Florida lawmakers recently strengthened the Live Local Act’s state control over municipalities, aiming to crack down on cities and counties that try to block applications filed under the workforce housing law.
The amendments, unanimously approved by the House and Senate, which now await Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature, are geared toward encouraging more Live Local Act projects. While significant, some experts say that developers are waiting for the pending outcome of civil litigation with cities that have denied or held up applications. How the judges in these cases interpret the law will likely set precedents that developers and cities will rely on.
Among the cases is Whitman Family Development’s ongoing suit against Bal Harbour, filed in early 2024.
Attorney Keith Poliakoff of the Fort Lauderdale-based Government Law Group said he believes “there will be an immediate onslaught” in applications submitted if the owner of Bal Harbour Shops is successful in its lawsuit against the village. Poliakoff is not involved in the litigation.
“A lot of developers are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see if the test cases are successful before taking that risk and shelling out a million dollars,” Poliakoff said, referring to the cost of putting together and submitting an application that meets all the requirements.
Poliakoff represents Condra Property Group, a developer that’s suing the city of Hollywood over what it alleges is an illegal denial of its application for a 17-story tower with workforce housing.
Live Local, enacted in 2023, incentivizes developers that set aside at least 40 percent of their residential units for workforce housing. It provides developers with major tax breaks, density and height bonuses, and reductions or eliminations of parking requirements. It mandates that local municipalities may not restrict the height of a proposed project below the tallest currently allowed commercial or residential building within 1 mile of the project.
The latest bill Poliakoff said, “still does not resolve issues municipalities are using to their advantage.”
Live Local 3.0
Live Local requires cities and counties to administratively approve applications for such projects, in some cases bypassing city and county boards and stripping them of their authority.
The amendments are geared toward helping developers get their applications approved faster to ultimately create more workforce housing.
The latest tweaks direct the courts to prioritize Live Local lawsuits over others, and cap attorneys fees at $250,000. They also reduce parking requirements by 15 percent, up from 10 percent, require local municipalities to approve Live Local projects on land owned by religious institutions, and allow developers to include adjacent land in their projects. In a blow to preservationists, lawmakers also approved changes that will require only administrative approval of demolitions in historic districts. That creates a threat to areas like Miami Beach’s Art Deco district and weakens the city’s historic preservation board.
The state is also looking to track Live Local projects and related lawsuits. Beginning Nov. 1, 2026, local governments will be required to provide annual reports to the state with summaries of Live Local-related litigation and the status of those lawsuits, and a list of projects proposed and approved with details about the projects, including the number of workforce housing units and the targeted household incomes.
City vs. state
Dozens of applications for Live Local projects have been submitted across South Florida since 2023, and many cities are processing applications. Some developers are now getting their projects approved and listing their sites for sale with the added values, while others, like the Related Group, are expanding affordable housing developments with Live Local.
Only a few municipalities have engaged in a public battle over their interpretations of the law and local zoning codes. In its lawsuit filed in January against the city of Hollywood, Condra alleges that the city delayed approving the project at 2115 North Ocean Drive as Hollywood tried to change the law’s height provisions. The project, planned to include 282 condos and apartments, would set aside 40 percent of the units for tenants earning at or below 120 percent of the area median income. In Broward, the AMI is $89,100; 120 percent of that is $106,920.
Condra used the similar height of nearby Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort. The city said that Margaritaville is not an allowable height benchmark because the building is in a governmental use zone, and projects in these zones are approved “through a specialized process,” according to its rejection letter. The city, in its counterclaim, also said that Condra’s application did not meet Live Local’s requirements.
The lawsuit is pending, and the first deposition is scheduled for Wednesday.
In Bal Harbour, Whitman Family Development sued the village early last year over Bal Harbour failing to process its application — and then, in an amended complaint — over the village denying its application, according to the lawsuit, filed by attorney John Shubin of Miami-based Shubin Law Group.
Whitman submitted plans under Live Local to build up to 275-foot-tall towers at the 18-acre Bal Harbour Shops property. The project would include 528 condos and apartments, with 40 percent set aside for workforce rental housing. The tax credits, additional height and density are all “meaningful,” said Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of Whitman Family Development.
Lazenby said the latest round of amendments “improves the language” of the law, but noted the “enforceability gap” if cities don’t comply. He said the village’s recent construction noise ordinance is an example of the retaliatory efforts Bal Harbour has taken, causing up to a year’s delay in construction that will cost Whitman more money in the long run.
“The impact to us is astronomical,” he said. “Most would-be litigants frankly don’t have the capacity to spend millions of dollars to get the government to do what they should have done from the beginning.”
Read more
Florida legislative roundup: Here are real estate bills that passed and failed
Proposed housing bills expand on Florida’s Live Local Act, further reducing local government authority
