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Pinellas staff urges caution as Florida’s Live Local law widens build-by-right areas
Summary
County staff briefed commissioners on successive state bills that preempt local zoning for certain affordable housing projects and recommended not adopting two optional expansions that would open adjacent residential and religious parcels to Live Local projects.
Pinellas County planning staff on Oct. 16 advised commissioners to resist local adoption of two optional expansions to Florida’s Live Local framework after outlining three years of state changes that have broadened where affordable housing may be built by right.
Michael Schroederbach, of Pinellas County Building Development Review Services, told the commission the original Live Local legislation (Senate Bill 102, effective July 1, 2023) preempted local zoning on many commercial, industrial and mixed‑use parcels for multifamily affordable housing if at least 40% of the units are affordable at 120% of area median income or below. Two later bills (Senate Bill 328, 2024 and Senate Bill 1730, 2025) expanded and clarified allowable density, floor‑area‑ratio (FAR), maximum building height and administrative review procedures.
Schroederbach summarized the current state limits: maximum density up to 150 units per acre in applicable zones; a maximum FAR of 7.5 (and inclusion of lot coverage in that calculation); maximum height…
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