Apopka council transmits comprehensive-plan rewrite after state law narrows local rules

The City Council of Apopka voted unanimously July 2 to accept first reading of a near-complete rewrite of the city's comprehensive plan and to transmit it to the Florida Department of Commerce and other state reviewing agencies for comment.

The rewrite replaces most elements of Apopka's 2009 plan except the transportation element and modernizes policy language, zoning references and the plan's background data. City staff and East Central Florida Regional Planning Council consultants told the council the draft updates policy goals and the data inventory, but they removed or revised several proposed policies after reviewing Senate Bill 180, a law signed on June 26 that limits local governments' ability to adopt new or retroactive "burdensome" land-use or permitting regulations through Oct. 1, 2027.

Bobby Howe, Apopka planning manager, told the council the rewrite had been a multi-year effort with the Regional Planning Council and that staff recommended transmitting the draft to state reviewers after making the changes required by the new law. City attorney Andrew Hand outlined the bill for the council: it prohibits moratoria and broadly bars local governments from adopting new regulations deemed more restrictive than state standards in specified hurricane-affected areas and, in effect, across Florida until the statutory deadline. Hand said the bill is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, and remains in force through Oct. 1, 2027.

The council discussed particular policy reversals staff had made to avoid a conflict with SB 180. For example, staff restored a high-density residential policy (HDR 25) and kept minimum densities north of Sebastian Springs Lane at two units per acre where earlier drafts had proposed reducing densities; staff said the changes respond to the law's prohibition on imposing new, more restrictive rules that would discourage redevelopment.

Planning commission members had recommended approval on May 13 by a 6-1 vote, and the council moved promptly to transmit the rewrite so the state and other reviewing agencies can complete their consistency reviews. The ordinance passed first reading with a motion by Commissioner Velasquez, seconded by Commissioner Anderson; the vote was unanimous.

Council members said they expect to receive state comments and then revise the plan as needed before a second reading and final adoption. Staff and consultants said they would update the plan text and the data inventory with any new figures that become available before adoption, and clarified that a separate, later update of the land-development code will be required to bring local ordinances into alignment with the rewritten plan.