HB 5647 Summary

• Permits construction of driveways within critical dune areas for dwelling or permanent buildings, with engineered plans required for steeper slopes and temporary construction access allowed without a permit.

• Establishes accessibility measures for persons with disabilities to reach buildings in critical dune areas, subject to professional engineering review for slopes steeper than 1-foot rise per 3-foot horizontal plane.

• Revises the purpose of critical dune protection to balance environmental preservation with economic development and public access, replacing prior language emphasizing protection as primary goal.

• Reduces review timelines for department decisions on special exceptions from 60 days to 30 days and changes local government review period for special exception applications from 60 to 30 days.

• Requires periodic ecological review of critical dune designations every 10 years starting with the 2012 amendments and adds provisions allowing replacement structures to differ in use from destroyed structures if size and scope do not exceed the original.