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Safety Harbor adopts Live Local Act procedures after contentious 3‑2 vote
Summary
The City Commission approved administrative procedures required by Florida’s Live Local Act to process eligible affordable‑housing applications. Commissioners and residents debated loss of local hearings and how the city will notify the public before the city manager can administratively approve projects.
The Safety Harbor City Commission adopted administrative procedures to implement the Live Local Act on Monday after a 3–2 vote that highlighted tensions over state preemption and the limits of local control.
Carol Strickland, the city’s community development director, told the commission the procedures establish how the city will process applications that qualify under the Live Local Act — a state law that allows certain multifamily developments with an affordable‑housing component to be approved administratively rather than through local public hearings. The procedures add public‑notice checkpoints: at site‑plan application, after staff review and recommendation, and when the city manager takes action; staff also added an annual reporting requirement to the Florida Department of Commerce, per new 2025 legislation.
Commissioners who opposed the procedures said the law effectively removes the commission and the public from decision‑making on some developments. One commissioner told residents the only recourse is to lobby state lawmakers because the city “has no choice but to legally...vote this in.” Supporters said the local procedures at least provide transparency and notice even if final decisions are made administratively.
The motion to adopt Resolution 2025‑01 carried 3–2. The resolution records the city’s procedural steps but does not create a new discretionary hearing for Live Local Act applications; the statute allows administrative approvals where applications meet qualifying criteria.
