Dunedin cannot update its land-use or environmental rules after a state bill to restore that local authority died without a House hearing.

The restriction applies statewide. Senate Bill 840, filed by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach, passed the Florida Senate unanimously during the 2026 session. The House never scheduled it for a vote, WFLA reported. The bill died in the House Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee before the session ended March 13.

How SB 180 limits local planning

SB 840's failure means Senate Bill 180, a 2025 hurricane-recovery law that DiCeglie himself originally sponsored, stays in force through October 2027. That law bars every county covered by federal disaster declarations for hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton from adopting any "more restrictive or burdensome" plan amendment or land development regulation. The declarations covered all 67 Florida counties, according to The Invading Sea.

The restrictions apply retroactively to Aug. 1, 2024.

Dunedin is among the Florida cities that had already built strong growth-management and environmental protections before SB 180 took effect, Inside Climate News reported Sept. 21. Those existing safeguards still stand. But the city cannot strengthen or update them while the law remains active.

What the failed fix would have changed

DiCeglie acknowledged SB 180 went too far when he presented SB 840 to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 20. "I want, through this bill, for these local jurisdictions to be able to make these changes through the comprehensive plans without getting in the way of folks and their ability to recover and rebuild after a storm," he told the committee, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

SB 840 would have ended the statewide planning suspension in July 2026 and narrowed future restrictions to hurricane-rebuilding matters only. It also would have preserved local authority over floodplain standards and shrunk the law's geographic reach from 100 miles to 50 miles from a storm's track.

Cities push back as House stays silent

The bill cleared its second Senate hearing on a 9-0 vote in January. But the House took no action. Kim Dinkins, policy and planning director for 1000 Friends of Florida, said in February that the House had not acted on any of the bills filed in that chamber, according to Central Florida Public Media.

More than two dozen cities and counties have called SB 180 the "largest incursion into local home rule authority" in Florida's modern history. Some are challenging the law in court. No new legislative fix has been announced, and SB 180's restrictions remain in place through October 2027.