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Sherman Oaks, CA · Austin, TX · Miami, FL

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Florida

Land use, entitlement, and permit consulting
across Florida’s five major markets

Florida runs on a two-layer system: statewide law like the Live Local Act sets the rules, and each
county and city implements it differently. JDJ Consulting helps developers, investors, and property
owners move projects through entitlement, zoning, and permitting in every market where we work.

Have a site in Florida?

Tell us what you’re trying to build, and we’ll screen it for you.

Start a Project
Call Us: ‪(818) 252-9610‬
FLORIDA markets Florida Miami-Dade Tampa Broward Palm Beach Orlando
How Florida Regulates Development

The statewide framework, in JDJ’s words

Three facts shape nearly every multifamily and mixed-use project in Florida right now.

The Live Local Act is state law, not local policy

First passed as Senate Bill 102 in 2023, the Live Local Act preempts local zoning to allow residential development on land zoned commercial, industrial, or mixed-use, provided the project reserves at least 40% of units as affordable for a set period. It has been amended twice since, by SB 328 in 2024 and SB 1730 in 2025.

The 2025 amendments took effect July 1, 2025

SB 1730 clarified definitions of commercial, industrial, and mixed-use zoning, extended eligibility to qualifying parcels inside planned unit developments, and required local governments to grant administrative approvals for qualifying projects without quasi-judicial or board review. It also confirmed that density, floor area ratio, and height are set to the highest standard allowed in the jurisdiction as of July 1, 2023.

Local implementation still varies widely

Some cities, such as Tampa, have published their own Live Local guidance. Others interpret the statute case by case. That gap between uniform state law and uneven local practice is where most project delays happen, and it is the core of what JDJ manages.

Choose your market

Each Florida market runs its own code, department names, and review timelines. Select yours for local guidance, terminology, and the issues that come up most often.

Miami-Dade

The state's largest and most competitive development market. Dense urban infill, condo pipelines, and heavy Live Local activity across Brickell and surrounding corridors.

Tampa

A top-ranked Live Local county with published city implementation guidance. Commercial-to-residential conversions along major corridors dominate the pipeline.

Broward

Fort Lauderdale and surrounding municipalities, with active workforce housing demand and a mix of county and city review pathways.

Palm Beach

A market balancing high-value coastal development with growing affordable and workforce housing pressure across its municipalities.

Orlando

Central Florida's growth engine, with specific considerations around the Wekiva Study Area, which SB 1730 carved out of Live Local applicability.

What JDJ handles in Florida

Our scope is consistent statewide, but the process changes market to market. Each service below shows how the work actually runs in each jurisdiction, from the governing code to the portal to the review stage.

01. Entitlements & Land Use

Live Local Act eligibility screening, zoning preemption analysis, and administrative approval coordination with the jurisdiction that actually governs your parcel.

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Miami-Dade

Screen against the County Code, confirm the parcel qualifies as commercial, industrial, or mixed-use, then pursue administrative approval through the Zoning and Development Services Division. We cross-check the County's Live Local Projects Tracking Table for comparable approvals.

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Tampa

Apply the city's published Live Local implementation guidance to confirm density, height, and FAR entitlements up front, which shortens the discretionary review most corridor conversions would otherwise face.

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Broward

Determine first whether the site sits in the unincorporated Broward Municipal Services District (governed by Zoning Code Chapter 39) or inside a municipality, because that single question changes which code and which reviewer applies.

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Palm Beach

Confirm jurisdiction across 39 municipalities plus unincorporated county land before filing, then route the entitlement through the correct city or the County Planning, Zoning and Building Department.

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Orlando

Screen the site against the Wekiva Study Area carve-out before assuming a Live Local pathway, then coordinate approval through the City Planning Division.

02. Permit Expediting

Plan review coordination, submittal management, corrections response, and resubmittal tracking through each market's specific portal.

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Miami-Dade

Prepare and manage submittals through the RER EPSPortal, coordinating the parallel DERM, WASD, and Fire reviews that County projects trigger.

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Broward

File Development and Environmental Review submittals electronically through ePermits OneStop, and confirm impact and concurrency fee clearance before building permit issuance

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Palm Beach

Manage applications through the ePZB portal for County-jurisdiction sites, or the relevant municipal permit department for city sites.

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Tampa and Orlando

Coordinate submittals through each city's building and development system, tracking corrections and resubmittals to keep the review clock moving.

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03. Due Diligence & Feasibility

Site screening before you commit capital, so you know what a parcel can carry before closing

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All markets

Deed and recorded restriction research through the applicable county clerk records, plus a zoning and jurisdiction confirmation.

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Live Local modeling

Density and height bonus modeling to the highest standard allowed in the jurisdiction as of July 1, 2023, the baseline SB 1730 confirmed.

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South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach)

Environmental and wetland flags through the county environmental review layer, which can gate a building permit independent of zoning.

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Orlando

Wekiva Study Area confirmation and any related overlay checks before a feasibility conclusion is issued.

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04. Agency liaison and stakeholder outreach

Direct coordination with the staff who actually move your file, plus the public notice steps recent amendments reintroduced.

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Miami-Dade

Engage Zoning and Development Services staff directly and use the County's quarterly affordable and workforce housing developer forum to pre-empt review issues

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Broward and Palm Beach

Coordinate across the county and the relevant municipality, since split authority means two sets of staff often touch one project.

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Tampa and Orlando

Work with city planning and growth management staff to align on interpretation before formal submittal.

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Statewide

Manage the public notice and hearing steps that apply where a project falls outside pure administrative approval.

Why developers bring us in early

The most expensive mistakes in Florida happen before a permit is ever filed. Confirming that a parcel genuinely qualifies as commercial, industrial, or mixed-use under the current definitions, confirming the correct jurisdiction among overlapping county and city authority, and confirming the site sits
outside carve-outs like the Wekiva Study Area, is upfront diligence that decides whether a Live Local path way even exists. We run that screen first, so you know what you are buying and what you can build on it.

FAQ

Questions we hear most in Florida

Q. Does JDJ work across all of Florida?
Yes. We consult on land use, entitlements, and permitting statewide, with dedicated pages for our five primary markets: Miami-Dade, Tampa, Broward, Palm Beach, and Orlando.

Q. What is the Live Local Act?

It is Florida state law that preempts local zoning to allow multifamily residential development on commercial, industrial, and mixed-use land when a project reserves at least 40% of its units as affordable. It was first enacted as SB 102 in 2023 and has been amended through 2026.

Q. Why does the process differ by market?

Each county and city administers state law through its own code, department, and submittal portal. Miami-Dade files through EPSPortal, Broward through ePermits OneStop, and Palm Beach through ePZB, for example. Confirming the correct jurisdiction is the first step in any project.

Q. How do I know if my parcel qualifies?

Eligibility depends on the parcel’s zoning and its location relative to statewide carve-outs. We screen your specific site before recommending a pathway.

Q. Where should I start?

Tell us the market and what you want to build. We will screen the site and map the entitlement and permitting route for that jurisdiction.