2002 Florida Legislative Report.By Larry Sellers and Larry Curtin The Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Florida Constitution mandates a bicameral state legislature with an upper house Florida Senate of 40 members and a lower Florida House of Representatives of 120 members. finished its work in May following a 60-day regular session and several special sessions. During that time, the Legislature considered a number of bills on environmental and land-use issues. Here is a brief summary of some of the key measures that passed. Growth Management/School Planning SB 1906 requires greater coordination between school boards and local governments. The bill also requires local governments and district school boards to enter into an enforceable, interlocal agreement that addresses school siting, enrollment, forecasting, school capacity, infrastructure and safety needs. Growth Management/Water Use Planning SB 1906 also requires local governments to amend their comprehensive plans to better integrate those plans with the water management district's regional water supply plan. The legislation requires local governments to include in their comprehensive plans a 10-year work plan for building water supply facilities that are considered necessary to serve existing and new development, and for which the local government is responsible. Developments of Regional Impact SB 1906 eliminates DRI See Digital Research. review for certain facilities. Marinas located in a local jurisdiction that has adopted a countywide boating facility siting plan or policy into its comprehensive plan will be exempt from DRI review. The bill also removes the acreage thresholds from office and retail development. In addition, it eliminates the presumption for DRIs that are between 80 and 99 percent of a threshold; henceforth, developments that are less than 100 percent of the threshold are not DRIs. Judicial Review of Local Government Development Orders SB 1906 creates an optional special master process at the local level. If adopted by a local government, this would obviate ob·vi·ate tr.v. ob·vi·at·ed, ob·vi·at·ing, ob·vi·ates To anticipate and dispose of effectively; render unnecessary. See Synonyms at prevent. de novo [Latin, Anew.] A second time; afresh. A trial or a hearing that is ordered by an appellate court that has reviewed the record of a hearing in a lower court and sent the matter back to the original court for a new trial, as if it had not been previously heard nor decided. review at the circuit court level. The bill also allows developers whose projects were denied to seek de novo review. Previously, developers were limited to certiorari certiorari In law, a writ issued by a superior court for the reexamination of an action of a lower court. The writ of certiorari was originally a writ from England's Court of Queen's (King's) Bench to the judges of an inferior court; it was later expanded to include writs review on the record prepared at the local level, while third parties were granted de novo review. Citizen Standing HB 813 was one of the more controversial environmental bills of the legislative session. Among other things, the bill makes clear that citizens of the state may "intervene" (or join) certain already ongoing administrative proceedings, but may not "initiate" (or request or petition for) an administrative proceeding, absent a showing that the citizens' substantial interests will be affected by the challenged agency decision. This legislation is the subject of a legal challenge filed by certain environmental interest groups, who argue that the law violates Florida's single-subject requirement. FLWAC FLWAC Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission Appeals HB 813 also limits appeals to the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Florida Land & Water Adjudicatory Commission (FLWAC). Such appeals are prohibited if an evidentiary hearing already has been held. This provision has the effect of requiring challengers to choose between an appeal to FLWAC or the filing of a request for an administrative hearing administrative hearing n. a hearing before any governmental agency or before an administrative law judge. Such hearings can range from simple arguments to what amounts to a trial. There is no jury, but the agency or the administrative law judge will make a ruling. . The content of this article is intended as a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Holland & Knight LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. joining the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street," it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches and civilian protests. , NW Suite 100 Washington 20006-6801 UNITED STATES Tel: 2029553000 Fax: 2029555564 E-mail: kathleen.larrison@hklaw.com URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : www.hklaw.com (c) Mondaq Ltd, 2002 - Tel. +44 (0)20 7820 7733 - http://www.mondaq.com |
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