DeSantis Signs HB 399 Curbing Local Zoning Control

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 399 into law Friday, handing state Republicans a major victory in their push to strip local governments of zoning authority and accelerate housing construction across Florida.

The bill, sponsored by Hialeah Republican Rep. David Borrero, took effect immediately upon signing. DeSantis put his name on it roughly an hour before Floridians headed into their weekend, a quiet close to what had been anything but a quiet legislative fight.

Borrero pitched the measure as a necessary fix to Florida’s housing affordability crisis, arguing that local rules inflate costs and choke supply. The bill builds on the Live Local Act, which lawmakers first passed in 2023 and have updated repeatedly since, as part of a broader state effort to override local land-use decisions in favor of development.

Under HB 399, local governments must tie development fees to the actual cost of reviewing a project rather than using those fees as a revenue tool. Cities and counties must also adopt more objective standards when evaluating whether proposed developments are compatible with surrounding neighborhoods, and they must provide written justifications when they deny applications. Crucially, local governments must flag potential conflicts earlier in the review process and suggest paths to resolution rather than simply rejecting applications outright.

Supporters, including business groups and Senate sponsor Stan McClain, argued the bill will bring predictability to land-use decisions while reducing regulatory barriers that keep housing inventory low. McClain framed it as a property rights issue. Borrero said the status quo was unsustainable for working families priced out of the market.

But the bill’s most contentious element has nothing to do with starter homes or affordable apartments. A provision buried in the legislation creates a pathway for certain large destination resorts to bypass traditional local review. The Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, which is planning a pool deck overhaul, stands to benefit directly. Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones pushed a floor amendment to strip that language. It failed. Lawmakers did add a sunset date of 2030 to that provision, a concession that satisfied few critics.

Miami Beach officials have been among the loudest opponents. Commissioner Alex Fernandez said the bill “egregiously interferes with our residents’ right to public input” and called for legal action if the measure took effect. It has.

Democratic opponents framed HB 399 as an assault on home rule, the principle that local governments should control decisions closest to their communities. Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando called it “a sweeping change to Florida’s growth management system.” Lawmakers approved the bill largely along party lines, though several Republicans crossed over to vote against it, reflecting real unease within the governor’s own party.

The final version of HB 399 is notably narrower than earlier drafts. Senators stripped out provisions that would have allowed development beyond Miami-Dade County’s Urban Development Boundary, the line that protects the Everglades from sprawl. They also removed language that would have lowered the vote threshold for comprehensive plan amendments to a simple majority, which would have overridden supermajority requirements adopted by counties like Orange. Those were significant concessions, but they did not change the fundamental direction of the bill.

For South Florida, the stakes are high and specific. Miami-Dade and Broward County residents already live with some of the most severe affordability pressures in the country. Housing costs have not meaningfully come down despite years of legislative action. Whether stripping local governments of review authority translates into actual units at prices working families can afford is a question developers and their critics will be arguing over for years.

What is not in question is the political calculus. Tallahassee has made clear it views local zoning authority as an obstacle rather than a feature of democratic governance. HB 399 gives state leaders a new tool to push that agenda forward, with or without the blessing of the cities and counties that will now have to live with it.

For communities like Hialeah, where Borrero represents families already stretched thin by rent and housing costs, the bill’s promise is real. Whether that promise survives contact with the market is the harder question.