Growth

After a three-year legal fight over sharply higher irrigation rates, residents of Gran Paradiso agreed to a settlement with their developer-controlled government that restores the possibility of water service — but only after major concessions critics describe as punitive.

The lawsuit focuses on a section of a law that prohibits local governments from proposing or adopting “more restrictive or burdensome” amendments to comprehensive plans or land development regulations.

The state Attorney General's Office sent a letter in response to a squabble over Orange and Seminole counties' voter-approved boundaries. Some fear this could pave the way for preemptive legislation.

The effort to stop growth-plan changes was part of a bill that lawmakers said would help the state recover from the 2024 hurricanes.

The challenge contends that SB 180 effectively freezes all local land-development regulations and comprehensive plans through Oct. 1, 2027, violates home-rule authority and strips the ability of cities and counties to manage their growth.

The expansive garage nearly doubles the number of parking spaces in St. Petersburg’s booming EDGE District.

Founder Cesar Hernandez hopes the district will attract private businesses with a focus in technology, defense systems, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

What’s happening in Gran Paradiso isn’t just a neighborhood dispute over water; it’s a window into who holds the power in Florida’s fastest-growing communities and what happens when the homeowners organize to push back.

Some longtime Cape Coral residents fear for the future of the once laid-back community. Development, they say, is ruining the old charm of the cape.

Residents have mixed feeling about the city's exponential growth.

Last year, more people moved to Polk county than to any other in the United States, almost 30,000.

By 2035, the county's population is expected to grow by 70,000, prompting commissioners to revise its comprehensive plan.