Live Local Act Takes Center Stage in Senate District 38 Race

Republican incumbent Alexis Calatayud helped craft Florida’s Live Local Act. Democratic challenger Richard Lamondin says the law gives developers too much power while failing to address the housing needs of residents most at risk.

Florida’s controversial Live Local Act won’t be on the ballot this year.

But in Senate District 38 — a hotly contested race between a sitting Florida senator who helped to write the law and a challenger who wants to reform it — Live Local is at the center of the election.  

Republican state Sen. Alexis Calatayud wrote and co-sponsored the 2023 law in response to Florida’s affordable housing crisis. Now, three years later, the law is triggering fierce opposition from residents and local officials across South Florida.

The law effectively neuters local zoning controls, allowing developers to build taller apartment buildings with more units if they reserve a portion of those new units for working families. Supporters argue the policy addresses the state’s urgent housing shortage, while critics say it favors developers by allowing them to bypass local zoning laws and override residents’ input to maximize density and profit.

Calatayud’s challenger, Democrat Richard Lamondin, has made the law a centerpiece of his campaign, arguing that it encourages overdevelopment while failing to provide housing accessible to the lower-income residents who need it most.

District 38 covers parts of southeastern Miami-Dade County, including Coconut Grove, where many residents are grappling with a rush of new development and rising costs. 

With 87 Live Local projects planned across the City of Miami (according to an updated count shared by Planning Director David Snow last month) the potential for developers to maximize density and height in the Grove has added to local anxieties about the future of the neighborhood’s character. 

Lamondin is a first-time candidate who initially launched a campaign for the U.S. House before switching to the state Senate race in April. He is running on his business experience as the co-founder and CEO of Ecofi, a sustainability services company that works to reduce buildings’ water and energy expenses.

Throughout his campaign, Lamondin has focused on his identity as a father, highlighting the challenges of raising a family in South Florida as costs continue to climb.

“I think the community sees what’s been happening to their bank account,” Lamondin said in an interview with the Spotlight last week. “They’ve been seeing what’s happening to their voice.”

Lamondin argues that Live Local has added greater development pressure to neighborhoods like the West Grove, where longtime residents have been displaced by rising housing costs and new developments. 

At a Sept. 15 town hall event hosted by Lamondin, residents across District 38 discussed their frustrations with the law and its effects on their neighborhoods. Many argued that the policy has encouraged overdevelopment without delivering housing that residents many low-income can actually afford.

Similar concerns have surfaced during public meetings with Calatayud.

Over the summer, community leaders in the West Grove raised questions about Live Local during a Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance meeting at St. James Baptist Church.

Carolyn Donaldson, vice chair of GRACE (Grove Rights and Community Equity), questioned Calatayud about Related Urban Development Group’s plans for two high-rise towers on Douglas Road, asking how the community’s interests were “being taken into consideration.”

Calatayud directed residents to the county for questions about development plans on public land, saying, “It’s not my job to be an evangelist or apologist for any of these projects.”

Read more: Massive West Grove Development Raises Questions

Donaldson and other leaders also pressed Calatayud on whether Live Local’s affordability requirements adequately address the needs of the most vulnerable residents.

The law requires qualifying developments to designate at least 40% of their residential units as affordable for households earning up to 120% of area median income. In Miami-Dade County in 2025, the area median income for a single-person household was $86,800, putting the 120% threshold at $104,160. 

“I know you use this terminology about workforce and affordable, but affordable for whom? When I talk to people, their base salary is not $90,000,” Donaldson told Calatayud. 

“If you’re saying workforce, affordable, most of these folks still — the units you’re talking about building — are still not going to be able to afford to move into them,” she said.

Calatayud’s campaign manager, Krista Schmidinter, declined an interview but provided the senator’s written responses to the Spotlight’s questions. Calatayud defended the law in her statement, arguing that the alternative would be projects consisting entirely of market-rate or luxury units. 

