What is Florida's Live Local Act and how does it affect zoning?

The Live Local Act (Fla. Stat. §§ 125.01055 and 166.04151) lets developers of qualifying mixed-income projects — at least 40% of units set aside as affordable or workforce housing — build on commercial, industrial, or mixed-use land at the highest density, height, and floor-area-ratio allowed anywhere in the jurisdiction, without a rezoning or public hearing.

Can I build affordable housing in Florida without going through local rezoning?

In many cases, yes. On land zoned commercial, industrial, or mixed-use, a qualifying Live Local Act project receives administrative approval instead of a discretionary rezoning process, provided at least 40% of units meet the affordability set-aside and other statutory eligibility criteria are met.

Is Florida a home-rule state for zoning?

Yes. Both municipalities (under the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act, Fla. Stat. Chapter 166) and counties (under Fla. Stat. Chapter 125, with charter counties holding broader authority) have constitutional home rule, though all local governments must keep their zoning consistent with a state-mandated comprehensive plan under the Community Planning Act.

How do I find the zoning for a specific parcel in Florida?

Each county property appraiser's office maintains the authoritative parcel and zoning records; the Florida Geographic Data Library aggregates these into statewide GIS layers for research purposes, but zoning-district determinations should be confirmed against the local municipal or county zoning map.

Florida · state zoning reference · Parcel data · lookup only

Florida zoning: how it works and what you can build

Constitutional home rule for cities and counties operates under a statewide comprehensive-planning mandate that the Live Local Act has partly overridden, letting qualifying affordable and mixed-income projects bypass local rezoning entirely.

How zoning works in Florida

Florida grants both municipalities and counties broad constitutional home rule — municipalities under the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act (Fla. Stat. Chapter 166) and counties under Chapter 125, with charter counties holding even broader authority than non-charter counties. Sitting above that local authority is the Community Planning Act (Fla. Stat. Chapter 163, Part II, beginning at § 163.3164), which requires every local government to adopt a comprehensive plan and keep its land development regulations, including zoning, consistent with that plan.

The single biggest recent disruption to local zoning control is the Live Local Act, enacted as Senate Bill 102 in 2023 and codified at Fla. Stat. §§ 125.01055 (counties) and 166.04151 (municipalities). For qualifying developments that set aside at least 40% of units as affordable or workforce housing on land zoned commercial, industrial, or mixed-use, the Act preempts local density, height, and use restrictions and requires administrative approval — no rezoning, public hearing, or planning-board vote required. A 2024 amendment (SB 328) extended the preemption to floor-area-ratio limits and expanded parking benefits, and a further 2025 amendment (SB 1730) clarified eligibility, added protections against municipal down-zoning around Live Local sites, and adjusted the administrative-approval process. The preemption currently sunsets October 1, 2033.

Developers should also be aware of the Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act (Fla. Stat. § 70.001), which allows a property owner to seek compensation when a new land-use regulation inordinately burdens an existing use of real property — a distinct claim from a conventional takings case, and a factor local governments weigh when considering restrictive rezonings.

Who holds the zoning power

Land-use authority in Florida is delegated by statute, not assumed — these are the acts a zoning ordinance in Florida has to trace back to.

Community Planning Act Fla. Stat. Chapter 163, Part II (§ 163.3164 et seq.): Requires local comprehensive plans and consistency between those plans and local land development regulations, including zoning.
Municipal Home Rule Powers Act Fla. Stat. Chapter 166: Grants municipalities broad constitutional home-rule authority, including zoning.
Live Local Act Fla. Stat. §§ 125.01055 and 166.04151 (as amended by SB 102 (2023), SB 328 (2024), and SB 1730 (2025)): Preempts local density, height, use, and FAR limits for qualifying 40%-affordable mixed-income projects on commercial, industrial, or mixed-use land.
Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act Fla. Stat. § 70.001: Allows property owners to seek compensation when a new regulation inordinately burdens an existing use of real property.

