Removing The Red Tape
So here’s the scoop: Governor DeSantis just signed a new hurricane recovery law (SB 180) that basically tells local governments to sit this one out when it comes to land use after a storm.
Translation? If a hurricane rolls through Southshore, and we’re in the disaster zone, local officials can’t block or delay your efforts to rebuild, not for a whole year. No red tape. No new zoning rules. No “we’re reviewing your permit” emails that last longer than the storm itself.
Here’s what it means for you:
– 🏗️ Want to rebuild? The city can’t stop you with surprise new rules.
– 💸 Permit and inspection fees? Frozen for 180 days. (Yes, frozen, like your A/C during a power outage.)
– 📚 Every city and county must have a post-storm recovery guide and plan. About time.
– 🧱 If your house was built in 1980, you don’t have to meet 2025 codes just to fix it.
– ⚖️ If local rules get in the way, you can sue. And if you win? They pay your legal fees.
– 🏗️ Crane operators now have to lock those monsters down 24 hours before a storm, because one flying crane is one too many.
Why it matters:
The idea is to make hurricane recovery faster, simpler, and a little less of a bureaucratic mess. But not everyone’s thrilled, critics say it strips local leaders of control and could lead to some sloppy rebuilding if no one’s watching closely.
Our take?
Look, we’ve all had that post-storm moment where the power’s out, half the roof’s gone, and someone at the county office says, “We’ll get back to you next week.” So yeah, fewer roadblocks sound great. But local control does matter, especially when you’re trying to make smart, storm-resilient decisions.
Either way, this is now the law of the land, or at least the law of the roof. So if Hurricane Smurf Season shows up again this year, at least we’ll have fewer hoops to jump through. Just don’t try to rebuild a skyscraper where your shed used to be, this isn’t that kind of party.