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Planning board backs LDC changes to make plat approvals administrative under new Florida law
Summary
On Sept. 25 the board recommended approval of Land Development Code amendments to implement Senate Bill 784 (effective July 1, 2025), shifting preliminary and final plat approval from the planning board and city commission to city staff and updating submittal and procedural requirements.
The Daytona Beach Planning Board on Sept. 25 voted to recommend amendments to Articles 2, 3 and 7 and Appendix A of the City’s Land Development Code to bring local plat procedures into compliance with Senate Bill 784 (SB 784), which requires administrative approval of plats. Dennis Merzick, planning director, presented the proposed text changes and staff recommendation.
Merzick told the board SB 784, effective July 1, 2025, requires cities to allow administrative (staff) approval of plats; the proposed LDC amendments remove the planning-board and city-commission approval steps and update submittal requirements to align with Florida Statutes chapter 177. Staff also proposed adding construction plans to the approval package and removing a now-obsolete “concept plan” requirement. Staff said the code cleanup also formalizes an electronic submittal process and corrects several internal references.
Merzick said the changes were largely technical and intended to comply with state law; he noted that although the code text had not yet been adopted, staff were already following state law for plat processing. The item is tentatively scheduled for first reading by the City Commission on Nov. 5 and second reading on Nov. 19, 2025, Merzick said.
Board members asked procedural questions. One member asked what would happen if the planning board did not recommend the amendment; Merzick said the item would still go to the city commission for action because code amendments require a planning-board recommendation but the commission has final authority. After discussion, a motion to recommend the LDC text amendment passed unanimously. The board’s recorded tally was four yes, zero no.
The amendment alters local review pathways for subdivisions and easements by transferring final decision authority for plats to administrative staff; affected applicants and the public will see plat reviews handled by planning staff rather than by the planning board and city commission, according to staff presentation.
