Manatee County is joining 13 other cities and counties in filing a lawsuit challenging a state law they say hinders local control over land use and development.
SB 180, which focused on improving emergency management and disaster recovery, includes a provision that prohibits local governments from passing "burdensome" land development regulations in areas affected by hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.
State officials said the idea is to encourage rebuilding without government interference.
"If you have damage to your home and you go to rebuild it and to restore it to what it looked like the day before that storm hit, you should be permitted to do it,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday during a press conference in Valrico.
But Jamie Alan Cole, the attorney preparing the lawsuit, said the law has "lost its initial purpose."
"It's very pro-developer, pro-development and is causing substantial problems in many cities and counties across the state of Florida," Cole said.
Manatee commissioners postponed a vote to restore the county's wetland buffers — which a previous board had rolled back — after state agencies and builders said the change would be in violation of Florida law.
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Commissioners also feared that DeSantis would remove them from office if they went forward with the vote. The governor has threatened local boards in Key West, Fort Myers and Orlando.
Cole called the provision in SB 180 the "greatest intrusion to Home Rule authority" since the enactment of the 1968 Florida Constitution.
"... Cities and counties should be allowed to determine the development that occurs within their city, rather than having that decided in Tallahassee," he said.
Jon Mast, CEO of the Suncoast Builders Association, said in a statement to WUSF he "encourages the [Manatee] commission to work in partnership with the building and development community, rather than framing it as an adversary."
"Home building is not only the largest employer in Manatee County, it is also the backbone of its tax base and community growth," Mast said. "Together, we can achieve solutions that benefit both our economy and our residents."
At last Tuesday's board meeting, District 3 commissioner Tal Siddique, who said he represents the most hurricane damaged part of the county, said builders were "acting in bad faith."
"If you actually care about properties of homeowners who are recovering from the storms, then you just work with us — I have yet to receive one call from any builder to talk to me about how we can make it easier to let property owners rebuild their homes."
District 5 commissioner Bob McCann said he hoped the lawsuit would result in an injunction, or a pause on the state law, so that local officials can "start to run the county again and give the people what they need."
"Right now, they're using the state as a tool, they're using a law that's very questionable as a tool. So, again, we do need to join this lawsuit," said McCann.
Abbey Tyrna, executive director of the environmental group Suncoast Waterkeeper, said the law's long-term effect will leave counties and cities less-prepared for storms by not allowing localities to preserve natural resources such as wetlands and mangroves.
Tyrna said Manatee County has already lost too much of those protective resources.
"That means that we're going to have poor water quality. That means we're going to lose Florida species. That means that we are going to have more flooding," said Tyrna. "It really comes down to local government doing what they can do to protect the remaining wetlands so that we can continue to have the benefits that they provide."
Cole said more localities could be joining the lawsuit. He plans to file the legal challenge mid-September.
