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Subcommittee narrows zoning preemption; farms removed from commercial definitions in HB 837
Summary
The Housing, Agriculture and Tourism Subcommittee adopted amendments and voted to report House Bill 837 favorably after its sponsor said the bill would exclude farms and farm operations from definitions of commercial, mixed‑use and industrial uses, correcting an earlier change in zoning preemption that unintentionally captured family farms.
Representative Bessada told the committee HB 837 would restore clarity to Florida’s zoning preemption definitions by excluding farms and farm operations from the terms commercial use, mixed use and industrial use, which she said were unintentionally sweeping in many family and working farms after last year’s statutory clarification. "The bill excludes farms and farm operations from the definition of commercial use, mixed use, and industrial use," she said.
An amendment from Representative DeSata (barcode 899999) removed certain farming‑related activities from the definition of industrial use; the committee adopted it by voice vote. The committee then adopted a second amendment (barcode 239997) the sponsor said further removed farming activities from the industrial‑use definition. There was no public testimony or debate on the amendments.
After the amendments were adopted, Representative Bessada waived closing; a roll call followed and the bill was reported favorably. Chair Salzman moved that the committee show HB 837 "reported favorably." The transcript records a voice roll call with committee members answering "yes." The committee took no additional action and moved to the next agenda item.
The transcript includes two spellings for the sponsor ("Bessada" and, in two places, "Bousada"). The article uses "Representative Bessada" where that spelling appears in the record and notes the variant in clarifying details. The text of the bill as described in committee narrows the statutory definitions to exclude farms and farm operations; the committee adopted technical amendments and approved the measure for further consideration.
