In 2011, the Florida Legislature enacted House Bill 7207 resulting in the most significant changes in Florida’s growth management legislation in 25 years. This legislation amended the name of the growth management law from the “Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act” to the “Community Planning Act”, and the name reflects the shift in growth management control from State oversight to local governmental control of the planning and growth management process.
The State’s new role is intended to focus on “protecting the functions of important state resources and facilities.” Notably, the Act’s purpose is to now “manage future development consistent with the proper role of local government,” versus the Act’s prior purpose which was to “control future development.”
A key component of the Act is its “concurrency” provision that requires facilities and services to be available concurrent with the impacts of development. Another important aspect about the Act is that it requires that all Development Orders (zonings, comprehensive plan amendments, subdivision approvals, variance and other official actions authorizing the development of lands) must be consistent with a local government’s comprehensive plan.