ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.
Despite his support of the intentions behind Florida’s Live Local Act, DeBary City Manager Carmen Rosamonda has been taken aback by the extent to which the still-new legislation has been used as a cudgel against his city and others.
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“A lot of developers right now are using this as a threat — every developer I’ve met within the past three or four months has threatened the city with it — and they’re using it as a weapon.”
The weaponization Rosamonda describes is related to the local zoning preemption element of Live Local Act, a law that received bipartisan support and was designed to help alleviate the state’s affordable housing crisis. The language regarding preemption requires cities and counties to approve multifamily projects on land with industrial or commercial zoning — so long as 40% of the proposed units meet its affordable housing designation.
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Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal’s website.
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