Fort Lauderdale voters approved ballot measures that reshape how the city leases and sells municipal properties. Competitive bidding and appraisal-floor requirements for sales of city-owned properties will be replaced with a four-to-five commission vote. Parties to a sale must now explain why the deal serves the city's best interest.
Park leases require unanimous commission approval. Leases longer than three years need outside reviews paid for by the tenant. Leases over 10 years require an assessment of the tenant's business viability. The city removed sealed competitive bidding and public hearings for certain property-use agreements. A previous 50-year cap on lease duration was scrapped. Residents can now force a referendum on leases over 50 years if they gather signatures from at least 15 percent of registered city voters.
Hollywood voters approved changes to city-owned property leases requiring a five-to-seven commission vote for leases exceeding 20 years. Leases longer than 50 years will need voter approval.
Deerfield Beach voters rejected three pro-development amendments. They declined to eliminate caps on floor area ratios for commercial properties between the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean. Voters also rejected allowing parking spaces on city-owned lots to count toward other commercial properties' parking requirements. A proposal to scrap voter approval for government property sales and leases over $750,000 was defeated.