League of Cities brief local officials on new hurricane-response legislation

Local government officials are attempting to come to terms with recent legislation (SB 180) intended to make sure they are better prepared to handle the aftermath of a a major storm or hurricane.

Pinellas County Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie sponsored the measure. He said it was “personal” for him, having observed homeowners’ frustrations dealing with their local governments in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Helene and Milton last fall.

After the Senate initially passed the bill last month, he issued a statement saying that, following a major storm, citizens need a “clear path to recovery, not roadblocks.”

“When local bureaucracy overshadows the needs of citizens, Floridians are left picking up the pieces,” he said. “We’re fighting for families to focus on rebuilding without additional delays or burdens, especially for those who sustained damage or lost their homes. Working with our state and local responders, we can streamline restoration efforts and improve emergency response coordination, fortifying and strengthening our communities before the next storm.”

The bill contains more than a dozen provisions affecting everything to do with emergency management preparedness and response, as described during a Zoom conference call Thursday organized by the Florida League of Cities,

Perhaps most controversially for local governments is that it prohibits a county or a city located entirely or partially within 100 miles of a hurricane’s track from proposing or adopting moratoriums on construction, reconstruction, or redevelopment of any property.

It also prohibits adopting a “more restrictive or burdensome amendment” or “burdensome procedure” to their comprehensive plans or land development regulations concerning review, approval, or issuance of a site plan, development permit, or development order until Oct. 1, 2027, applied retroactively to Aug. 1, 2024.

“You may be asking what is ‘burdensome’ and what is ‘more restrictive?’ said Matt Singer with the League, who cited a lack of a clear definition as the reason the League opposed the measure.

‘A lot of legal uncertainty’
The bill allows for a “cause of action,” meaning citizens and/or business owners would be able to challenge any local update on the ground that it is burdensome or more restrictive to them.

“And so it’s really, really important that you check this language and see if any of your local updates that have already been made would be affected, and whether’s there’s any liability created there,” Singer said.

“As a result of that, there’s a lot of legal uncertainty,” he said, adding that the League worked closely with DiCeglie and the House bill (HB 1535) sponsor, Sarasota Republican Fiona McFarland, to have that provision removed, but it was ultimately placed back in the House bill.

That provision is already drawing attention from local lawmakers who say that it could prevent them from making changes to prevent future flooding from storms.

“It affects every county and every city in the state that you can’t control the way that you’re developing and the way that you’re managing your own land,” Volusia County Commission Chairman Jeff Brower told WESH-TV in Orlando this week. “And local governments should be doing that.”

Special procedures
The bill requires local governments to develop post-storm permitting plans to expedite recovery and rebuilding by providing for special building permitting and inspection procedures following a hurricane or tropical storm. Plans must include adequate staffing for building inspection, permitting, and enforcement and provide multiple locations offering building permit services.

The measure says that local governments participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) may not adopt what is known as a “lookback” period. That means any work completed on a house within a specified period (which can be as long as 5+ years) when determining what counts towards FEMA’s 50% rule. The NFIP’s 50% Rule states that repairs made to a home in a designated flood zone cannot exceed 50% of the home’s market value unless the entire structure is brought into full compliance with current flood regulations.

Singer did tell members of the League that “there are positive things in this bill,” specifically a $5,000 penalty for breach of contract for goods and services during a storm.

“This is in response to some local perspectives that we were able to share with the legislators where cities have had contracts in place with debris removal, and contractors unfortunately just no-show, no-call, and go to another place where they can get some more money,” he said.

“The bottom line here is that Senate bill 180 would reshape many aspects to municipal emergency response across the board, and it imposes a lot of new planning and publication duties,” Singer added.

The measure has yet to be sent to Gov. DeSantis’ desk.

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Mitch Perry reporting via Florida Phoenix, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email protected].