House undoes Senate changes to Live Local Act update, sends amended bill back across rotunda

House lawmakers have rejected Senate changes to a proposed third update of the affordable housing-focused Live Local Act, restoring and removing provisions so the measure includes allowances for developments on church property while omitting so-called “granny flats” altogether.

Members voted 98-4 for the updated bill (HB 1389) by Rep. Mike Redondo before sending it back across the rotunda, where Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a fellow Miami Republican, last amended it March 6.

HB 1389, if passed, would expand Florida’s affordable housing preemptions on local governments by requiring counties and cities to allow multifamily and mixed-use developments in areas zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use if at least 40% of the units are offered at affordable rates for 30 years minimum.

The measure would also adjust property-tax rules for affordable housing projects, allow certain incentives for land donations for affordable housing and order a state analysis of using tiny homes to increase housing supply.

Further, it would strengthen fair-housing protections related to land-use decisions — including waiving sovereign immunity — which protects local governments from pricey lawsuits above $200,000 and $300,000 liability caps — for certain housing discrimination claims, allowing people to sue the state, its agencies or local governments if they violate those fair housing protections.

But the Senate and House have differed on several other provisions in the roughly 25-page proposal.

Most notably, the House’s version of the measure, as amended, would allow affordable housing development on property owned by a religious institution larger than 3 acres if the church, synagogue or mosque has stood on the parcel for at least 10 years.

Meanwhile, the Senate’s preferred language would require local governments to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) — commonly referred to as efficiencies, studios, guesthouses or “granny flats” — in single-family residential areas through streamlined approval processes and limit restrictions that can be placed on them. Those structures would have to be rented at affordable rates.

The House version now being sent to the Senate removed all references to ADUs. It would also extend a provision allowing developers to assemble nearby parcels separated by up to 15 feet for qualifying projects.

Further, it would allow counties and cities where housing data shows there is already an adequate supply of affordable units to opt out of the Live Local Act, which lawmakers passed in 2023 to spur construction of affordable and workforce housing across Florida through funding, tax incentives and zoning preemptions.

Legislators have since amended the law twice to clarify rules and strengthen its housing development provisions.

With the latest proposed changes, Redondo said, he and other House policymakers have “made sure we have sufficient protections” for localities while still answering the demand for housing help.

Democratic Rep. Kevin Chambliss, who represents the south Miami-Dade municipality of Homestead, said he appreciated the changes HB 1389 would bring, particularly the part allowing religious institutions to offer their land.

“When it comes to some of our communities, especially communities that are historically of color, some of the biggest property owners in those communities is some of our faith-based institutions,” he said, adding that there has been “a strong movement” in his district to support the allowance. “They have a vested interest in how that community looks in the future. … I hope we can look more into how we can allow these houses of worship that have the available property to continue to develop, especially when it comes to affordable housing.”