DeSantis signs bill that makes demolishing historic Florida buildings easier

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Friday making it easier for local developers to level historic buildings near Florida’s coast, potentially threatening Miami’s iconic Art Deco architecture.

The bill, SB 1526, limits local governments and local preservation boards from protecting notable establishments from being torn down, which would affect the Miami Beach board that controls the fate of 2,600 buildings in its locally designated historic districts.

It was one of 25 bills DeSantis quietly signed on Friday without a press event.

Bill proponents have said the changes are crucial to ensuring that buildings are up to code near Florida’s coast, where flooding is a problem since older buildings aren’t always the sturdiest.

And there’s language in the measure that would exempt St. Augustine, Key West, the town of Palm Beach and buildings along Ocean Drive in South Beach, House sponsor Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, said just before the bill was sent to the governor.

But many buildings in the Mid-Beach and North Beach neighborhoods of Miami Beach could still be affected. That includes Art Deco hotels along Collins Avenue like the Faena, Sherry Frontenac, Casablanca and Carillon.

Roach also said the bill doesn’t override local zoning requirements, and that any new structure built in place of one that is demolished would need to conform to local regulations. (A different policy, Live Local, does allow developers to sidestep local zoning if they agree to build workforce housing.)