HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2025-033R 6
CITY OF CLERMONT
QwkedOanplau RESOLUTION NO.2025-033R
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CLERMONT, FLORIDA, DECLARING OPPOSITION TO SB 180 BY,
AMONG OTHER THINGS, REQUESTING THAT THE FLORIDA
LEGISLATURE SUBSTANTIVELY AMEND OR REPEAL SB 180 IN ITS
ENTIRETY, SUPPORTING LAWSUIT TO DECLARE THAT SB 180'S
IMPOSITION OF A BLANKET STATEWIDE PROHIBITION ON THE
EXERCISE OF HOME RULE AUTHORITY OVER LAND USE AND
ZONING REGULATIONS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND SHOULD BE
ENJOINED; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT, SEVERABILITY,
ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION OF SCRIVENERS ERROR,
PUBLICATION AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Article VIII, Section 2(b) of the Florida Constitution provides that
municipalities "shall have governmental, corporate and proprietary powers to enable them to
conduct municipal government,perform municipal functions and render municipal services,"and
authorizes municipalities to exercise any power for municipal purposes except as otherwise
provided by law; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2(b) of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution and
Chapters 163 and 166, Florida Statutes, municipalities have broad authority to adopt
comprehensive plans,enact land development regulations,issue development permits,and impose
temporary moratoria in furtherance of local public health, safety, and welfare, including for
purposes of orderly growth, environmental protection, disaster recovery, and community
resiliency; and
WHEREAS, on June 26, 2025, Senate Bill 180 ("SB 180"), titled "Emergencies," was
signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis and became effective immediately as
Chapter 2025-190, Florida Statutes; and
WHEREAS, among other things, Section 28 of SB 180 prohibits all local government-
initiated ordinances that impose "more restrictive or burdensome" comprehensive plan
amendments, land development regulations, or procedures concerning review, approval, or
issuance of site plans, development permits, or development orders (collectively, "Land Use and
Zoning Regulations") for the period commencing retroactively from August 1, 2024, through
October 1, 2027,even if such amendments,regulations or procedures are in no way related to any
hurricane or other emergency and even if such amendments, regulations, or procedures were duly
enacted prior to the enactment of SB 180; and
WHEREAS, Section 28 of SB 180 also bans local moratoria on construction,
reconstruction, or redevelopment of property damaged by a hurricane during the same
timeframe; and
WHEREAS, Section 18 of SB 180 further prohibits local governments that are located in
counties that are entirely or partially within 100 miles of the track of any future hurricane from
enacting "more restrictive or burdensome" Land Use and Zoning Regulations, and moratoria on
construction, reconstruction, or redevelopment of any property, damaged or not, for a period of
one year after the storm makes landfall; and
cLER N CITY OF CLERMONT
C,vadChampion RESOLUTION NO.2025-033R
WHEREAS, SB 180 is unconstitutional and invalid because, among other things, it:
(a) embraces more than one subject and matter properly connected therewith in violation
of Article III, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution;
(b)includes a defective title in violation of Article III,Section 6 of the Florida Constitution;
(c) requires municipalities and counties to spend in the aggregate an amount that exceeds
an insignificant fiscal impact without including a finding that the law fulfills an important state
interest as required by Article VII, Section 18 of the Florida Constitution;
(d) constitutes a sweeping intrusion on home-rule authority, threatening local ability to
enact land use, zoning, flood-resiliency, and environmental protections, contrary to Article VIII,
Section 2(b) of the Florida Constitution to a degree that renders the constitutional provision
hollow;and
(e)contains provisions that classify political subdivisions on a basis that is not reasonably
related to the subject of the law in violation of Art. III, Section 11(b) of the Florida
Constitution; and
WHEREAS, for example, despite SB 180 being titled "Emergencies," SB 180 contains
various matters that are not connected and/or are unrelated to emergencies, including Section 18
and 28's total ban on any "more restrictive or burdensome" Land Use and Zoning Regulations,
and Section 18's prohibition on moratoria on construction, reconstruction, and redevelopment of
property, even if the property is intact and was not damaged by a hurricane or other emergency
event;and
WHEREAS, the provisions of SB 180 also impose expenditure obligations upon
