State expands its Live Local Act

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed another update to Florida’s Live Local Act, continuing the state’s effort to accelerate affordable housing construction while further limiting local control over qualifying projects.

The legislation, HB 1389, takes effect July 1 and builds on the original Live Local Act approved in 2023. While this year’s changes are narrower than previous expansions, several are significant for St. Petersburg because they broaden the types of property eligible for the law’s zoning preemptions, and clarify limits on municipal development regulations.

One of the largest changes involves public land.

Under the updated law, affordable housing projects that meet Live Local requirements may now qualify on property owned by a county, municipality or school district, provided the public owner participates in the application. Previously, the law primarily focused on commercially, industrially and mixed-use zoned private property.

The legislation also creates a new pathway for certain religious institutions. Churches and other religious organizations with more than three acres of land that have maintained a house of public worship for at least 10 years may qualify for Live Local development rights if the place of worship remains in operation after construction.

Those provisions could increase redevelopment opportunities on larger church campuses and publicly owned sites throughout St. Petersburg.

The law also strengthens the state’s height preemption.

Cities have already been required to allow qualifying Live Local developments to reach the maximum height permitted within a prescribed distance. HB 1389 now specifies that local governments cannot use setbacks, stepbacks or other dimensional regulations to effectively reduce that height.

For developers, that provides greater certainty that projects approved under the statute cannot be scaled back through site design requirements.

The legislation also extends, through July 1, 2030, provisions allowing certain developments to consist of multiple parcels under common ownership even when those parcels are separated by narrow pedestrian access.

Several new limitations were added as well.

The zoning preemptions do not apply to land protected by conservation easements, designated open-space regulations or areas of critical state concern. The legislation also preserves airport safety protections unless the governing airport authority approves a project located near runway protection or noise zones.

Beyond zoning, HB 1389 modifies portions of the Live Local property tax exemption beginning with the 2027 tax roll.

Local governments seeking to opt out of those exemptions will face a higher threshold. Rather than demonstrating a one-year surplus of affordable housing, they must show that affordable housing supply exceeded demand for each of the previous three years. Projects that receive building permits before a future opt-out also retain eligibility for the exemption under certain circumstances.

For St. Petersburg, the practical effect will likely emerge over the next several years as developers evaluate additional sites that now qualify under the revised statute.

The city has already seen developers use Live Local to pursue projects that exceed local zoning limits, and affordable housing continues to be one of the city’s highest-profile policy priorities. The latest amendments give developers additional flexibility while reducing several tools local governments have previously used during project review.

Whether those new provisions lead to more proposals on church campuses, public land or other redevelopment sites remains to be seen, but the pool of potentially eligible property is now larger than it was under the original law.