Florida SB 852: Study on the Elimination of Property Taxes

Bill Text

852 
Food Insecure Areas 
2025-12-10T06:35:35Z 
Authorizing a local government to enact land development regulations to permit land use for a small-footprint grocery store located in a food insecure area; authorizing a local government to include in its comprehensive plan a provision permitting land use for a small-footprint grocery store located in a food insecure area, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 852 

 By Senator Jones 

 34-00910-26 2026852__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to food insecure areas; creating s. 
 3 163.31791, F.S.; providing legislative findings; 
 4 providing definitions; authorizing a local government 
 5 to enact land development regulations to permit land 
 6 use for a small-footprint grocery store located in a 
 7 food insecure area; authorizing a local government to 
 8 include in its comprehensive plan a provision 
 9 permitting land use for a small-footprint grocery 
 10 store located in a food insecure area; authorizing a 
 11 local government to require mandatory reporting of 
 12 certain information from a small-footprint grocery 
 13 store; providing an effective date. 
 14 
 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 16 
 17 Section 1. Section 163.31791, Florida Statutes, is created 
 18 to read: 
 19 163.31791 Food insecure areas.— 
 20 (1) The Legislature finds that access to affordable, 
 21 healthy food options, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, is 
 22 restricted due, in part, to the absence of supermarkets located 
 23 within a convenient traveling distance. This restriction 
 24 constitutes a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the 
 25 residents of this state. Therefore, the Legislature finds that 
 26 it serves an important public purpose to encourage local 
 27 governments to grant or approve development permits for land 
 28 designated as a food insecure area in order to increase the 
 29 availability of nutrient-dense food options. 
 30 (2) As used in this section, the term: 
 31 (a) “Food insecure area” is synonymous with “food desert” 
 32 and means a parcel of land that has been identified by the 
 33 Office of Economic and Demographic Research as being located in 
 34 an area: 
 35 1. Having a poverty rate of at least 20 percent or having a 
 36 median family income at or below 80 percent of the median family 
 37 income for this state; and 
 38 2. Having at least 500 persons, or at least 33 percent of 
 39 the population, who, in urban communities, live more than 1 mile 
 40 from a supermarket or who, in rural communities, live more than 
 41 10 miles from a supermarket. 
 42 (b) “Nutrient-dense food” means a food that has a high 
 43 level of nutrients in relationship to the number of calories it 
 44 contains. The term includes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole 
 45 grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes, and low-fat dairy 
 46 products. 
 47 (c) “Small-footprint grocery store” means a grocery store 
 48 that: 
 49 1. Sells products at wholesale or retail; 
 50 2. Derives at least 30 percent of its gross receipts from 
 51 the retail sale of nutrient-dense foods; and 
 52 3. Operates in a food insecure area. 
 53 (d) “Supermarket” means a grocery store that contains all 
 54 of the major food departments found in a large retail grocery 
 55 store. 
 56 (3) Notwithstanding any other restrictions, a local 
 57 government may enact land development regulations authorizing 
 58 land use for a small-footprint grocery store located in a food 
 59 insecure area. 
 60 (4) Notwithstanding any other restrictions, a local 
 61 government may include in its comprehensive plan a provision 
 62 authorizing land use for a small-footprint grocery store located 
 63 in a food insecure area. 
 64 (5) A local government may require mandatory reporting of 
 65 certain information from small-footprint grocery stores. 
 66 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.