municipalities and counties that, as conceded in the Florida Legislature's own staff analysis,
exceed the threshold amount for an unfunded mandate, despite the lack of any finding in SB180' '
that the law fulfills an important state interest; and
WHEREAS, Section 18 of SB 180 infringes upon municipal home rule authority by
prohibiting municipalities from enacting Zoning and Land Use Regulations if they are located
within a county that is entirely or partially within 100 miles of the track of a hurricane for one year
in a completely indiscriminate manner that disregards the size, intensity, or impact of a hurricane
on the municipality, whether a proposed Zoning and Land Use Regulation has even a de minimis
impact on hurricane recovery efforts, or even if the Zoning and Land Use Regulations are
necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare from the effects of a hurricane; and
WHEREAS, Section 18 of SB 180 further usurps the municipal home rule authority
guaranteed by the citizens of Florida in the Florida Constitution by imposing blanket prohibitions
on any moratoria on construction, reconstruction, or redevelopment of property for one year
whenever a future hurricane falls within 100 miles of the county where the municipality is located,
regardless of the necessity or impetus behind such moratoria;and
WHEREAS,Section 28 of SB 180 similarly prohibits municipalities from enacting Zoning
and Land Use Regulations for the entire state of Florida retroactively from August 1,2024,through
October 1, 2027,without any rational justification; and
CITY OF CLERMONT
C�ER weaChariplev RESOLUTION NO.2025-033R
WHEREAS, SB 180's vague prohibitions on moratoria on construction, reconstruction,
and redevelopment of properties and Land Use and Zoning Regulations that are"more restrictive
or burdensome," and other ambiguous provisions render SB 180 incomprehensible, create
uncertainty, chill local governance, and encourage preemptive, potentially frivolous, litigation to
force local governments into repealing legislation,even if it might otherwise be a valid exercise of
home rule authority; and
WHEREAS,the City Council of the City of Clermont (the "City") desires to express its
opposition to SB 180 as passed by the Florida legislature and signed by Governor DeSantis, and
to urge its substantive amendment to eliminate the above-described infirmities of the legislation
or, alternatively,to eliminate SB 180 as codified in its entirety; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the City to express solidarity with other
municipalities and counties challenging SB 180, including but not limited to pending litigation
brought by attorneys at the Weiss Serota Helfinan Cole+Bierman, PL law firm to invalidate SB
180; and
NOW,THEREFORE,be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Clermont, Florida,
that:
SECTION 1: RECITALS
The above-stated recitals are hereby adopted and confirmed.
SECTION 2: EXPRESSION OF OPPOSITION
The City hereby opposes in the strongest possible terms SB 180 as codified in Florida Statutes and
demands its substantive amendment or elimination and repeal as described above.
SECTION 3: SUPPORT FOR LAWSUIT
The City also expresses support for the pending lawsuit being prepared and filed by the Weiss Serota
Helfman Cole + Bierman, PL law firm on behalf of numerous local governments across Florida,
including both municipalities and counties.
SECTION 4: CONFLICT
All resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict with any of the provisions of this Resolution are
hereby repealed.
SECTION 5: SEVERABILITY
If any portion of this Resolution is declared invalid,the invalidated portion shall be severed from
the remainder of the Resolution, and the remainder of the Resolution shall continue in full force
and effect as if enacted without the invalidated portion, except in cases where such continued
validity of the remainder would clearly and without doubt contradict or frustrate the intent of the
Resolution as a whole.
CITY OF CLERMONT
C RESOLUTION NO. 2025-033R
SECTION 6: ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION
This Resolution maybe re-numbered or re-lettered,
ette ed, and/or corrected for typographical and/or
scrivener's errors which do not affect the intent of said resolution, as authorized by the City
Manager or designee, without need of public hearing, by filing a corrected copy of same with the
City Clerk.
SECTION 7: PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE
This Resolution shall be effective on September 9, 2025.
CITY OF CLERMONT
CChace R NT RESOLUTION NO. 2025-033R
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the above said resolution of the City
Council of the City of Clermont, Florida be adopted on this 9th day of September, 2025.
CITY OF CLERMONT, FLORIDA
44(444'. Tim Murry, yor
ATTEST: ,
Tracy Ackroyd owe, MMC
City Clerk
Appro as t form and legali
Christian . Waugh, ity Attorney