Land Use
Group Members
When you have a vision for your land, when you are trying to establish value for now or for the future, you need someone to share that vision, someone to help you move efficiently from where you are to where you want to be.
From historical preservation and zoning variances to environmental regulation compliance and impact mitigation concerns, our land use lawyers help owners acquire, maintain and manage the present and future value of their land.
Working with regulators, engineers, architects, land planners, and environmental scientists, our attorneys guide a project through the entitlement, design, approval and construction processes. Our depth of knowledge helps us anticipate potential issues, seek resolution before issues become problems and ensure that good projects move smoothly through the process. This is a cost saving in the long run and is another benefit of our unique blend of training and practical experience.
We obtain land development approvals for landowners, homebuilders, commercial developers, and local governments. We also help obtain land use approvals for seaport and airport projects, and for linear infrastructure. We counsel both public and private entities on the complex constitutional and statutory relationships among the different levels of government with jurisdiction over land use planning and regulation. When necessary we litigate land use development issues in both administrative and judicial forums at every level.
We assist local governments in the land development approval process, and advise them during the preparation of comprehensive plans and land development regulations. We also represent clients on land use issues before the Florida Legislature. Blending government and private sector experience makes us particularly effective.
Our areas of land use law experience include:
- Agricultural Enclaves
- Annexations
- Campus Master Plans
- Coastal Management
- Concurrency and Transportation
- Conditional Use Permits
- Developments of Regional Impact (DRI)
- Development Orders
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Maps
- Green Building
- Inter-local and Development Agreements
- Land Development Codes
- Land Use Litigation
- Platting and Subdivision Law
- Redevelopment
- Site Plans
- State and Local Comprehensive Planning
- Variances and Exceptions
- Zoning and Land Development Codes
For more information on this practice area, contact Robert P. Diffenderfer, Chair – Land Use.