The Florida Current: Bennett removes controversial provision from bill

The Florida Current published this article on March 5, 2010

Bruce Ritchie

The Senate Community Affairs Committee on Thursday passed SB 1742 but only after Sen. Mike Bennett offered an amendment to remove language dealing with last year’s controversial growth management bill. Bennett, R-Bradenton, and sponsor of SB 1742 had initially placed in the bill a provision that attempted to overturn a Department of Community Affairs interpretation of SB 360.

That law, which environmentalists, cities and counties opposed, removed requirements that developers pay for roads and schools in cities and counties designated as “dense urban land areas.” But after the bill passed last year, DCA Secretary Tom Pelham said the requirement did not apply to local requirements for transportation “concurrency.” Bennett tried to change that by putting in a bill this year stating that state or local concurrency ordinances do not apply in those dense urban land areas.

But Bennett on Thursday said he did not want to jeopardize the broad support for SB 1742, which he said is intended to encourage “transit-oriented” developments. Those are developments that are intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle trips. He said he will continue discussions with DCA on legislation to address last year’s growth management law.