Punta Gorda City Council voted to repeal its recently adopted Land Development Regulations after learning the updated rules conflicted with new state legislation that severely limits local authority on growth controls in hurricane-impacted areas.
The regulations, approved by the former City Council in February 2024, allowed greater building heights and density in some areas of Punta Gorda. Opposition to those changes led to a wave of new candidates — Jeannine Polk, Greg Julian, Janis Denton and Mayor Debi Lux — winning Council seats in the past two elections, campaigning on promises to roll back the changes. Now, Council is stymied from adopting new regulations and codes until 2028.
But Senate Bill 250 prohibits municipalities within 100 miles of where hurricanes Ian or Nicole made landfall from adopting more restrictive or burdensome land development regulations before Oct. 1, 2024. Any such action would make a city or town’s LDR or codes null and void ab initio.
Then, in June, Senate Bill 180 extended the restrictions retroactively to Sept. 28, 2022, and made them effective through June 30, 2028. That means Punta Gorda cannot enact new, more restrictive regulations or codes until mid-2028.
The legal implications prompted Council to seek expert advice. During a July 2 video conference, land-use attorney Alan Gabriel, of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole and Bierman, recommended repealing the 2024 LDRs to avoid potential legal challenges.
Before Council approved his recommendation in a 3-2 vote, Interim City Attorney Steven Leskovich, Gabriel and Council discussed alternatives to repealing the LDRs.
Gabriel said if Council didn’t repeal the LDRs, “there’s a good chance” the city could face legal action.
Leskovich also said the city was alerted to the violation by the Florida Attorney General’s Office, which offered little direction beyond identifying the problem.
Despite the risk of lawsuits, the recommendation to repeal was not universally supported. Council members Melissa Lockhart and Julian voted against it. Lockhart, the only remaining member of the former council, said the city spent five years and thousands of staff hours developing the LDRs. She said the repeal may or may not ward off a possible lawsuit.
Gabriel emphasized that the city had not made an error and said the burden rests with the Legislature. He also discouraged trying to amend or “surgically” change the regulations, as Julian suggested, saying that could also lead to legal issues.
Council ultimately voted 3-2 to repeal the new LDRs. The repeal reverts Punta Gorda back to the land-use rules in place prior to 2024 — regulations that were enacted in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley in 2004.
Council members discussed next steps, including a series of public workshops to gather input from residents on the city’s long-term planning goals. Julian also suggested the city explore the use of artificial intelligence to assist in developing future regulations and updating the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
