By Mayor Bryan Nelson

One of the most impactful bills of 2025 was Senate Bill 180, “An Act relating to Emergencies,” which has had far reaching impacts on homeowners, the Division of Emergency Management and local governments.  

This 48-page, comprehensive bill was adopted in response to the multiple hurricanes and their effects on homeowners trying to repair, rebuild and limit local government’s interference in expediting rebuilding.  

The first part of the bill gives homeowners the ability to make needed repairs to their structure without paying building permits or impact fees, unless there is a significant increase in size or intensity. The bill also limits the increase in assessed value if the improvements are less than 130% of the original square footage.  

Senate Bill 180 also requires municipalities to designate an emergency point person for interactions with the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) and requires that person to establish hurricane and tropical storm protocols and complete bi-annual disaster training. 

Now to the areas where local governments are having heartburn. Senate Bill 180 restricts local governments within 100 miles of the track of a storm from implementing a moratorium on construction, reconstruction, or redevelopment of any property. Local governments can’t adopt a more restrictive or burdensome amendment to the Comprehensive Plan or Land Development Code or implement a more restrictive or burdensome procedure concerning reviews, approvals, permits or site plans.  

In Section 28 of Senate Bill 180, these restrictions apply retroactively back to Aug. 1, 2024, and remain in effect until Oct. 1, 2027.  

Seminole County, Orange County, the city of Apopka, the city of Edgewood and numerous other cities and counties across the state have put their Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code rewrites on hold until the impacts of Senate Bill 180 have been fully vetted.  

Prior to an initial vote to adopt the new Comprehensive Plan, the City Council decided to delay final adoption until we received comments from the Florida Department of Commerce. At that point, the City Council will have clarity and direction from the state as to proceed with the final adoption of our Comprehensive Plan.  

Apopka and counties and cities across the state have been told by Florida Commerce not to initiate changes that run counter to Senate Bill 180. Our city attorney is looking for direction going forward from the Department of Commerce, and until then our Comprehensive Plan is in limbo.  

We as a city need to abide by state law but hope that we can influence our state lawmakers to make modifications that will give Apopka more flexibility in managing our growth.