Bill would exempt state review of larger developments in 6 more counties | The Florida Current

During the halcyon days of growth management in Florida, there was a threshold for larger projects afterwhich they became Developments of Regional Impact (DRI). There was a formula used to determine the mix of uses, amount of land, number of units of residential and square footage and location. If your project went over some or all of those criteria, then it became a DRI. This required more intense state review, through the Department of Community Affairs, and could be long and cumbersome process. Many downtown redevelopment plans ended up being DRIs - downtown Boca Raton being one and Downtown/Uptown in West Palm Beach (what became City Place).

Well, most of the state review is dismantled now and the DRI is going the way of the dinosaur so that "local communities can better determine their futures" and so that the state "doesn't unnecessarily hold  back the private sector." This we now see evidence of in the creation of the Office of Economic Opportunity. The bill discussed in the article would create more exemptions from DRI requirements for more counties that may be outside more "urbanized" areas. Click title for link.

This is a trend that I don't see retreating.