Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The 2025 Florida Legislative Session commenced on Tuesday, March 4, with over 1,800 pieces of legislation filed. During the 60-day session, many of these bills will be considered, potentially impacting your business or industry in various ways.

Each week, the Rotunda Report will provide a high level summary of what occurred during the prior week. A practicing attorney in the related industry will also provide a deeper analysis of a single piece of legislation in our Legislation Spotlight. In Week 5’s Legislation Spotlight, Stearns Weaver Miller attorneys Glenn Burhans, Jr. and Bridget Smitha provide an analysis of SB 1622 and HB 6043, which seeks to repeal the customary use statute originally passed in 2018.

Week 5 Recap

Week 5 officially crosses the halfway point of the 60-day 2025 Legislative session. Typically by this point in the session, between 10 and 20 bills would have already passed out of both chambers. However, this session, zero substantive bills have passed. Of the over 1800 bills that were filed, more than 800 bills have yet to be heard in a single committee. Though there are still 4 weeks left, this is a strong signal that these bills do not have enough time to reach a final floor vote.

The House Budget Committee and Senate Appropriations Committees are both on track to pass their budgets. This would give both chambers several weeks to pass the budget bills and then work out the differences in conference. The Senate proposed a $117.36 billion budget and the House proposed a $112.95 billion budget. By comparison, the initial Senate and House budgets in 2024 were $115.5 and $115.9 billion. There will likely need to be large concessions made by both chambers to pass a budget.

Despite the over $4 billion difference between the two chambers, the Member Appropriation Project Request Totals are much closer:

• 2025 House total: $5,911,628,355 
• 2025 Senate total: $5,794,839,299

Legislation Spotlight:

The Repeal of the Customary Use Statute 

Glenn Burhans, Jr. and Bridget Smitha

SB 1622, filed by Senator Trumbull, and HB 6043, filed by Representatives Andrade and Abbott, seek to repeal the customary use statute. Originally enacted in 2018 as HB 631 (codified as 163.035, Fla. Stat.), the customary use statute created a process for local governments to adopt an ordinance or rule governing the public’s right to use the dry sand portion of privately owned beaches for recreational purposes. The statute requires local governments to provide public notice of its intent to adopt the ordinance or rule and to obtain a judicial determination affirming the existence of the public’s customary use of the area of the beach at issue. Additionally, HB 631 prohibited local governments from keeping in force an ordinance based on the doctrine of customary use passed two years prior to the law’s enactment.  The statute launched extensive and expensive litigation.

The Doctrine of Customary Use dates back centuries and is rooted in the common law right of people to utilize private property owned by others for particular uses that have been shown to be ancient, reasonable, uninterrupted and free from dispute. The Florida Supreme Court recognized the common law right of the pubic to use privately owned beaches in 1974 in the case of City of Daytona Beach v. Tona-Rama. Subsequent court decisions, including Trepanier v. County of Volusia in 2007, further clarified the public’s right to recreational customary use.  A core underpinning of those decisions is the recognition of the unique nature of one of Florida’s most precious resources – her world-renowned beaches.

Over the past 20 years, several coastal communities adopted ordinances regulating the public’s use and conduct on beaches, including on privately-owned portions of the beach. In 2016, Walton County enacted an ordinance (the “Customary Use Ordinance”) which declared that “[t]he public’s long-standing customary use of the dry sand areas of all of the beaches in the County for recreational purposes is hereby protected.” After enacting the Customary Use Ordinance, many beachfront property owners sought redress from the courts and the legislature to overturn the Customary Use Ordinance, eventually leading to the passage of HB 631 in 2018.

After the legislature passed HB 631, there was tremendous confusion about the impact and scope of the new law. Many property owners took measures into their own hands by cutting off public beach-goer access to the dry-sand portion of their beach, and in some instances, parts of the wet-sand, which is generally sovereign land of the State.

Two weeks after HB 631 took effect, Governor Rick Scott signed Executive Order 18-202, directing state agencies not to adopt any rule restricting public access to any state beach having an established recreational customary use. The Governor directed the Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida State Parks System to engage in “appropriate efforts” to ensure access to Florida’s public beaches. The Governor also urged all governmental entities not headed by an official serving at the pleasure of the Governor, including county and municipal governments, to refrain from adopting any ordinance or rule that would restrict or eliminate access to public beaches.

After six years of HB 631 being in effect, the Legislature now seeks to repeal the customary use statute through SB 1622 and HB 6043. Both bills are in their last committee stops, and appear to be uncontroversial in both chambers. The practical effect of the repeal means that local governments can once again adopt ordinances or rules affirming the public’s right to utilize dry sand areas of privately owned portions of the beach based on the doctrine of customary use without having to first seek a judicial declaration.  

Stearns Weaver Miller has significant experience advising clients on and litigating customary use issues and will continue to monitor all aspects of Florida land use legislation, including the proposed bills, as the 2025 Florida Legislative Session continues.