Following the passage of the sweeping growth management legislation included in House Bill 7207 of 2011 (the “Community Planning Act”), the Town of Yankeetown,Florida sued to overturn the bill. Yankeetown alleged that HB 7207 is unconstitutional because it contains more than one subject and has a misleading title, and because it contains an unconstitutional delegation of authority to the state planning agency. Yankeetown sought to continue to apply its referendum requirement for approval of comprehensive plan amendments, which existed before HB 7207 was enacted. HB 7207 broadened the prior statutory prohibition on referenda affecting a small number of parcels, to prohibit all planning referenda.
On November 9, 2011, Yankeetown and the state informed the court of a proposed settlement, which would amend the Community Planning Act so that the ban on referenda would not apply to local governments, such as Yankeetown, that had a charter provision authorizing such referenda in place as of June 2, 2011.
Senator Mike Bennett, one of the authors of the Community Planning Act, has filed a bill in the Senate (SB 842) for the 2012 Legislative Session, which includes an amendment to Section 163.3167, Florida Statutes, that reads:
“[A]ny local government charter provision that was in effect as of June 1, 2011, for an initiate or referendum process in regard to development orders or in regard to local comprehensive plan amendments or map amendments, may be retained and implemented.”
The proposed legislation creates a very limited exception which will grandfather a referendum requirement for comprehensive plan amendments in effect prior to the Community Planning Act, but only if the requirement was adopted in the local government charter.
Author(s): Johanna M. Lundgren
