177.071 Administrative approval of plats or replats by designated county or municipal official.—
(1)(a) A plat or replat submitted under this part must be administratively approved and no further action or approval by the governing body of a county or municipality is required if the plat or replat complies with the requirements of s. 177.091. The governing body of the county or municipality shall designate, by ordinance or resolution, an administrative authority to receive, review, and process the plat or replat submittal, including designating an administrative official responsible for approving, approving with conditions, or denying the proposed plat or replat.
(b) As used in this section, the term “administrative authority” means a department, division, or other agency of the county or municipality. For purposes of issuing a final administrative approval of a plat or replat submittal, the term also includes an administrative officer or employee designated by the governing body of a county or municipality, including, but not limited to, a county administrator or manager, a city manager, a deputy county administrator or manager, a deputy city manager, an assistant county administrator or manager, an assistant city manager, or other high-ranking county or city department or division director with direct or indirect oversight responsibility for the county’s or municipality’s land development, housing, utilities, or public works programs.
(c) A governing body and its designated administrative authority shall use, upon the written request of the applicant, the registry established in s. 163.3169 to supplement local government staff resources in ways determined by the governing body for processing and expediting the requirements of this section.
(d) A local government may not create, establish, or apply any additional local procedure or condition for the administrative approval of a plat or replat under this section which is inconsistent with this section or s. 177.091. If infrastructure financial assurances are required as a condition of plat or replat approval, the administrative authority designated in paragraph (a) must receive and act upon the proposed assurance. The local government shall accept commonly used forms of financial assurance, including performance bonds, letters of credit, and escrow agreements, provided that the assurance is in a form reasonably acceptable to the local government and issued by a financially responsible issuer meeting objective, uniformly applied standards. Local government review of such financial assurance shall be limited to verifying that the amount, form, and issuer satisfy the requirements of s. 177.091(8) and (9) and the local government’s uniformly applied standards, and may not be used to unreasonably delay approval. If the assurance is deficient, the local government must provide written notice of deficiencies within 10 business days.
(2) Within 7 business days after receipt of a plat or replat submittal, the administrative authority shall provide written notice to the applicant acknowledging receipt of the plat or replat submittal and identifying any missing documents or information necessary to process the plat or replat submittal for compliance with s. 177.091. The written notice must also provide information regarding the plat or replat approval process, including requirements regarding the completeness of the process and applicable timeframes for reviewing, approving, and otherwise processing the plat or replat submittal.
(3) Unless the applicant requests an extension of time, the administrative authority shall approve, approve with conditions, or deny the plat or replat submittal within the timeframe identified in the written notice provided to the applicant under subsection (2). If the administrative authority does not approve the plat or replat, it must notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for declining to approve the submittal. The written notice must identify all areas of noncompliance and include specific citations to each requirement the plat or replat submittal fails to meet. The administrative authority, or an official, an employee, an agent, or a designee of the governing body, may not request or require the applicant to file a written extension of time.
(4) Before a plat or replat is offered for recording, it must be administratively approved as required by this section, and evidence of such approval must be placed on the plat or replat. If not approved, the governing body must return the plat or replat to the professional surveyor and mapper or the legal entity offering the plat or replat for recordation. For the purposes of this part:
(a) When the plat or replat to be submitted for approval is located wholly within the boundaries of a municipality, the municipality has exclusive jurisdiction to approve the plat or replat.
(b) When a plat or replat lies wholly within the unincorporated areas of a county, the county has exclusive jurisdiction to approve the plat or replat.
(c) When a plat or replat lies within the boundaries of more than one county, municipality, or both, two plats or replats must be prepared and each county or municipality has exclusive jurisdiction to approve the plat or replat within its boundaries, unless each county or municipality with jurisdiction over the plat or replat agrees that one plat is mutually acceptable.
(5) Any provision in a county charter, or in an ordinance of any charter county or consolidated government chartered under s. 6(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution, which provision is inconsistent with anything contained in this section shall prevail in such charter county or consolidated government to the extent of any such inconsistency.
History.—s. 1, ch. 71-339; s. 1, ch. 76-110; s. 1, ch. 77-152; s. 1, ch. 77-278; s. 103, ch. 94-119; s. 1, ch. 95-176; s. 6, ch. 98-20; s. 1, ch. 2025-164; s. 4, ch. 2026-64.
