Office of County Attorney awaiting response to request for opinion from Office of the Florida Attorney General
The summary of an independent legal opinion that the Office of the Sarasota County Attorney requested on behalf of the County Commission, in regard to facets of the state’s Live Local Act, says the law “has become one of the most significant state-level preemptions of local land use and zoning authority in recent years.”
Written by Valerie Vicente and Heather Encinosa, partners with the Tallahassee firm of Nabors Giblin & Nickerson, the memorandum notes, “Since [the law’s] enactment in 2023, the Legislature has revisited and amended the Act in successive legislative sessions to clarify its application, address ambiguities, and expand the scope of its preemptions. As a result, its application continues to evolve and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with careful consideration given to the applicable zoning district, comprehensive plan consistency, site-specific facts, and any subsequent legislative or judicial developments.”
The memorandum does explain that it “is intended as a general overview of the Act’s zoning and land use preemptions and related affordable housing ad valorem tax exemptions, and should not be construed as a parcel-specific legal determination or an analysis of the Act’s ad valorem tax exemption provisions or other non-land use components of the Act.”…