TALLAHASSEE
Even as Florida’s economy revs back up, one type of development that has been conspicuously absent across the state is the mega-project.
It has been nearly a decade since a large new housing or commercial project that falls under Florida’s Development of Regional Impact, or DRI, law has been reviewed by state planning officials, a development industry lobbyist told state senators this week.
While some might blame the absence of such developments on the lingering impacts of the Great Recession, the building industry and key lawmakers point to the DRI law itself as an impediment, saying it is too costly and time consuming and should be repealed.
A bill that advanced in the state Senate this week would do away with the DRI process, one of the last vestiges of the state’s once comprehensive growth management regulations.
“This is a layer of government that does not need to exist any longer,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby.
Simpson’s bill cruised through the Senate Community Affairs Committee with unanimous approval. It is strongly backed by developers and opposed by environmental groups and associations for city and county governments.
Similar legislation cleared a number of Senate committees last year but never made it to the full chamber for a vote.
Developers have long complained about the DRI process, saying it is onerous and actually encourages bad planning because projects are often broken into smaller pieces to come under the DRI threshold.
Critics of repealing the DRI reviews say the state needs to maintain a system for coordinating development on a regional level, pointing to traffic impacts and other issues associated with growth that extend well beyond individual city and county boundaries.
Sarasota County Commissioner Charles Hines said he has mixed feelings about the DRI process but believes it can be useful in certain situations.
“I think they have value when you truly have regional issues,” Hines said.
40-year history
The DRI system dates back to 1972 and is considered one of Florida’s earliest efforts to manage growth.
Palm trees frame Prestancia Boulevard in Palmer Ranch in Sarasota.There was a standoff with the developers of the Palmer Ranch in Sarasota County over improving the roadways and other infrastructure. It was eventually resolved through the DRI process and now Palmer Ranch is one of Sarasota County's most desirable communities.
Whenever developers propose what amounts to a small city — think Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County or Palmer Ranch in Sarasota County — they must go through another layer of review from one of 11 regional planning councils established across Florida, with additional input from state planners.
Such reviews also are triggered for large commercial projects such as the Ellenton Premium Outlets and University Town Center malls.
Sarasota County has 15 developments that went through the DRI permitting process, while Manatee County has 19. There are two developments in the Parrish area currently applying to move forward as DRIs, and none in the pipeline in Sarasota County.
The DRI system is one of the more significant statewide growth management regulations remaining in Florida. Much of the state’s oversight over local development decisions was scaled back in 2011.
Even the DRI law has less reach than it once did. Developments in larger, more densely populated communities were exempted from participating in the DRI system in recent years but the law still applies in smaller and medium-sized counties such as Sarasota and Manatee.
Supporters say these reviews have forced developers to create better road and utility networks, contribute more money for public infrastructure, add to affordable housing and take other steps to improve their projects that might not happen if local governments don’t have another agency providing independent analysis.
The Florida League of Cities opposes doing away with the DRI reviews. One of the big reasons is traffic, said League of Cities lobbyist David Cruz.
“It provides a way for neighboring jurisdictions to provide comments on traffic,” Cruz said, which can be a contentious issue.
Simpson, the bill sponsor, notes that decisions made by the regional planning councils are not binding, and said that conflicts over traffic impacts and other issues can be resolved through agreements that all cities and counties are supposed to adopt with neighboring jurisdictions.
The idea that doing away with DRIs will create additional traffic headaches for communities is wrong, he said.
“It’s exactly the opposite,” Simpson said. “That will lead to larger well-planned communities.”
Some Southwest Florida officials believe there is merit to this argument, but not everyone is ready to do away with DRIs.
Unintended consequences
A series of developments in southern Sarasota County on the Thomas Ranch property are good examples of projects that might have had more public benefits without the DRI restrictions, Hines said.
The new communities along U.S. 41 in the region where North Port, Venice and Englewood come together are all just below the DRI threshold and Hines said developers have told him that was done intentionally to avoid the extra costs.
The drawback is that these projects have not coordinated their road networks and other infrastructure, Hines said.
“If we are so restrictive in helping people plan to use their property you end up with things you don’t want,” said Hines, who also serves on the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, the agency that coordinates DRI reviews in the region.
Hines has other criticisms of the regional planning council system. He said his council did not have much to do during the economic downturn and got involved in issues beyond its authority.
But when it comes to the DRI law, Hines said it may still serve a purpose at some level. He is particularly interested in maintaining a system where a local government has some say over a development that might be just over its border in another jurisdiction.
Communities such as Lakewood Ranch and big projects such as the Mall at University Town Center are good examples, he said. These developments will send huge amounts of traffic across county lines and neighboring jurisdictions have a strong interest in how they are planned.
“The DRI process is cumbersome and very expensive but I think it has value,” Hines said.
