The Senate passed two bills late last week that essentially killed growth management in Florida, eliminating the Dept. of Community Affairs and repealing a law from 1985 that required developers to assess impacts.
Mary Elen Klas reports that the growth managment repeal was "the priority of House Speaker Dean Cannon as well as Gov. Rick Scott, who campaigned on the promise of reducing regulations he believes hamper development in Florida."
The bills were squeezed into the larger budget approval, an unusual move in the Florida Senate.
The 2nd bill involves water management, and Klas reports that it "shifts the burden from developers, who previously had to prove a permitted project would not harm the environment, to citizens who must prove that the development will pollute water or land."
Read the full story: Florida lawmakers wipe out 30 years of growth management law
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