Florida SB 34: Relief of Robert Alan Smith by Orange County

Bill Text

34 
Historic Cemeteries Program 
2025-09-08T09:56:37Z 
Requiring local governments to approve applications from historic African-American cemeteries to change the land use category and zoning district of excess vacant land under certain conditions, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 34 

 By Senator Sharief 

 35-00005-26 202634__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to the Historic Cemeteries Program; 
 3 amending s. 267.21, F.S.; requiring local governments 
 4 to approve applications from historic African-American 
 5 cemeteries to change the land use category and zoning 
 6 district of excess vacant land under certain 
 7 conditions; providing an effective date. 
 8 
 9 WHEREAS, the State of Florida recognizes the work done by 
 10 the University of South Florida’s Black Cemetery Network to 
 11 reclaim black histories that have been underrepresented, to 
 12 redress the exploitation and erasure of these African-American 
 13 cemeteries due to urban redevelopment and land use practices, 
 14 and to restore dignity to these cemeteries and honor the 
 15 deceased, and 
 16 WHEREAS, the Black Cemetery Network has identified and 
 17 registered 35 sites in Florida, and 
 18 WHEREAS, the Legislature passed House Bill 49 during the 
 19 2023 Regular Session, and it was signed into law by the Governor 
 20 on May 25, 2023, creating the Historic Cemeteries Program, and 
 21 WHEREAS, the Historic Cemeteries Program provides grants to 
 22 eligible cemeteries for preservation efforts; however, some of 
 23 these cemeteries have vacant land that could be sold to help 
 24 fund the long-term maintenance and upkeep of such cemeteries, 
 25 ensuring that the grants are used for the initial preservation 
 26 efforts of these cemeteries, NOW, THEREFORE, 
 27 
 28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 29 
 30 Section 1. Present subsection (3) of section 267.21, 
 31 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (4), and a new 
 32 subsection (3) is added to that section, to read: 
 33 267.21 Historic Cemeteries Program.— 
 34 (3) If a historic African-American cemetery with excess 
 35 vacant land sells or enters into a contract to sell such land 
 36 for the express purpose of funding the cemetery’s long-term 
 37 maintenance and upkeep, the local government where such cemetery 
 38 is located must approve an application to change the land use 
 39 designation and zoning of such land to match the most permissive 
 40 land use category and zoning district adjacent to the excess 
 41 property. 
 42 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.