Florida
In Hurricane-Prone Florida, Legislators Reconsider New Growth and Development Law – Inside Climate News
After three hurricanes battered Florida in 2024, state lawmakers approved legislation that supporters said would help communities recover. But the measure has had the much more far-reaching consequence of blocking local sustainability and resilience efforts.
The provisions of SB 180 that enhance growth and development in this booming state, which is uniquely vulnerable to more damaging storms, rising tides and flooding, are poised to be a top issue as the legislative session begins this week.
Three bills have been introduced to address the widespread concerns over the measure, which sparked two lawsuits after taking effect last July. The state moved to dismiss both complaints, and the cases, both filed in Leon County Circuit Court, have since been consolidated.
“Under the guise of helping people rebuild damaged structures, they did developers around the state a huge favor and basically froze in place all existing development standards in an area, in a state that has major problems that we need to address relative to sea level rise, environmental protections, habitat protections, water quality protections, affordable housing,” said Richard Grosso, an environmental attorney representing an advocacy group, 1000 Friends of Florida, in one of the lawsuits.
“Planning is supposed to be, has always been, an ongoing endeavor. You adjust your rules as you meet changing conditions and new challenges. And I don’t think anybody who is seriously knowledgeable about local land use planning in the state that would say our rules right now, they’re good, they’re adequate for all the future challenges Florida is facing.”
SB 180 goes to the heart of a dialogue that arises often in Florida after destructive hurricanes. On one hand, there is a widespread collective resolve to rebuild. But on the other, there is awareness of the inevitability of future storms and the prudence of rebuilding more sustainably. After Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida in 1992 as a Category 5 hurricane, building codes were strengthened, but as written, SB 180 prevents the implementation of similar actions.
The law prohibits local governments from enacting any land development policies that could be considered to be “more restrictive or burdensome.” Because of the way the measure is written and the widespread impacts of the 2024 hurricane season, which spawned Debby, Helene and Milton, it affects every county and municipality in the state. Opponents say the measure, which applies retroactively, essentially freezes all local planning and zoning regulations as they stood on Aug. 1, 2024, and keeps them frozen until Oct. 1, 2027.
“It really squashed community planning, any improvements to community plans, for up to three years,” said Kim Dinkins, policy and planning director at 1000 Friends of Florida. “We could be hit with additional damaging storms that local governments couldn’t have put in place any additional protections.”
Since SB 180 took effect, more than a dozen local governments across Florida have received letters from the Department of Commerce, which oversees land planning in the state, declaring their proposed land development policies null and void under the law, according to 1000 Friends of Florida. Many of the changes were meant to strengthen stormwater management measures, protect natural resources and prevent urban sprawl. Some local governments have been slapped with lawsuits because of the law. Multiple local governments have joined to file their own litigation challenging the measure’s constitutionality.
State Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-St. Petersburg), who sponsored SB 180, did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Climate News. But ahead of the legislative session he filed a new bill that would revise some of the more controversial aspects of the law. SB 840 would narrow the law’s scope so that it would apply to communities situated within closer proximity to a hurricane’s path. The bill would also reduce the threat of lawsuits against local governments and shorten the law’s duration, moving the end date from Oct. 1, 2027 to June 30, 2026.
Two other bills have been filed to revise SB 180 but are much more limited in scope, Dinkins said. She characterized DiCeglie’s legislation as a good start but said it could go further.
“A lot of local governments have already put forth future land use amendments and been told they can’t adopt them,” she said. “If (legislators) were to redefine the impacted local governments, that would at least free up those local governments that are being impacted that had no storm-related damage.”
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Amy Green
Reporter, Florida
Amy Green covers the environment and climate change from Orlando, Florida. She is a mid-career journalist and author whose extensive reporting on the Everglades is featured in the book MOVING WATER, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, and podcast DRAINED, available wherever you get your podcasts. Amy’s work has been recognized with many awards, including a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award and Public Media Journalists Association award.
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – If you felt shaking along Florida’s east coast on Thursday, you’re not alone. But it wasn’t an earthquake.
A strong “experimental explosion” was reported in the waters off Central Florida on Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The USGS website indicates that the explosion happened around 3:04 p.m., roughly 91 miles east-northeast of Ponce Inlet.
Per the agency, the event registered a preliminary magnitude of 3.9. However, few other details about what may have caused the explosion have been provided at this time.
“The recorded ground motions from this event are more typical of an explosion than a naturally occurring earthquake,” the USGS website reads. “The Navy has conducted Full Ship Shock Trials in this region in the past.”
[A LOOK BACK: U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford performs shock trials on an aircraft carrier in 2021]
News 6 has reached out to Navy officials for more information and is awaiting additional details.
Anyone who felt the impact of the explosion is urged to report their experience here.
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
Florida preacher Tommie Zito discusses his acquisition of the former Green Mountain College in Vermont to establish “Z University,” a Christian college.
Florida preacher Tommie Zito discusses his mission to transform the abandoned Green Mountain College in Vermont into “Z University,” a Christian college. Zito’s goal is to train future leaders in evangelism, business, government, and music. He plans for the college to be fully operational by August 2027, emphasizing the need for godly institutions to counter current educational trends.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A parasite that causes extreme diarrhea, seen in recent outbreaks across the country, has been documented in over 20 counties in Florida. But experts say there could be more cases than what has been reported.
According to the Florida Department of Health’s Reportable Diseases Frequency Report, 50 cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported in the state since May 1.
“This infectious disease may be hard to monitor due to the nature of the signs and symptoms,” said Dr. Norman Beatty, an associate professor of medicine and hospital epidemiologist at UF Health Shands. “It’s common to get a diarrheal illness at times, and other infectious diseases can resolve on their own, but cyclosporiasis is important to identify right now because there are multiple outbreaks across the country.”
Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal disease caused by the parasite cyclospora, which causes diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue and loss of appetite, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
[WATCH: Parasitic infection spreading across states, including Florida]
Once a case is confirmed through testing, a report is sent to the state department of health. But if someone doesn’t seek medical attention, the case could go unreported, Beatty said.
There could be a six-week reporting lag between illness onset and reporting, according to the CDC.
Since May 1, the federal agency has received reports of 1,645 confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis but is aware of more than 5,100 cases that require further analysis, the CDC stated Tuesday.
In Florida since May 1, DOH data shows Lee County has seen the most cyclosporiasis cases with nine, followed by Miami-Dade with six and Broward with five.
Other counties with cases include: Alachua, Brevard, Collier, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Gadsden, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter and Volusia.
In Alachua County, Beatty said he has seen several cases at UF Health Shands, which doctors believe stemmed from eating produce.
Previous outbreaks in the U.S. have been linked to raw produce, like lettuce and raspberries.
According to DOH data, Alachua County has seen one case of cyclosporiasis in June. But the department’s data is 10 days out of date, according to DOH’s website. The last day cases were uploaded to the report was July 4. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s data on Florida undercounts DOH’s data, with only 11-30 reported sick people in the state.
In most scenarios, people who get cyclosporiasis will recover on their own. But in some cases, people can have persistent symptoms and relapsing infections over time, so any suspected cases should be tested, Beatty said.
Direct human-to-human transmission is rare, he said, but if infected, people could shed the parasite into the environment, where it could become infectious again within a week or two, contributing to another outbreak.
“It’s a very hardy parasite,” he said.
The outbreak was first reported in Michigan on July 1, with other outbreaks later reported in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, according to the CDC.
While 34 states, including Florida, have reported cases, the source of the outbreak is still unknown.
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