On Friday, April 24 Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman held their 10th Annual Local Government Seminar at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel.  The Seminar was well attended by City officials throughout Southern Florida.

The Firm Speakers included; Jamie Cole, Joe Serota, Steve Helfman, Susan Trevarthen, Brett Schneider, Matt Mandel, Chad Friedman, Alison Smith, Anthony Soroka, James White & Robert Meyers.  In addition, Sergio Bustos, Politics Editor and Sunday Editor, from The Miami Herald was the Featured Lunchtime Guest Speaker.

Some of the “Hot Topics” discussed were Same Sex Partnerships, Medical Marijuana, Sunshine State Law, an Ethics Panel with Q&A, as well as many other important topics.

We are already looking forward to our next Seminar in 2016!

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WSH’s Public Land Use and Zoning Practice Group routinely represents local governments in all aspects of land use, planning, and zoning. Using a problem-solving and team approach, our attorneys provide advice and counsel to local governments on a range of issues from establishing and amending State-mandated comprehensive plans, small area plans, land development regulations, to reviewing and approving applications for planned unit developments, plats, site plans, and building permits. Our Local Government Division employs more than 30 attorneys practicing day-to-day municipal law; lawyers in the Division draft thousands of resolutions and ordinances each year, and draft legislation that is both understandable to the general public and able to survive legal challenge.

Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara

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James has been Board Certified in City, County and Local Government Law by the Florida Bar. In addition to his role as the Broward APA’s Legislative Representative, James also serves on the Environmental and Land Use Law Section and the State and Local Government Section of the Florida Bar. He is also an Executive Board Member of the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation, and a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. James is a Partner in the firm’s Public Land Use and Zoning Practice Group. Johanna has served as an Executive Board Member and Professional Development Officer for the Broward APA from 2009 to 2011. Both James and Johanna are board certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (“AICP”).

Our Private Land Use and Zoning Practice Group and Public Land Use and Zoning Practice Group routinely represent clients in a variety of land use matters throughout various south Florida jurisdictions at the municipal, county and State level. The Groups work closely with our Environmental Law Group, which provides keen insight into applicable Federal, State and local environmental laws and regulations.

The APA is a not-for-profit educational organization that champions good planning through direct public advocacy in government. Created in 1978 through the consolidation of two separate planning organizations, the APA has more than 40,000 national members, including more than 15,000 certified planners.

To read the article in Attorney At Law Magazine, please click here.

Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara

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James has been Board Certified in City, County and Local Government Law by the Florida Bar.  In addition to his role as BAPA’s Legislative Representative, James also serves on the Environmental and Land Use Law Section and the State and Local Government Section of the Florida Bar. He is also an Executive Board Member of the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation, and a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  James is a Partner in the firm’s Public Land Use and Zoning Practice Group. Johanna has served as an Executive Board Member and Professional Development Officer for BAPA from 2009 to 2011. Both James and Johanna are board certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (“AICP”).

Our Private Land Use and Zoning Practice Group and Public Land Use and Zoning Practice Group routinely represent clients in a variety of land use matters throughout various south Florida jurisdictions at the municipal, county and State level. The Groups work closely with our Environmental Law Group, which provides keen insight into applicable Federal, State and local environmental laws and regulations.

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Upholding a Second District Court of Appeal decision, State v. Catalano, 60 So. 3d 1139 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011), the Court held the statute is invalid because it is an unreasonable restriction on the freedom of expression. The Court also held the statute is not unconstitutionally vague, but is unconstitutionally overbroad and an impermissible content-based restriction.

Justice Jorge Labarga writing for the majority, stated the law is “content based” as it did not apply “equally to music, political speech and advertising”. The law provides an exemption to motor vehicles used for business and political purposes, thus treating commercial and political speech more favorably than noncommercial speech.

“For instance, business and political vehicles may amplify commercial or political speech at any volume, whereas an individual traversing the highways for pleasure would be issued a citation for listening to any type of sound, whether it is religious advocacy or music, too loudly,” he wrote. As such, the law was subject to the strict scrutiny analysis to determine whether it was a reasonable restriction or unconstitutionally overbroad.

The State argued that the primary purpose behind the law was traffic safety and protecting the public from excessively loud noise on public streets. The State further argued that the business and political exemption is based on the type of vehicle, and not the content of the message, because those vehicles do not present the same safety and noise pollution concerns as other vehicles. Thus, according to the State, the justification for the differential treatment, and the statue as a whole, is content neutral.

Author(s): James E. White

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To read the synopsis, click here. To check on the status of any individual bill or read the bill’s text and/or amendments, you can visit the Florida Legislature’s website.

Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara

The post Florida Legislature Will Tackle Several Significant Planning and Growth Management Bills In Upcoming Legislative Session appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

Farmton encompasses 59,000 acres west of Interstate 95 in northern Brevard and central Volusia counties. Plans call for 23,000 homes and more than 4 million square feet of commercial space to be built over the next 50 years on a remote tree farm. More than 75 percent of the land will be permanently conserved, with development concentrated in several clusters.

Edgewater resident Barbara Herrin, the Sierra Club of Florida and the Edgewater Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development had challengedVolusiaCounty’s approval of the FLP by Miami Corp., which owns the Farmton tract.

Volusia Countyinitially approved the proposed development plan over objections by environmentalists in 2010. State planners with the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), under Gov. Charlie Crist’s administration, rejected the plans as sprawl and challenged the plan as “not in compliance” with state law by filing a petition for formal administrative proceedings with the Department of Administrative Hearings (DOAH).

Pursuant to a settlement agreement among the parties that sought the placement of the case in abeyance, the County adopted remedial plan amendments to meet the compliance concerns initially raised by the State.

However, under Gov. Rick Scott, state planners with the newly created Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) approved the remedial plan and found it to be “in compliance” with state law.

In 2011, the Florida Legislature substantially overhauled the state’s growth management laws with the enactment of Chapter 2011-139, Laws of Florida, which redesignated the “Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act” as the “Community Planning Act”.

This reflects the shift from State oversight to local government control of the planning and growth management process. The State’s new role is to focus on protecting the functions of important state resources and facilities.

In challenges filed by an affected person, the comprehensive plan or plan amendment must be determined to be in compliance if the local government’s determination of compliance is fairly debatable.

Judge Maloney determined the new law applied to the proceedings both procedurally and substantively.

The environmental groups argued the FLP represents the very essence of sprawl, but in one of the key findings Judge Maloney ruled the Petitioners failed to prove “beyond fair debate” that the FLP fails to discourage the proliferation of urban sprawl based upon the new definition and factors set forth within the new law.

The judge’s recommended order will be forwarded to the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) for approval.

You can read a copy of the Recommended Order here.

Author(s): James E. White

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