
strategic
push
for
housing
affordability.​

Local
zoning
provisions
for
accessory
dwelling
units
–
and
their
use
as
short-term
rental
units
–
in
single-family
neighborhoods
surfaced
as
a
chokepoint
that
could
scuttle
any
new
Live
Local
updates
this
session
in
Tallahassee.​

“It’s
going
to
get
a
little
spicy
here
in
the
next
couple
of
weeks,”
Kody
Glazer,
Florida
Housing
Coalition’s
chief
legal
and
policy
officer,
told

The
Builder’s
Daily.​

Since
passing
the
Live
Local
Act
in
2023,
Florida
has
been
a
leader
in
a
widening
national
charge
toward
zoning
reform
and
new
supply
incentives
to
improve
housing
affordability.
The
movement
has
intensified
during
the
post-COVID-19
pandemic,
as
Gen
Z
adults
at
the
leading
edge
of
the
cohort
try
to
form
new
households.
Rents
and
home
prices
shot
up
as
people
and
jobs
flocked
to
the
state,
driving
housing
demand
beyond
supply.
State
leaders
responded
with
an
aggressive
state-level
preemption
model
that
mirrors
efforts
in
other
states
to
unlock
commercial
land,
streamline
approvals
and
expand
workforce
housing.​

Upwards
of
180
Live
Local
projects
comprise
a
statewide
pipeline,
according
to
the
coalition.
Six
have
broken
ground.​

As
in
California,
Texas
and
other
states,
local
municipal
and
county
governments
have
contested
the
validity
of
the
new
state
mandates.
In
response,
Florida
lawmakers
are
on
their
fourth
Live
Local
iteration
with
legislation
colloquially
dubbed
a
“glitch
bill.”
These
bills
amend
existing
policy,
clarify
legislative
intent
or
close
unforeseen
loopholes.​

Tightening
Florida
Live
Local
Act
further

Live
Local
4.0
would

refine
land-use
mandates
and
tax
exemptions
and
add
transit-oriented
and
rural
tiers.
It
would
also
tighten
rules
on
height,
density,
parking
and
ADUs
to
steer
more
workforce
housing
into
job
centers
and
transit
access
points.​

The
Florida
Starter
Homes
Act
would
permit
four
homes
on
any
residential
lot
as
small
as
1,200
square
feet
that
is
connected
to
water
and
sewer.
A
transit-oriented
development
bill
would
set
baseline
rules
for
lots
within
a
half
mile
of
a
permanent
public
transit
stop.​

However,
there
is
a
new
provision
that
is
not
part
of
the
original
act.
The
legislation
proposes
amending
the
Florida
Fair
Housing
Act
to
waive
sovereign
immunity.​

Lawsuit
and
court
ruling
prompt
immunity
language

Language
added
to
the
43-year-old
act
in
2000
prohibited
discrimination
in
land-use
decisions
and
permitting.
That
discrimination
includes
localized
objections
to
project
approvals
tied
to
a
project’s
financing
source.​

Affordable
housing
developer
Coral
Rock
Development
Group
sued
in
2021
after
Pompano
Beach
rejected
a
proposed
affordable
townhome
development.
It
argued
the
city
discriminated
because
of
its
affordable
housing
financing.​

A
state
district
appeals
court
sided
with
the
city
in
December
2024,
ruling
that
the
housing
act
did
not
expressly
waive
sovereign
immunity.
The
Florida
Supreme
Court
declined
to
take
the
case
last
year,
creating
a
need
for
the
legislative
change.​

“That’s
my
baby,”
Michael
Wohl,
a
principal
of
Coral
Rock,
told

The
Builder’s
Daily.
“If
you’re
going
to
discriminate
against
affordable
workforce
housing,
you’re
going
to
get
spanked.”​

Wohl
said
he
took
it
up
through
the
Florida
Senate
and
House
hierarchy
to
get
it
approved.​

Coral
Rock
recently
broke
ground
on
a
227-unit
mixed-income
apartment
project
and
a
new
public
library
in
Miami’s
Allapattah
neighborhood.​

The
$85
million
development
uses
a
public-private
financing
structure
that
includes
a
$54
million
construction
loan
from
Citibank,
$15
million
from
the
City
of
Miami’s
Miami
Forever
Affordable
Housing
Bond
and
tax
credit
equity
from
Affordable
Housing
Partners.​

This
is
the
firm’s
first
Live
Local
project
from
the
start.
Wohl
said
the
firm
applied
Live
Local
tax
abatements
retroactively
to
two
previous
developments.​

ADU
sticking
point
is
causing
problems

Housing
advocates
have

blamed
short-term
rentals
for
part
of
the
country’s
housing
affordability
challenge
during
the
pandemic.
They
argue
that
short-term
rentals
took
supply
of
long-term
rentals
and
owner-occupied
housing
off
the
market.
Local
governments
around
the
country
responded
with
laws
restricting
the
rentals.​

The
concern
has
been
particularly
acute
in
Florida,
given
the
prevalence
of
short-term
rentals
throughout
the
state.
Local
governments
could
not
respond
because
former
Gov.
Rick
Scott
signed
a
law
in
2011
that
forbade
them
from
banning
short-term
rentals.​

Lawmakers
last
year
considered
allowing
ADUs
in
single-family
neighborhoods
but
fought
over
whether
local
governments
could
prohibit
the
units
from
being
used
as
short-term
rentals.​

It
is
the
same
dispute
this
year
after
lawmakers
revived
the
ADU
legislation,
Glazer
said.
The
Senate
passed
an
ADU
bill
that
allows
local
governments
to
ban
their
use
as
short-term
rentals.
The
House
version
does
not
have
the
same
language.​

Glazer
said
how
that
debate
shakes
out
could
decide
whether
any
of
Live
Local
4.0
passes,
since
it
is
all
tied
together.