Bills Would Let Big Developers Skip Local Planning Rules

Two bills moving through Tallahassee would strip local communities of their power to control massive developments, allowing projects spanning 10,000 acres or more to bypass local zoning rules and comprehensive plans.

House Bill 299 and Senate Bill 354, dubbed “Blue Ribbon Projects” legislation, create fast tracks for the largest developments to ignore the planning rules communities use to manage growth. The proposals are backed by out-of-state interests, including New York hedge funds, according to Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks, who wrote about the bills in a recent op-ed.

“These bills don’t just override local plans, they move decision-making power from Florida communities to New York hedge funds with no stake in the aftermath,” Parks wrote.

The legislation would affect fast-growing areas across Florida, potentially including South Florida counties where development pressure already strains infrastructure. Local planning tools like zoning rules, comprehensive plans and concurrency requirements give residents their only meaningful way to shape where growth happens and how development pays for the infrastructure it requires.

Parks argues the bills would dump the costs of rapid growth back on local families and commuters. Traffic congestion, crowded schools, strained water systems and overwhelmed emergency services follow when development outpaces infrastructure planning.

“Anyone who’s lived through rapid growth knows what comes next. Traffic that never quite gets fixed, neighborhoods built faster than fire and EMS can keep up, stormwater systems pushed past capacity and water resources strained beyond what local plans ever anticipated,” Parks wrote.

The bills include language about conservation set-asides and long-range planning, but Parks calls these provisions inadequate protection when the largest developments get exemptions from growth management rules.

Parks draws parallels to property tax debates, noting that eliminating local revenue streams without replacements shifts costs rather than eliminating them. Property taxes fund sheriff’s deputies, fire rescue, emergency medical services, drainage and infrastructure that makes growth manageable.

The commissioner argues Florida’s diversity requires different approaches to growth management. “Lake County isn’t Miami. The Panhandle isn’t Orlando. A barrier island isn’t a rural crossroads,” he wrote.

Parks suggests lawmakers should instead invest in infrastructure, fund water projects and conservation, reduce unfunded mandates, and reward communities that plan responsibly. But he opposes turning local comprehensive plans into “decorative paperweights.”

The bills represent a broader tension between state preemption and local control as Florida’s population boom continues. Communities from the Panhandle to the Keys face pressure to accommodate growth while preserving quality of life and environmental resources.

“Florida’s future shouldn’t be dictated by Wall Street hedge funds chasing returns. It should be shaped by the people who live here, raise families here and will still be here long after the ribbon-cutting photos are forgotten,” Parks wrote.