No. CS/HB 673
Filed under Environment & Water.
Release of Conservation Easements; Requires certain water management districts, upon application by fee simple owner of parcel subject to conservation easement, to release conservation easement if specified conditions are met; specifies that land released from conservation easement may be used for development consistent with certain zoning; requires property owners to assume responsibility for stormwater requirements in certain circumstances; requires property owners to comply with specified ordinances & seek approval for modification of certain permits; provides applicability.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDA water management district must release a conservation easement if the owner applies and the parcel is under 15 acres, bordered on three or more sides by pavement or other impervious surface, holds no historic value, and mitigation credits are bought elsewhere.
Once released, the land can be developed under the zoning of the land next door, not necessarily its own, and its taxes shift from a conservation rate to full just value.
The owner takes on full responsibility for stormwater and other requirements once developed, must follow every local ordinance, and must separately ask the district to modify any permit that the easement was securing.
This mandatory release does not reach easements inside residential developments, or ones a district acquired on its own rather than as a permit condition -- only regulatory mitigation easements on isolated, non-residential parcels qualify.
AIA water management district has no discretion to refuse: it must release a conservation easement on application if the parcel and any undeveloped adjacent land are under 15 acres, bordered on three or more sides by impervious surface, hold no historic significance, and the owner has bought equivalent mitigation credits.
AITo qualify, the land must be less than 15 acres and bordered on three or more sides by impervious surfaces, and any undeveloped adjacent parcels must meet the same size and impervious-border test.
AIOnce released, the property's ad valorem taxes must be based on its just value rather than any conservation-linked rate, and it may be developed consistent with the zoning designation of the adjacent land.
AIIf the conservation easement was a condition of a permit, releasing the easement does not release the permit -- the owner must separately follow local ordinances and seek district approval to modify any permit the easement secured, including stormwater permits.
AIThis mandatory release process does not apply to conservation easements inside residential developments, or to "proprietary" easements a district acquired other than as a condition of a permit.