New law won't gut local growth codes

Recent changes to Florida's growth management laws won't erode the power of local governments to control new development, a top state official said Thursday.

Speaking to planning and zoning officials in Tampa, Tom Pelham, secretary of the state's Department of Community Affairs, said municipalities affected by Senate Bill 360 still will have the authority to say what gets built and who pays for it.

"This does not sweep away local laws or pre-empt the power of local governments," he said. "It also doesn't limit a local governments' ability to impose fees on developers."

Eight counties and 240 cities, including Tampa, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, will be affected by the new legislation, which was signed by Gov. Charlie Crist last week.

The changes exempt developers in those areas from transportation concurrency - the requirement that builders construct road improvements for their developments. Instead, developers will be charged a "mobility fee" to cover the cost of roadway improvements.

They also will give municipalities the option of exempting some urban areas from the requirement to construct the roads needed to avoid traffic congestion and remove a provision that large development projects be reviewed by regional planning boards.

Pelham said existing road concurrency projects will not be affected by the new rules.

Developers say the changes will revive a construction industry that is Florida's economic lifeblood; environmentalists say they gut the state's growth-management protections.

Financially strapped local governments are concerned the changes will make taxpayers shoulder the bill for roads in sprawling development.

Cynthia Miller, Tampa director of Growth Management and Development Services, said city planners are trying to figure out how the changes will affect them. A concern to city officials is the possibility some less-developed Tampa neighborhoods could be required to increase housing density under the new rules. "There's a number of smaller communities that don't want more growth," she said.