Florida lawmakers set to choose developers over our right to block irresponsible growth —again | Opinion

The Florida Legislature is about to drop the other shoe on us. It’s going to hit hard, and it’s going to hurt. It’s punishment for Floridians who dare to push back against overdevelopment in their communities — in favor of smart growth.

Wednesday, the members of the Local Administration, Federal Affairs and Special Districts Subcommittee will consider legislation, House Bill 359, that would allow “prevailing parties” — the winners in court — to recover attorney fees in challenges to municipalities’ comprehensive plans and plan amendments.

If this spiteful measure becomes law, it would scare off legal challenges by civic-minded citizens and public-interest groups because, if they lose, they could be required to pay the enormous legal costs that money-flush developers and local governments incur.

It’s a deal killer for Floridians who strive to be civically engaged, and that’s exactly lawmakers’ intent. We’ve already seen the Republican-controlled Legislature muzzle Floridians who take our participatory democracy seriously, from clamping down on peaceful protests to stripping Disney of its special taxing district for daring to support LGBTQ rights. Making it prohibitively expensive for everyday Floridians to challenge their local government’s actions in court — especially those in favor of developers — is right in line with past policies.

There’s precedent, to boot, according to Jane West, policy and planning director for 1000 Friends of Florida.

“In 2019, a sneaky amendment was tucked into a good omnibus bill — HB 7103. It was never vetted in committee,” West told the Editorial Board. “It provided for the prevailing party in ‘development-order’ challenges.”

Development orders deal exclusively with rezoning and variances, and the “loser pays” provision shut down citizens’ challenges. West says that since 2019, there have been only two lawsuits filed against development orders in the entire states. West, an attorney, said that it shut down her environmental law firm, as clients withdrew their suits after this law was enacted.

Now, four years later, lawmakers are targeting citizens’ challenges to comprehensive land-use plans — the other shoe.

If this legislation passes, smart growth in the state of Florida will be a thing of the past. Without citizens’ challenges, there is no state agency, no local government — which is not going to challenge itself, right? — that can be petitioned. There stands to be no check on development.

The push to give developers free rein goes back to 2011, when then-Gov Rick Scott dismantled the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), created to help manage growth and land use across the state, particularly along vulnerable coasts. Scott called it a “jobs killer,” however, and gave the task of oversight to the Department of Economic Opportunity — but without any teeth.

This unleashed a building frenzy, with chickens coming home to roost as Hurricane Ian roared ashore last year, decimating a lot of the new construction built along the coast after the DCA was neutered.

So, with no state agency to act on our behalf and no citizen challenges, Floridians essentially will have no checks on development, West says.

And make no mistake: Sprawling single-family subdivisions will demand more water, schools, roads, police, fire and emergency services that, ultimately, all of us will pay for. With a legislative cap on developer impact fees, and an increase in property taxes highly unlikely, these subdivisions are not to pay for themselves.

What is highly likely is that this harmful legislation will be approved by the subcommittee, unless saner heads prevail. Concerned Floridians should speak up, loud and clear, about what their government is poised to do — while they can.