Live Local 4.0: 2026 Updates to Florida's Live Local Act

Florida House Bill 1389, the 2026 Live Local Act, became effective July 1, 2026, and is the fourth major version of the Live Local Act (the Act), which was first enacted in 2023 and amended in 2024 and 2025. The legislation makes important changes to definitions, dimensional rules, eligible sites, qualifying land uses and fair housing enforcement. The 2026 amendments also create new exclusions from the Act and add transition rules for applications that are already pending.

Expanded Eligible Sites

Under the 2026 Live Local Act, counties and municipalities must authorize qualifying multifamily and mixed-use residential uses in the following locations:

• areas zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use
• portions of flexibly zoned areas, such as planned unit developments (PUDs)
• property owned by a county, municipality or school district (the proposed development must be within the geographic boundaries of the respective public entity, and that entity must be a party to the application)
• property owned by a religious institution that:

1. comprises more than 3 acres
2. has contained a house of public worship for at least 10 years before the proposed development
3. will continue to operate as a house of public worship after construction

The application must be submitted by both the applicant and religious institution.

As in prior versions of the Act, qualifying projects must reserve at least 40 percent of residential units as affordable rental units for a period of at least 30 years. For mixed-use residential projects, at least 65 percent of total square footage must be residential, but local governments may not require more than 10 percent of total square footage to be nonresidential.

New Anti-Workaround Provision

The 2026 amendments retain and strengthen the Act's height-preemption framework. A local government may not restrict the height of a qualifying development below the highest currently allowed or allowed on July 1, 2023, for a commercial or residential building within 1 mile of the proposed development or 3 stories, whichever is higher.¹ Counties and municipalities may not restrict authorized height through other dimensional controls, such as height-based setbacks or stepbacks, or require setbacks or stepbacks that are more restrictive than the minimum permitted for the proposed development. This provision directly addresses local government attempts to limit effective building height through indirect zoning tools.

Revised Definitions – Retroactive to January 1, 2024

The 2026 amendments revise and expand the definitions of "commercial use," "industrial use" and "mixed use" and expressly declare these revisions remedial, clarifying and retroactive to January 1, 2024. Among key aspects:

• A parcel zoned to permit commercial or industrial uses by right is considered a commercial or industrial use for purposes of the Act, irrespective of the local land development regulation's listed category or title.
• Exclusions from the definitions include home-based businesses, cottage food operations, accessory/ancillary/incidental/temporary uses, recreational uses within residential areas (such as golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools and clubhouses) and farm operations as defined in Section 823.14(3), Florida Statutes.
• "Mixed use" means any use combining multiple types of approved land uses from at least two of the residential, commercial and industrial use categories.

New and Clarified Exclusions

The 2026 amendments add or clarify the following exclusions from the Act's applicability:

• airport-impacted areas, including specified runway areas, airport noise zones and developments exceeding airport zoning height restrictions (unless approved by the airport's governing body)
• recreational and commercial working waterfront in industrial areas
• the Wekiva Study Area
• the Everglades Protection Area
• certain open-space, park and open-use zoning districts that were in existence before July 1, 2026, and are intended to retain the open character of land
• areas of critical state concern
• portions of property encumbered by a recorded conservation easement

Transition Rules for Pending Applications

Applicants with applications, written requests or notices of intent received by a local government before July 1, 2026, may notify the local government by that date of their intent to proceed under the version of the statute in effect at the time of submittal. Local governments must also allow such applicants to submit revised applications, written requests or notices of intent to account for the 2026 changes. This provision gives developers flexibility to choose the regulatory framework most favorable to their projects.

In addition to revising the Act's land-use and approval provisions, the 2026 amendments address how certain affordable housing developments may qualify for property tax relief. These changes are intended to clarify when the exemption applies, preserve eligibility for certain projects during local opt-out periods and establish when the revised rules will first affect local tax rolls.

Property Tax Exemption Updates

The 2026 amendments revise the ad valorem tax exemption provisions under Section 196.1978, Florida Statutes (2025). Among other changes, the amendments create a new definition of "multifamily project" for purposes of the exemption, revise the findings a taxing authority must make to elect not to exempt certain property and provide continuity protections for 1) property in a multifamily project that received the exemption before an opt-out adoption or renewal and 2) certain multifamily projects issued building permits on or after July 1, 2026, within four years before the effective date of an opt-out. The amendments provide that these changes first apply to the 2027 tax roll.

Fair Housing and Enforcement Expansion

The legislation significantly expands enforcement under the Florida Fair Housing Act by broadening the definition of "person" to include governmental entities, prohibiting discrimination in land-use and permitting decisions based on the source of financing for a development or proposed development, including affordable housing financing and waiving sovereign immunity for certain causes of action under Section 760.35, Florida Statutes (2025). Available relief may include injunctive and equitable relief, actual and punitive damages, and attorneys' fees and costs.

For more detailed information on the 2026 Live Local Act and how it may impact your projects, please contact one of the authors.

Notes

¹ For purposes of this benchmark, "highest currently allowed height" excludes heights derived from another Live Local project or an incentive-based bonus, variance or special exception.

Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. It is not designed to be, and should not be used as, the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a legal problem, and it should not be substituted for legal advice, which relies on a specific factual analysis. Moreover, the laws of each jurisdiction are different and are constantly changing. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult the authors of this publication, your Holland & Knight representative or other competent legal counsel.