Seminole, Orange Counties Push Back on Live Local Act Housing Proposals

A rental housing deficit of 1,945 units has stripped Seminole and Orange counties of their legal ability to opt out of Florida's Live Local Act, reopening both to a surge of developer applications that local officials spent most of 2024 trying to block.

The figure comes from the 2025 annual report by the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, which determines whether Florida counties have enough affordable stock to escape the law's tax exemption program. When the latest data landed, it showed the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro had crossed into negative territory for the first time, with a shortage of homes affordable to renters earning up to 120% of the area median income. Counties can only opt out if they show a surplus. Seminole and Orange no longer qualify.

Developers moved quickly. Projects are queuing up across Seminole, Orange, Osceola and Lake counties, with the cost to local governments in foregone property taxes potentially running into the millions. Seminole County Property Appraiser David Johnson had flagged exactly this risk when the county voted in July 2024 to opt out, warning commissioners the county could lose hundreds of millions in tax revenue if eligible apartment owners claimed the full benefit.

The Live Local Act gives developers a powerful lever on any parcel zoned commercial, industrial or mixed-use. If at least 40% of units are reserved as affordable for 30 years, a developer can build at the highest residential density allowed in the jurisdiction and match the tallest building permitted anywhere within a one-mile radius, with no rezoning required, no public hearing and no appearance before a planning commission. The Florida Legislature reinforced that mechanism at the close of the regular session, with both chambers overwhelmingly passing HB 1389 to codify additional Live Local provisions, though those changes have not yet taken effect.

That means any strip mall, surface parking lot or vacant industrial parcel in unincorporated Seminole County becomes a legal footprint for mid-rise apartment buildings at heights and densities the county cannot cap. Three Seminole projects already hold grandfathered exemptions under the law: Integra Crossing, Vue on Lake Monroe, and Watervue Apartments.

County objections have centered less on housing as a goal than on who actually benefits. The law requires projects to hold at least 70 units accessible to households earning between 80% and 120% of the area median income — in Seminole County, that range runs from roughly $72,320 to $108,480 per year. But the statute places no obligation on landlords to pass tax savings on to tenants and permits rents as high as 90% of market rate. Oviedo Council Member Natalie Teuchert put it plainly: "I think the label is misleading. This is not providing the missing middle a tax exemption. This is a tax exemption for luxury apartments." A Seminole County commissioner argued the county "has been caught in the overall net for the entire state because there are jurisdictions throughout the state that are not doing the things this county has been doing to foster this kind of housing."

Residents can track Live Local Act applications filed in Seminole County by contacting the Planning and Development office at 407-665-7443 or plandesk@seminolecountyfl.gov. Orange County's Planning and Development division maintains a dedicated Live Local Act project page at orangecountyfl.net.