Sarasota judge quashes county’s pushback against Live Local

Suit against county by the largest homebuilder in the U.S. proceeds.

By Johannes Werner

Original Air Date: Nov. 5, 2026

Host: A Sarasota judge allowed a lawsuit by a developer who wants to build high-density workforce housing on rural land to proceed. We have the details.

Map courtesy Audubon Society

Johannes Werner: Sarasota County Commissioners who pushed back against Florida’s Live Local Act were dealt a blow. At their meeting Wednesday, Sarasota County Commissioners learned from the county attorney that a local court ruled in favor of D.R. Horton.

The nation’s largest homebuilder proposes to build 864 apartments on 50 acres of “Open Use Rural”-zoned land. Located on Raymond Road, next to the Celery Fields natural preserve, it used to be known as Smith Farm.

This proposal came after the homebuilder switched gears. When the county rejected plans to build 126 market-rate homes on the land, D.R. Horton went back to the drawing board and in May presented a plan to build workforce housing in a rental apartment complex instead. It is proposing the project under the 2023 Live Local Act, which allows developers to bypass local review procedures if they promise to build affordable housing on commercial, industrial, and mixed use-zoned land.

Audubon documentation of Smith Farm wetlands. | Courtesy Audubon Society

The county commission has argued that rural and open-use land is not eligible for Live Local projects.

But on Wednesday, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll denied the county’s motion to dismiss, saying the case showed why the Live Local Act was created in the first place. In court documents, Carroll used strong wording.

“The Live Local Act’s explicit function is to authorize housing where local zoning dictates housing does not belong, provided the promise of affordable housing is met.”

The judge’s ruling could have major implications for 18 other Live Local projects in Sarasota County. At the Wednesday commission meeting, County Attorney Joshua Moye said he was still reviewing the judge’s order and its effect on other Live Local lawsuits against the county. Moye promised the commissioners an in-depth analysis at their Nov. 17 meeting.

The D.R. Horton plans have prompted pushback from preservationists, bird watchers and neighbors. Much of the land was flooded during Sarasota’s epic storm season two years ago.

View from Celery Fields to Smith Farm. | Courtesy Audubon

The Audubon Society is now lobbying the county to jointly buy the land, known as Smith Farms, to preserve it.

In a Facebook post, community organizer Lourdes Ramirez called the ruling “terrible news.”

Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.

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