The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s Planning Board recommended approval of Resolution No. 686 on July 24th. It sends a rewrite of the District’s Land Development Regulations to the full Board of Supervisors for final adoption. The amendments write the 2045 Comprehensive Plan’s growth ceilings directly into enforceable zoning code. They also add a first-time set of standards for floating solar facilities, plus updated stormwater and erosion control rules to match a new statewide requirement. In effect, the Resolution, when approved, will set development limits for Walt Disney World over the next two decades. Here’s the latest from today’s meeting.
Oversight District to Set Disney World Development Limits
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- New standards for floating solar facilities on District waters for the first time.
- The amendments codify the 2045 Comprehensive Plan’s growth ceilings for hotels, office space, retail, theme parks, and golf.
- Stormwater, erosion control, and surveying standards are also updated to match a new Florida statewide rule.
Walt Disney World is in a period of growth, and it’s only set to accelerate over the next few years. To support that growth, and as part of a settlement with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District worked with Disney to create a new Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan would be a set of guidelines for which growth could occur within the District over the next two decades.
Planning Board Recommends Amendments to Disney World Land Development Regulations
State law requires the District to amend its Land Development Regulations (LDR) within one year of adopting a new Comprehensive Plan, according to the resolution itself. The Board of Supervisors adopted the 2045 Comprehensive Plan under Resolution No. 674 on September 26, 2025. Resolution 686 is the mechanism that satisfies that one-year requirement.
As the only Disney news site in attendance at today’s in-person meeting, BlogMickey.com can exclusively confirm that the Planning Board unanimously voted to send Resolution 686 to the Board of Supervisors.
The growth ceilings themselves were already approved when the Comprehensive Plan was adopted last September, including room for a fifth major theme park and additional hotel keys. Resolution 686 doesn’t raise or lower any of those numbers. Instead, it moves them into the code District staff use to review permits day to day. Staff’s report to the Planning Board concludes the amendments are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan’s intent. Staff also found the changes won’t hurt other programs tied to that plan.
A separate requirement drove additional changes in the same resolution. Florida’s new statewide stormwater rule took effect in December 2025. It changes how stormwater treatment systems are designed and regulated across Florida. District staff says the LDR update brings the code’s design criteria, treatment options, and maintenance requirements in line with that rule. The update also clarifies existing floodplain, bypass pump, and design clearance rules.
Resolution 686 also folds in a set of housekeeping updates unrelated to the Comprehensive Plan or the stormwater rule. The amendments add or update several definitions, clarify survey requirements, and update job titles within the Planning and Engineering Department. Review deadlines for planning and engineering department determinations are also standardized. The amendments also clarify Planning Board and Board of Supervisors procedures for amending the Land Development Regulations. That clarification aligns the process with the District’s existing charter.
Floating Solar Facilities Added to Plans
Resolution 686 adds a new Chapter 2-60, Floating Solar Facilities, to the Land Development Regulations. It’s the first time the District has written standards for this specific use into its code. The chapter implements a 2023 Florida statute that added floating solar as an allowable use for local governments statewide.
New rules limit where these installations can go. Floating solar facilities, sometimes called floatovoltaics, can only sit on man-made water bodies of at least 10 acres. Those water bodies also have to fall within the water category set by the CFTOD Comprehensive Plan. Natural lakes, canals, wetlands, and water management conservation areas are all off limits. Coverage tops out at 20% of a water body’s surface area. That percentage is measured at a water body’s normal, or control, water elevation rather than at full capacity, staff clarified in response to a board member’s question. Developers can exceed the cap only with environmental reports showing no adverse impact to water quality, plants, and animals. Board of Supervisors approval is also required.
The chapter also lays out detailed operating standards. Panels must rise and fall with water elevation, fluctuating between seasonal low water and the elevation expected during a 100-year, 3-day storm event. Power and communication lines running from shore must run underground. Any panels using reflectors to boost output must control glare. The chapter also bars any glare that could affect aircraft traffic control or vehicular traffic. Installations need a decommissioning plan for proper removal once a facility reaches the end of its useful life. Site-specific maintenance and monitoring plans are also required, covering everything from bird deterrence to long-term water quality effects.
What the Codified Disney World Growth Ceilings Actually Say
The LDR amendment restates the development maximums first set in the 2045 Comprehensive Plan, now as binding zoning code rather than planning policy. Hotel keys can grow from a base condition of 28,267 to a 2045 cap of 39,801, an increment of 13,275 keys.
Office space can grow from a base of 882,000 square feet to a 2045 cap of 1,033,564 square feet. Retail and restaurant space can grow from 897,887 square feet to a cap of 1,463,222 square feet.
The update also codifies room for one more major theme park and two more minor theme parks beyond what’s built today. It adds 18 more golf holes on top of that. None of those figures are new. They carry over the same ceilings BlogMickey.com reported on when the Comprehensive Plan was still under review. This resolution simply writes them into the code the District uses to evaluate permit applications.
Planning Board staff found the amendments promote public health, safety, and welfare within the District. The Planning Board, which is comprised of the same members as the Board of Supervisors, recommended sending Resolution 686 to the Board of Supervisors for final adoption.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!