GOVERNOR SIGNS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BILL

1,300 UNITS PREVAIL LEGISLATIVELY FOLLOWING COURT BATTLE

An affordable housing bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 30 safeguarded the Keys’ 1,000-plus affordable housing units that were given by the state and challenged in court over evacuation ahead of a hurricane.

With Senate Bill 102, the units are exempt from state statute that mandates a hurricane evacuation clearance of no more than 24 hours.

In 2018, then-Gov. Rick Scott approved a program that presented the workforce housing units to the Keys, so long as tenants of those units left 48 hours ahead of a hurricane.

no longer important, is just incredibly reckless and dangerous. It flies in the face of the reality of the real-world limits to development in the Keys. … This is continued pursuit for development at all costs.” acknowledges the existence of, but does not promote or oppose, same-sex relationships. For ninthgrade students, it discusses contraception and safer-sex practices to reduce the chance of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Language related to the Keys’ 1,300 units was a small piece of a Senate bill that provided $711 million in housing projects and assistance. Around $259 million went to a state program that provides low-interest loans to developers building affordable housing. A total of $100 million was provided for first-time homebuyers who work in law enforcement and fire rescue, serve in the military or teach in the classroom.

A total of $252 million for another state program will give local governments incentives to build partnerships with developers who are preserving available housing or producing more housing.

“The curriculum we selected a few months ago was a totally Florida-approved health education curriculum,” Superintendent of Schools Theresa Axford told the Keys Weekly on April 3. “I don’t know what, if any, changes will be required based on recent actions of the Florida Legislature.”

Axford said she also is concerned about language in the bill that requires schools to remove books and materials from a school library as soon as one parent raises an objection.

Axford called the language “disturbing,” but said the local school district “follows legislation very closely so we are familiar with what they’re considering. However, we wait for the state board of education to implement specific rules that help us follow the new legislation and laws.”

If Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the bill into law, it will take effect across the entire state on July 3, 2023.

Questions over the evacuation eventually led to a legal battle and decision by the Third District Court of Appeals that revoked the units, claiming they violated state statute. A request for the third DCA to re-hear the case was denied, and the state Supreme Court on Jan. 13 rejected an escalation of the appeal, seemingly leaving a legislative fix as the only viable option. The decision left Marathon in a bind, as the city had already allocated and built a number of its 300 units given by the state.

The city of Key West and village of Islamorada accepted their 300 units but never allocated them. Key West’s units were never in jeopardy from the court ruling. Monroe County never fully accepted the units as it monitored the battles in court and the legislative fix in Tallahassee.

Opponents of the units, including appellants Cecilia Mattino in Marathon, Catherine Bosworth in Islamorada and Naja Girard in Key West, argued that the additional units posed a public safety risk by coloring outside the lines of statutes designed to ensure safe and orderly hurricane evacuations along the limited U.S. 1 corridor.

“The 24-hour limit is there for a really good reason; it’s there to protect the people of the Keys,” attorney Richard Grosso told the Weekly on Feb. 9. “The idea that it’s only a good idea until we can’t develop any more, and that it’s

The legislation also implements new policy preempting counties on zoning, density and height restrictions for certain multifamily rental developments in commercial and mixed-use areas. Specifically, a county must authorize multifamily and mixed-use residential as allowable uses in any area zoned for commercial or mixeduse, if at least 40% of the units will be affordable for at least 30 years and serve incomes up to 120% of area median income.

The bill also requires a local government maintain a policy of procedures and expectations for expedited processing of building permits on its website.

The legislation also prevents local governments from imposing price controls on rent, unless the entity finds that such a price would “eliminate an existing housing emergency, which is so grave as to constitute a serious menace to the general public.”

Republican state Rep. Alexis Calatayud, of Miami-Dade County, sponsored the legislation that gained support from Democrats and Republicans. The Senate voted 40-0 on March 8. Only six of the 109 House members who voted on the bill said “no” on March 24.

“The biggest housing concern we hear from young people is that there is no place for them to raise their own families in communities they grew up in, where their extended families have lived for generations. That changes today,” Calatayud said.