2012 session summary: Real Estate and Growth Management

By Bruce Ritchie and Gray Rohrer

Expectations were low going into the session that any significant growth management legislation would pass. In 2011, the Legislature approved sweeping law changes in SB 1122 despite opposition from environmental groups. Those changes removed much of the state oversight of local land-use decisions. Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton and chairman of the Senate Committee on Community Affairs, said during the 2012 session he wanted to give cities and counties time to understand and adjust to the changes made last year. “They didn’t do any real damage this time,” said Charles Pattison, president of 1000 Friends of Florida environmental group.

Legislation tackling Florida’s continuing foreclosure crisis and measures aimed at sparking a rebound in a housing market still mired in the recession proved equally difficult to pass this year. Almost four years after the housing bubble burst, the average foreclosure in Florida still takes more than two years to complete, clogging up courts and depressing home values. This year, a strong push to speed up the foreclosure process (HB 213, SB 1890) yet keep homeowner protections looked to have momentum, but faltered in the final week. The annual tradition of sweeping affordable housing trust fund dollars continued this year, and a move by the Senate to pull the Florida Housing Finance Corp. into the state budget was rebuffed by the House during budget conferences, but the chambers agreed to direct the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct an audit of the organization.

KEY ISSUES:

GROWTH LAW FIXES: When the Legislature passed its sweeping growth management law revisions last year, it included a ban on cities and counties holding referendums on land-use changes. Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne and chairman of the House Community & Military Affairs Subcommittee, said in 2011 the state did not want more local referendums such as the one in St. Petersburg Beach, the inspiration for the proposed “Hometown Democracy” constitutional amendment. Businesses and development interests fought the proposal, which was voted down in the 2010 statewide general election. After the 2011 growth law changes, Yankeetown, which also had a referendum requirement in its charter, filed a lawsuit. At least three other local governments with referendums also were affected by the law change. HB 7081 would allow referendums that had been authorized prior to June 1, 2011 to be retained and implemented. The bill also corrects less substantive “glitches” in last year’s growth law changes. The Florida Regional Councils Association had raised concerns about language in the Senate version of the bill, SB 842, but later supported the bill when the language was modified. HB 7081 passed the House 101-13 on Feb. 15 and passed the Senate 38-2 on March 7.

DEVELOPMENTS OF REGIONAL IMPACT: HB 979 dealing with “developments of regional impact” passed the House with only one no vote but picked up more opposition when it came back from the Senate with amendments. HB 979 was supposed to make it easier for local governments to approve larger developments by deciding whether they had to go through the more lengthy state DRI review process. The bill, which had support from the Association of Florida Community Developers, passed the House 112-1 on Feb. 22. In the Senate, the bill was amended to require local governments to approve land-use changes for so-called “agricultural enclaves” of 500 to 650 acres that are 95 percent surrounded by surrounded by other land uses. This time the bill over objections from Democrats who said the language was the subject of another bill, HB 1415, that wasn’t heard by a committee. The final vote on March 8 was 87-31. Another growth management bill, HB 603, which would have prohibited cities and counties from applying impact fees until July 1, 2015 unless approved by a two-thirds commission vote, was never heard in a committee.

FORECLOSURES: Spurred by reports of the 676 days it takes a typical foreclosure to make it through Florida courts, Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, crafted a bill (HB 213) designed to speed the process along. The bill would have allowed all lienholders, such as apartment complexes and condo associations, to begin foreclosure proceedings, set up a way for banks to declare properties abandoned, and would have limited mediation meetings. Some Democrats and consumer groups fought the proposal, even though it included increased requirements for lenders to prove ownership of a mortgage. The bill passed through the House on a 94-17 vote, but was never heard on the floor of the Senate despite clearing both of its committees of reference.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Despite collecting $98 million in document stamp revenue that is supposed to be funneled into affordable housing, those programs will not receive any state funds during the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Lawmakers again opted to sweep all of the money into general revenue to help fill a nearly $2 billion budget hole. “Nothing, not a penny. This is four years in a row that they haven’t funded the (State Housing Initiative Partnership) program,” said Jaime Ross, facilitator for the Sadowski Coalition, a group dedicated to preserving affordable housing funds for affordable housing. The Senate originally wanted to preserve $30 million from the trust fund, but it too was eventually swept. The House also staved off an attempt by the Senate to bring the Florida Housing Finance Corp. into the state budget, seeking to gain more accountability and control over the private entity’s finances in the process. A plan to reorganize the board of the FHFC was also dumped during budget negotiations, but the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability was directed to audit the corporation.