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Jacob T. Cremer
Tampa
Kenneth B. Metcalf, AICP*
Tallahassee
*Non-lawyer
Special thanks to Nicole Neugebauer and Christopher Berg who assisted in the drafting of this alert. Nicole is a third-year Juris Doctor Candidate at Stetson University College of Law. Christopher is a third year Juris Doctor Candidate at the Florida State University College of Law.
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Governor DeSantis Terminates Emergency Declaration for 43 Counties Starting 90-Day Clock for Important Notice Letters
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As the 2019 hurricane season continues, Governor DeSantis recently issued Executive Order 19-206, which terminated the Hurricane Dorian emergency declaration extension for 43 counties, while continuing the previous emergency declaration issued for 25 other impacted counties. As further discussed, this action started a 90-day clock for filing important notice letters for projects located within the following 43 counties: Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Okaloosa, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington. The 90-day deadline for filing notice letters expires December 19, 2019.
Pursuant to Section 252.363, Florida Statutes, the issuance of an emergency declaration by the Governor for a "natural emergency," such as hurricanes, tolls certain regulatory dates applicable to local government development orders and various types of permits. However, the tolling relief does not automatically apply. A notice letter must be filed with the permitting agency within 90 days following the termination of the emergency declaration. Upon timely filing, the notice letter tolls the expiration date and other eligible regulatory dates for the time period of the emergency declaration and extends those dates by an additional six months. The following types of development orders and permits qualify as specified in s. 252.363(1)(a), Florida Statutes:
- The expiration of a development order issued by a local government.
- The expiration of a building permit.
- The expiration of a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection or a water management district pursuant to part IV of chapter 373.
- The buildout date of a development of regional impact, including any extension of a buildout date that was previously granted as specified in s. 380.06(7)(c).
Please note that certain restrictions apply as specified by the statute. It is also important to specify all eligible regulatory dates in the notice letter, including particularly all eligible mitigation deadlines.
In a separate action, Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 19-207, extending the previously issued emergency declaration for an additional 60 days for nine panhandle counties impacted by Hurricane Michael in 2018. No action is required at this time for this emergency declaration. For more information on pending emergency declarations, please visit our Executive Order Permitting Tracker.
Our Land Development, Zoning & Environmental team can assist you in evaluating your projects and timely filing notice letters to obtain all eligible benefits authorized by statute, including for Developments of Regional Impact, which require evaluation in conjunction with other statutory requirements. For more information, please contact us.
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