Members of the Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board spent part of the meeting reviewing proposed Central City rezoning options and the implications of Florida Senate Bill 180. City staff said the Planning & Zoning Board will present three options at its Nov. 19 meeting and that attorneys have vetted the proposals.

Board members expressed differing views about how to proceed. Some urged the city to "wait it out" until SB 180’s legal implications are resolved, while others recommended moving forward selectively — for example, advancing rezoning on corridors such as Sunrise Boulevard that the board wants to encourage for mixed-use development. Member comments stressed the need to balance incentives for development with protections for neighborhood-scale retail and workforce housing.

A board member summarized concerns about SB 180’s reach, noting that the law includes disaster-recovery provisions that can extend in some circumstances: "even though it’s set to expire in 2027, should a hurricane hit every year, the bill keeps going," a member said, citing conversations with legislative offices. Staff advised the advisory board that the Planning & Zoning Board is the appropriate venue for detailed debate and that advisory board members who live in the area may offer written comments or appear at the hearing as private citizens.

Staff and members also discussed the 'opt-in' approach that would allow property owners to participate in the rezoning program, plus narrower strategies for rezoning select subareas to limit potential legal risk while pursuing the city's activation goals. The board asked staff to provide written clarification of legal and procedural constraints before the advisory board's next meeting.

Next steps: staff will bring a fuller explanation of the three options to the Planning & Zoning Board and circulate legal clarifications to advisory board members; members were encouraged to submit written comments via the P&Z public comment process.