With a judge slated to hear arguments this week, the state is trying to short-circuit constitutional challenges to a new law that blocks cities and counties from approving “more restrictive or burdensome” changes to growth plans.
Attorneys for state officials argued in two motions late Friday that Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey should dismiss challenges filed by 25 cities and counties, the growth-management group 1000 Friends of Florida and an Orange County resident.
The prohibition on growth-plan changes was included this spring in a wide-ranging bill (SB 180) that lawmakers said would help the state recover from the 2024 hurricanes. The law, signed in June by Gov. Ron DeSantis, effectively freezes local land-development regulations and comprehensive plans through Oct. 1, 2027, and was made retroactive to Aug. 1, 2024…