Chapter 2011-139, Laws of Florida (“House Bill 7207”), adopted earlier this year, provides the opportunity to take advantage of additional extensions of existing permits or development orders. Similar to the last two years, House Bill 7107 offers an additional two-year extension to any permits or local development orders that were granted a two-year extension under Chapter 2009-96 and 2010-147 (the “Prior Acts”). Like the Prior Acts, the permit holder must provide the authorizing agency with notice of the extension by December 31, 2011. However, the total permit extension cannot exceed four years, so if you took advantage of both extensions under the Prior Acts, this provision is not applicable.
In addition, House Bill 7207 also offers a two-year extension for any permit or local development order that expires between January 1, 2012 and January 1, 2014. Again, the permit holder must provide the authorizing agency with a notice of the extension by December 31, 2011 and cannot use this provision to extend prior permit extensions under the Prior Acts beyond four years.
As with prior years, these permit extensions apply to local development orders and permits, Department of Environmental Protection permits, and water management permits, but not federal permits such as those issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. Please contact us if you have questions regarding the legislative extensions and how they may apply to a particular property or project.