Time is narrowing for lawmakers to amend what critics have called an unconstitutional law that has constrained local governments since the 2024 hurricanes.

In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Sen. Nick DiCeglie pushed Senate Bill 180 through the Legislature, framing it as an emergency measure to speed rebuilding. The bill fast-tracked permitting and limited local planning authority in storm-impacted areas. In doing so, it curtailed elements of home rule in an effort to remove barriers to reconstruction.

Since its passage, however, municipalities across the state have challenged the law in court.

Commissioners from Orange County, Manatee County and Deltona joined environmental and land-use attorney Richard Grosso and Kim Dinkins, policy director for 1000 Friends of Florida, for an emergency webinar this week to press the case for legislative correction.

1000 Friends of Florida, a nonprofit smart-growth advocacy group, represents 25 municipal signatories in a lawsuit challenging SB 180’s constitutionality. (Note: no lawsuits have been filed in Pinellas).

At the center of the dispute is the bill’s language. Terms such as “restrictive or burdensome,” critics say, are left undefined and extend beyond the narrow intent of allowing property owners to rebuild storm-damaged structures.

“It goes way beyond the notion of thinking it’s important to allow people to build back when their buildings have been destroyed or substantially demolished by a hurricane,” Grosso said. “It applies to all development.”

Grosso argued the law permits broad challenges to local planning decisions. “The law allows anybody who doesn’t like any part of a plan amendment to pick and choose what they like, sue, and nullify it,” he said.

Affordable housing initiatives, coastal protections or habitat safeguards could be vulnerable if deemed “restrictive or burdensome,” opponents contend. Local governments have criticized the statute as skewing leverage toward developers, who could sue municipalities attempting to block projects under those standards.

In response, DiCeglie advanced Senate Bill 840 this session, aimed at narrowing SB 180’s scope. The revised bill limits land-use constraints to areas more directly affected by hurricanes and focuses on rules that would delay or prevent rebuilding of storm-damaged property. It also shortens the duration of certain restrictions and scales back enforcement provisions that exposed local governments to litigation.

Municipal groups involved in the lawsuit have described SB 840 as a meaningful correction. The Senate has passed the measure, but the House now has a narrow window to act.

Companion legislation – House Bills 217 and 1465 – has been introduced. While supporters say the bills would roll back the broad statewide freeze created by SB 180, critics argue they still restrict local governments’ ability to adopt stricter land-use or resilience standards in disaster-designated areas, narrowing but not fully restoring home-rule authority.

With just over two weeks remaining in session, the House must either move SB 840 forward or advance its own version. If neither clears the chamber, the issue likely returns next legislative session – leaving the current law in place for another year.