The Form-Based Code as Defense Layer: Why placement-and-orientation regulation is the most durable instrument against state preemption in the SB 180 / Live Local era

Florida's two preemption regimes — the Live Local Act (CS/SB 102, 2023) and Senate Bill 180 (2025) — converge on density, height, floor-area-ratio, and parking. Neither preempts architectural standards, building placement, street-design requirements, or design-review processes. Form-based codes adopted before the August 2024 SB 180 retroactive line are the most preemption-resilient regulatory instrument in the Florida zoning landscape. Clermont's Wellness Way Design Standards (adopted 2022) are the cardinal grandfathered case — the V3 Capital 7-Eleven denial in October 2025 (0-5) proved the form-based regime enforces against use categories that use-based zoning would have struggled to deny. For cities without pre-line form-based codes, condition-stacking on individual approvals during the freeze is the second-best instrument, and design-review-board authority within existing PUDs is the under-explored third instrument. The dimension that matters is *form*, not *use*.