Florida Senate Bill Sends 900 New Housing Rights to Keys

State officials concluded months of uncertainty when the Administration Commission approved a distribution recommendation from Florida Secretary of Commerce Alex Kelly on December 17. The approval followed passage of Senate Bill 180 during the 2025 legislative session and implements an increase in the mandated hurricane evacuation time for Keys residents from 24 to 24.5 hours, a change that the law ties to new building rights.

Under the bill a total of 900 new units will be released over a 10 year period. An initial batch of 300 units will be available to Keys governments beginning January 1, 2026. After that a new group of 150 units will be released every two years until the full quota is reached in 2035. The law directs a proportional split based on the number of vacant buildable lots in each jurisdiction and prioritizes owner occupied affordable and workforce housing. The allocation over the next decade is set at 72 units for Islamorada, 36 units for Key West, 135 units for Marathon and 657 units for unincorporated Monroe County.

Implementation now falls to the Florida Department of Commerce and local governments. The department was instructed to work with each Keys jurisdiction to modify comprehensive plans and land development regulations if necessary. Some jurisdictions already have language that allows them to accept new units approved by the legislature, and others are preparing amendments. Individual governments must also set their own rate of distribution for the units after years of constrained building rights.

Policy questions remain. The statute limits the new rights to one per vacant buildable lot, calling into question the feasibility of duplex or multifamily projects intended to expand affordable supply. Discrepancies in parcel counts persist, with the Department of Commerce identifying 1,610 eligible parcels while local analyses point to 1,700. The department also noted 636 unused building rights remain available statewide in the Keys, including 363 units designated for early evacuation workforce housing, the majority held in unincorporated Monroe County.

For local residents the shift means new opportunities for owner occupied workforce housing but also renewed land use debates. Public hearings on comprehensive plan amendments and local distribution schedules will determine how quickly units are put into active use and whether new development patterns will favor single family projects or allow denser housing types. Residents and local officials will confront trade offs between evacuation safety modeling, environmental constraints and the long standing shortage of affordable housing in the Keys.