Planning & Zoning: Florida's Community Planning Act

Planning and Zoning is 1% of the Florida sales associate exam, typically one question. It is also one of the most practical topics for a new licensee. Whether a buyer can add a unit, open a home business or subdivide a lot depends on the local comprehensive plan and the regulations that carry it out.

The Community Planning Act

Part II of Chapter 163 is known as the Community Planning Act. Its stated purpose is to use and strengthen the existing role, processes and powers of local governments in comprehensive planning, to guide and manage future development. Under § 163.3167, counties and municipalities have the power and responsibility to:

1. plan for their future development and growth;
2. adopt and amend comprehensive plans;
3. implement those plans by adopting land development regulations; and
4. maintain the administrative procedures to carry this out.

The local planning agency

Every county and municipality's governing body must designate, by ordinance, a local planning agency (§ 163.3174). The agency:

• prepares the comprehensive plan or plan amendment after public hearings held with public notice;
• makes recommendations to the governing body about adopting or amending the plan; and
• may be a local planning commission, the planning department, or another instrumentality. The governing body may even designate itself.

Planning agencies that first review rezonings and plan amendments must include a nonvoting school district representative for items that would increase residential density.

The comprehensive plan and concurrency

A comprehensive plan must contain required elements. The best known is the future land use plan element, which designates the proposed future general distribution, location and extent of land uses: residential, commercial, industry, agriculture, recreation, conservation, education, public facilities and more. Plans also include a capital improvements element.

Under § 163.3180, only four public facilities and services are subject to the concurrency requirement statewide: sanitary sewer, solid waste, drainage and potable water. A local government may extend concurrency to additional facilities within its own jurisdiction.

Land development regulations, zoning and permits

Land development regulations are ordinances regulating any aspect of development. They include zoning, rezoning, subdivision, building construction and sign regulations. Each county and municipality must adopt or amend such regulations, consistent with its plan, within 1 year after submitting its comprehensive plan for review.

Development permit

Includes any building permit, zoning permit, subdivision approval, rezoning, certification, special exception, variance, or other official action of local government having the effect of permitting development.

Development order

Any order granting, denying, or granting with conditions an application for a development permit.

Florida Building Code

A single, unified state building code that applies to the design, construction, alteration, repair and demolition of public and private buildings in Florida.

Code enforcement

Chapter 162 lets counties and municipalities create administrative boards that can impose administrative fines and other noncriminal penalties. The goal is an equitable, expeditious, effective and inexpensive way to enforce codes and ordinances. For a buyer, an open code violation on a property is a red flag to investigate before closing. When a customer asks what a parcel can be used for, send them to the local planning or zoning office for the current designations rather than guessing.

Where this shows up on the exam

Planning and Zoning is 1% of the exam (DBPR candidate booklet, January 2025). The likely question asks who prepares the comprehensive plan (the local planning agency), which facilities are subject to statewide concurrency, or what counts as a land development regulation.

Sources

North Carolina law as published by the General Assembly and the Office of Administrative Hearings, checked 2026-11-05:

• § 162.02, Fla. Stat.
• § 163.3161, Fla. Stat.
• § 163.3164, Fla. Stat.
• § 163.3167, Fla. Stat.
• § 163.3174, Fla. Stat.
• § 163.3177, Fla. Stat.
• § 163.3180, Fla. Stat.
• § 163.3202, Fla. Stat.
• § 553.72, Fla. Stat.
• DBPR, Florida Real Estate Sales Associate Candidate Information Booklet (Jan 2025), content areas