Major cities and their codes

The enabling act sets the ceiling; the municipal code is what a project is actually reviewed against. The 8 largest Florida jurisdictions and the codes they administer:

Florida — municipal zoning codes
City	Zoning code
Jacksonville	Jacksonville Zoning Code (Ordinance Code Title XVI) Consolidated city-county government covering nearly all of Duval County under one zoning code.
Miami	Miami 21 Zoning Code First form-based code adopted citywide by a major U.S. city; organized around transect zones rather than use districts.
Tampa	Tampa Land Development Code Active mixed-use and transit-corridor rezoning tied to the city's Imagine 2040 plan.
Orlando	Orlando Zoning Ordinance Heavy Live Local Act activity converting commercial-corridor parcels to mixed-income multifamily.
St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg Land Development Regulations Post-hurricane rebuilding pressure intersecting with FEMA substantial-improvement rules and zoning.
Hialeah	Hialeah Zoning Ordinance Densely built-out Miami-Dade suburb with limited vacant land, driving infill and redevelopment.
Tallahassee	Tallahassee-Leon County Land Development Code Joint city-county code administered through a consolidated planning department.
Fort Lauderdale	Fort Lauderdale Unified Land Development Regulations Significant waterfront and downtown high-rise redevelopment activity.

Recent reforms

State-level changes override or preempt what a local ordinance says — these are the Florida reforms that move the numbers on a real site.

2025 Live Local Act amendments (SB 1730) Clarified project eligibility, added protections against down-zoning near Live Local sites, and adjusted the administrative-approval process.
2024 Live Local Act amendments (SB 328) Extended the Live Local preemption to floor-area-ratio limits and expanded parking-reduction benefits.
2023 Live Local Act (SB 102) Preempts local zoning density, height, and use restrictions for qualifying 40%-affordable mixed-income developments on commercial, industrial, or mixed-use land.

Parcel & GIS data

The Florida Geographic Data Library, maintained by the University of Florida GeoPlan Center, aggregates statewide parcel and land-use GIS layers sourced from each county property appraiser, which remains the authoritative source for individual parcel zoning.

Real parcel geometry is already loaded for Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Miami and St. Petersburg — see the zoning-by-city section above for a live district-and-parcel lookup there. That is not the same as a cited feasibility report: Chicago is still the only jurisdiction with bulk standards, § citations and a generated massing scheme.

Zoning by city

The statute sets who may zone; the city's own code sets what you can build. One guide per Florida city below, explaining the district codes that appear on its zoning map — 88 district codes across Florida so far.

Florida zoning — common questions

What is Florida's Live Local Act and how does it affect zoning?: The Live Local Act (Fla. Stat. §§ 125.01055 and 166.04151) lets developers of qualifying mixed-income projects — at least 40% of units set aside as affordable or workforce housing — build on commercial, industrial, or mixed-use land at the highest density, height, and floor-area-ratio allowed anywhere in the jurisdiction, without a rezoning or public hearing.
Can I build affordable housing in Florida without going through local rezoning?: In many cases, yes. On land zoned commercial, industrial, or mixed-use, a qualifying Live Local Act project receives administrative approval instead of a discretionary rezoning process, provided at least 40% of units meet the affordability set-aside and other statutory eligibility criteria are met.
Is Florida a home-rule state for zoning?: Yes. Both municipalities (under the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act, Fla. Stat. Chapter 166) and counties (under Fla. Stat. Chapter 125, with charter counties holding broader authority) have constitutional home rule, though all local governments must keep their zoning consistent with a state-mandated comprehensive plan under the Community Planning Act.
How do I find the zoning for a specific parcel in Florida?: Each county property appraiser's office maintains the authoritative parcel and zoning records; the Florida Geographic Data Library aggregates these into statewide GIS layers for research purposes, but zoning-district determinations should be confirmed against the local municipal or county zoning map.

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The parcel layer lands in the order demand does. Illinois went first because that's where the deals were; the next state is decided by who tells us what they're trying to underwrite. Tell us where you're building and what you wanted to run — you'll hear from us when Florida opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

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Want to see the finished shape of this work? Illinois is live at parcel level — Illinois zoning and the 53-district Chicago reference.

Florida zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction and the statute as amended.