Florida Senate Passes New Bill That Would Void Reedy Creek Agreements

There has been another development in the battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Disney, and the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District).

Recently, the board of the District declared some key agreements Disney entered into with the prior board as void, Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis, and DeSantis has issued a response. But now more things are moving forward in DeSantis’ battle against those Disney agreements.

One of the key agreements Disney entered into with the old board is the Development Agreement. The agreement gives Disney a substantial amount of power over development decisions in the District for several years going forward, and bars the new District from regulating building height and using the Disney name or “fanciful characters such as Mickey Mouse” without Disney’s approval.

The board described it as “stripping” them of their power.

The board and DeSantis have heavily criticized the Development Agreement and indicated that they would work to make sure it is declared void. At their April 26th, 2023 meeting, the board did declare the Development Agreement as void, after which point Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and the Board.

But DeSantis anticipated that such an action by the board could result in litigation, which is why he announced that the Florida legislature would also be taking action against Disney on this Development Agreement. Recently, an amendment was introduced into bills in the Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives, and now one of those bills has had a big development.

Senate Bill 1604 (Land Use and Development Regulations) was filed back in March. The bill has to do with certain comprehensive plan requirements. An amendment was proposed to the bill following the reveal of DeSantis’ plan of attack against Disney.

The amendment prevents independent special districts (like the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, formerly known as Reedy Creek) from complying with any development agreement if that agreement was entered within 3 months before the effective date of a law that changes how the special district selects its governing body.

The amendment also says that the new governing body of the special district will review the development agreements within 4 months of taking office. Then, they would vote on if they will readopt the agreement or not. This particular requirement, however, would expire on July 1st, 2028 unless the Florida Legislature reenacts the amendment.

The Senate Bill containing this amendment has now been PASSED (as amended). It was passed by a vote of 27 to 13 and now has been sent to the House for discussion.

This would impact Disney because the Development Agreement at issue was approved by the old board on February 8th, 2023. That falls within a 3-month window of the law changing how the District’s board of supervisors is selected.

For now, the bill has only passed the Senate. If the bill ultimately passes the Florida House of Representatives and is signed by the Governor, it means the Development Agreement from the old board would be put on pause and the new DeSantis-appointed board would be “precluded from complying” with its terms. Then, the board could review the Agreement and decide if they would like to move forward with it or not.

This essentially serves as a second method by which to declare Disney’s Agreement with the old board as invalid.

Things are still developing so stay tuned for more news.

Click here to see details about Disney’s lawsuit against DeSantis

 

Comments (1)