Florida Land Development and Regulation, Concurrency Statute 163.3180

Topics: legislation

The “concurrency” provision is found in Florida state law, and elsewhere. It is the keystone of the 1985 Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act (Chapter 163 F.S.). Providing services concurrent with the impacts of development is necessary to assure that the quality of life in a community is maintained and enhanced. Under concurrency rules, a developer must get a “certificate of concurrency” prior to the issuance of any development permit. The applicant must prepare and complete an application for a certificate of concurrency. The city then conducts a “concurrency review,” which compares “the available and reserved capacity of the facility or service to the demand projected for the proposed development. The available capacity shall be determined by adding the total of the existing excess capacity and the total future capacity of any proposed construction or expansion…The levels of service of all facilities and services must be sufficient before a development permit can be issued.” Sanitary sewer, solid waste, drainage, potable water, parks and recreation, schools, and transportation are the only services subject to the concurrency requirement by the State of Florida, however, local governments may add to its concurrency requirement so long as they follows state guidelines. Once a municipality defines a Level of Service (LOS) in a particular service thorough a baseline study, it can hold a developer to that standard. Giving the example of automobile traffic, should projections show a degraded LOS, the municipality would have grounds to deny the project.