In Manatee County, growth has become a political football. Local voters recently elected commissioners promising to “rein in sprawl” — and those new leaders quickly moved to cap development, raise impact fees, and restore regulatory barriers. That sparked a backlash from Tallahassee, where the DeSantis administration ordered a sweeping audit and reminded Manatee that state law, including Senate Bill 180, protects the right to reasonable, consistent growth rules.
Some in the media are portraying this as a story of greedy developers clashing with grassroots reformers. That narrative is simplistic, wrong — and damaging. Developers are not the villains. They are the people building the very homes Florida desperately needs in the middle of an affordability crisis. Pretending otherwise lets politicians score points while families struggle to pay rent and can’t find a starter home.
The real enemy is red tape. Every time a county drags out approvals, changes the rules midstream, or piles on new fees, the cost of housing goes up. A six-month permitting delay adds about $12,000 to the cost of an average home. A new round of fees adds another $5,000. Sudden rule changes tack on $8,000 more. That’s $25,000 per home — enough to price countless working families out of the market.
| Housing Math: How Red Tape Adds $25,000 to the Cost of a Home | |
| Base price of a modest new home | $350,000 |
| Six-month permitting delay (financing, materials, labor) | +$12,000 |
| New or higher impact fees | +$5,000 |
| Midstream rule changes (design, compliance, re-permitting) | +$8,000 |
| Total increase | = $375,000 |
| What does $25,000 mean for families? • On a 30-year mortgage at 6.5% interest, that adds about $160 per month. • Over the life of the loan, it’s nearly $58,000 in extra payments. • For many buyers, that single bump is enough to kill financing or push them out of the market. | |
This is why SB 180 matters. The law was designed to stop local governments from using moratoriums and procedural tricks to shut down growth. It doesn’t mean development is a free-for-all — projects still have to meet rigorous environmental, safety, and infrastructure standards. What it means is that the rules are consistent, predictable, and fair. That predictability is essential if we’re serious about delivering affordable housing.
Every time a politician calls developers “greedy,” or a commission celebrates blocking growth, the practical result is fewer homes and higher prices. Builders won’t stick around in places where the rules change every week — they’ll move on to counties that welcome investment. The losers aren’t the developers. The losers are families who want to buy their first home, seniors looking to downsize, and renters watching their monthly bills spiral upward.
The Manatee dispute isn’t just about one county. It’s a test case for Florida’s future. Will we choose red tape and rhetoric, or will we embrace a strategy that balances oversight with opportunity and actually makes housing attainable?
Florida doesn’t need scapegoats. It needs more homes, more infrastructure, and more leaders willing to work with — not against — the private sector that builds them. Until we stop demonizing development and start connecting the dots between regulation and affordability, the housing crisis will only get worse.