“This law is the difference between nearly all future development in Miami at full market rate or luxury cost, or a future of mixed-income development with low-income, middle-income, and higher-income earners living together in every neighborhood in Miami-Dade County,” Calatayud wrote.

Asked about potential changes to the policy in a future term, Calatayud highlighted numerous amendments adopted since the law first passed in 2023: addressing building heights near single-family neighborhoods after discussions with South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez, restricting development near airports after hearing concerns from Miami-Dade County Mayor Levine Cava, and increasing Art Deco preservation protections in collaboration with Miami Beach City Commissioner Alex Fernandez.

“I take pride in being accessible and collaborative with our local government leaders, especially to mitigate unintended consequences from a first-in-the-nation housing affordability strategy,” Calatayud said.

But local officials argue that the law leaves municipalities with too little control over development. 

In June, the Miami City Commission voted unanimously to direct the city attorney to explore legal options for challenging Live Local, citing concerns about the city’s ability to enforce its zoning code and shape long-term development. 

“Live Local is not good for our communities, and we should not abdicate our authority to the state,” Miami Commissioner Christine King said before the vote.

Miami Beach officials are weighing a legal challenge to Live Local as well.

If elected, Lamondin said he would push for more substantial reforms to the law, arguing that local governments should have a leading role in development decisions affecting their neighborhoods. 

When asked to name specific amendments, Lamondin proposed increasing requirements for public input on projects, mandating more time for municipalities to adapt their regulations and requiring more generous affordability requirements.

He said the law should require a greater emphasis on households earning 80% or less of the area median income, which he argues is where much of the region’s housing need is concentrated.

While Lamondin has criticized Calatayud’s role in advancing Live Local, advertisements approved by her campaign have accused Lamondin of promoting the same kind of development.

A recent mailer distributed in a Coconut Grove neighborhood declares: “Richard Lamondin Wants to Put High-Rises in Your Neighborhood!”

“I’ve never built a building in my life,” Lamondin said in response, adding that the ad attempts to tie him to his father, who worked in real estate but has been retired for years. 

Lamondin said the mailer is just one example of Calatayud relying on “bad faith” attack ads rather than publicly debating the Live Local’s effects on the district.

One of Calatayud’s own mailers credits her for “stopping overdevelopment” — the very thing her critics say she has supercharged — but makes no mention of Live Local.

Beyond Live Local, both candidates shared their central priorities and concerns with the Spotlight. 

Calatayud named affordability as the greatest issue facing District 38. In response, she highlighted her work on the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program, a Live Local-based down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers, saying that 561 families in District 38 have benefited. If reelected, she pledged to continue seeking funding for the program.

She also highlighted her work to secure $30 million in emergency stopgap funding for Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), expanding eligibility for Florida’s subsidized Children’s Health Insurance Program and passing an amendment protecting the ability of public-sector workers to maintain access to employer-provided health insurance and negotiated wages above the minimum wage.

Lamondin also highlighted affordability as a central issue of his campaign. When asked about his business record, he described his work to reduce renters’ and homeowners’ water and energy bills, saying Ecofi has generated over $100 million in utility savings. 

Beyond reforming Live Local, Lamondin’s policy goals include immigration reform, expanding childcare and investing in public education. He proposed expanding access to voluntary prekindergarten to full days for four-year-olds, increasing transparency in school funding and building what he described as a stronger constituent services operation.

Lamondin said running a business has taught him to find common ground among people with different priorities, a skill he hopes to bring to the Legislature.

Independent candidate Jeffrey Solomon is also running for the seat with a message that’s focused on lowering costs.

Early voting in Miami-Dade started Monday Oct. 19 and will run through Sunday Nov. 1. Election Day is Tuesday Nov. 3. 

Sinclair Holian is a Spotlight reporter and Report for America corps member covering gentrification and development in Coconut Grove. She joins us through our partnership with Report for America, a national organization that places journalists in local newsrooms across the United States.