Osceola County Manager Don Fisher outlines the revisions to the mobility fee ordinance, which commissioners approved last September by a 4-1 vote. (Source: Osceola County)
By [Laura Kinsler](/content/author/laura-kinsler/ "Posts by Laura Kinsler"/index.html) PUBLISHED: August 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM EDT UPDATED: August 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM EDT
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As Orange County decides whether to fight a lawsuit over its voter-approved rural boundaries, its neighbor to the south could be in for a similar legal battle.
Developers and homebuilders in Osceola County are weighing a challenge to the county’s sky-high mobility fees under Senate Bill 180, a sweeping new state law that voids any updates to local land development codes or comprehensive plans adopted since August 2024 that would make new development “more restrictive or burdensome.” It applies to all jurisdictions within 100 miles of the paths of Hurricanes Milton, Helene, and Debby.
Both Osceola and St. Cloud declared “extraordinary circumstances” last September when they approved mobility fee updates that more than doubled the rate for new homes and many commercial uses. Osceola County’s mobility and school impact fees are now the highest in the state. And if the 2024 votes are nullified, it could cost the city and county millions of dollars earmarked for transportation improvements.
But they’re not the only jurisdictions in Central Florida that could be vulnerable to a legal challenge under SB 180. Earlier this year, Tavares and Haines City also raised their municipal and transportation impact fees, citing extraordinary circumstances.
And just this week, the City of Apopka began the process to raise its municipal impact fees by about 64% for single-family homes and 31% for apartments even though City Attorney Cliff Shepard warned council members that SB180 could invalidate such an ordinance. The city must hold two public workshops on the new rates before voting on the impact fee ordinance.
Shepard estimated that the city’s higher fees have at best a 50-50 shot of winning a legal argument against the legislation. “That’s an impact. It’s more burdensome and potentially restrictive on the ability to get a building permit,” Shepard said.
Now all eyes are looking west to Manatee County, which was sued last month by a consortium of local homebuilders led by the head of the Suncoast Builders’ Association. Manatee County Commissioners voted in June to double their impact fees. The new rates are scheduled to take effect Sept. 9.
The complaint, filed on July 15, seeks an injunction against the county to prevent it from collecting impact fees in excess of what would be allowed under the Florida Impact Fee Act, which limits the increases to 50% spread over four years. The complaint argues that SB 180 doesn’t exempt cities or counties that used the “extraordinary circumstances” claim to hike their impact fees.
The builders are also seeking attorneys’ fees, which is their right under SB 180 if they prevail in court. They provided the county with a 14-day notice of violation in early July, giving commissioners two weeks to rescind the impact fee ordinance. When the commission balked, the builders sued.
Lee Steinhauer, legislative director for the Greater Orlando Builders’ Association, told GrowthSpotter the court will have to determine if the association has standing to sue on behalf of its members. Regardless of who files the challenge, he believes SB 180 could invalidate an impact fee update if it’s determined to be more restrictive or burdensome on local development.
“Just kind of a plain reading of it … It certainly seems like there’s an argument there that it is,” he said.
So far, neither Osceola County nor St. Cloud has received a 14-day notice, but there has been plenty of chatter among homebuilders and developers about a challenge. County Attorney Frank Townsend declined to provide an opinion on whether Osceola’s impact fees could withstand an SB 180 challenge.
The Manatee case offers plenty of parallels to Osceola. For example, the plaintiffs attached an affidavit from renowned economist Dr. Hank Fishkind on the potential impact of the new fees as evidence that the rates would “substantially burden and restrict their livelihoods; and … negatively affect the affordability of housing for residents of Manatee County.”
Fishkind offered a similar analysis of Osceola’s mobility fees before they were adopted.
Osceola County and St. Cloud adopted new mobility fees last September that went into effect on June 18, 2025. St. Council opted to discount the full fees by 15%. (Source: St. Cloud)
“Imposing fees at these levels will have very significant negative impacts on the volume of development activity and severe consequences for Osceola County’s economy,” Fishkind wrote last summer. “At the very least, it is crystal clear that increases in mobility fees of these magnitudes will substantially reduce development activity, and thereby greatly lower the need for new transportation facilities to serve new growth, projected by HTNB.”
The other legal question could fall to where impact fees are located in the city or county’s code of ordinances, according to Lowndes shareholder Rebecca Wilson. She said one interpretation of SB 180 could be that it applies to impact fee ordinances only if they’re a part of the land development code or comprehensive plan. Osceola County’s Impact Fee Ordinance is a separate chapter in its code of ordinances and not a part of its Land Development Code. St. Cloud’s impact fees, however, are contained within its Land Development Code.
The actual language of the bill prohibits more restrictive or burdensome land development regulations or “procedures concerning review, approval, or issuance of site plans, development permits, or development orders.” It doesn’t specify that the ordinance has to be part of the land development code.
Last week, Orange County officials received a letter from the state Department of Commerce, declaring the rural boundaries — and the county’s entire Vision 2050 plan — to be “null and void.” An attorney for the embattled 2,000-home Sustanee project, also known as Lake Pickett North, immediately filed suit under the provisions of SB 180. Orange County has not filed a response to the lawsuit.
“Based on the decision Orange County received from the state on Vision 2050, it appears that the intent of the state is for Senate Bill 180 to be broadly construed,” Wilson said. “And it appears that any additional burden, whether it’s in the land development code or a comp plan amendment, would be found void.”
Manatee County commissioners have vowed to fight for the right to determine their growth management policies by joining an effort led by Pasco County through the Florida Association of Counties to force a revision to SB 180. Specifically, they are recommending language to limit the “more restrictive or burdensome” preemption provisions to only those properties damaged by a hurricane.
The proposal would be submitted to the FAC Policy Conference on September 17–18, where FAC members will debate and vote on policy proposals for the 2026 Legislative Session.
The county is also considering joining a coalition of cities and counties preparing a lawsuit to overturn SB 180 before the 2026 session. Broward County land use lawyer Jamie Cole is leading the effort and asking each jurisdiction to pony up $10,000 for the cause.
In 2023, the last time the state enacted a similar law with wide-ranging implications on growth management, legislators amended the law before the next session to reduce the number of affected counties from 26 to 10.
Deltona City Commissioners defied the legislature by approving a moratorium on new residential development on June 30 — four days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 180 into law — sparking another lawsuit in Volusia County from a local developer who was attempting to build an age-restricted affordable housing community and was already suing the city for violating the Live Local Act. Deltona has filed a motion to dismiss the case.
EDITORS’ NOTE: This story has been updated to include the results of Apopka’s Aug. 6 impact fee vote.
GrowthSpotter reporter Tyler Williams contributed to this report. Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261.