What Does Rogo Stand For? – All the Essential you need.

When looking into building in the Florida Keys, you will come across the word ROGO a lot! So what does it mean? Rogo is an acronym that stands for Rate Of Growth Ordinance.  Sometimes you will also run into the word, BPAS, which is another acronym that stands for, Building Permit Allocation System.  Rogo and Bpas are the same thing, but with different names.

The Florida Keys is an area designated as “An Area of Critical State Concern,” by the state of Florida. . Which means that the state regulates how much NEW building is allowed on the island chain. I am only talking about new construction on vacant land.

A few reasons the state of Florida is regulating how much the Florida Keys can grow is due to the preservation of the environment, protecting the waterways and the main reason life safety.  The state’s goal is to be able to evacuate the population within a 24 hour period should a hurricane arrive.

Based on the evacuation models, it was projected that the maximum buildout capacity will reach 24 hours in the year 2023.  In 1974, the state of Florida gave out a set number of permits for the entire Florida Keys.  Each area of the keys was given a certain number of permits to allocate. The areas have been broken down to, Upper Keys, Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine Key and the Lower Keys and Key West.

The term, allocation and building permit get used a lot interchangeably down here.  Sometimes you can have an allocation (the right to build) but not have the actual building permit as it is still being processed by the city or county. 

So since 1974, the county and cities within the FL Keys have been, allocating or handing out these building rights on a points basis. The more points you have, the faster you get a permit. So how do you get points? Follow the link here, if you want a more through explanation on obtaining points or just keep reading for a basic understanding of Rogo.

On a side note, Layton and Key Colony Beach are two areas where Rogo is not applied. For more information on those areas, follow this link.

Ok back to our topic. The Florida Keys building moratorium of 2023 has now been pushed back to 2026. Well, that is, in some areas in the Florida Keys.

Remember, I told you, the state of Florida gave us a set number of permits to build new construction homes on vacant lots. Well, the county and the cities in the Florida Keys have been preparing for this some time. As they understand, if the government starts telling the people they can’t build on their land, there are going to be lawsuits and plenty of them. So in an effort to delay all the lawsuits, some areas in the keys have pushed the 2023 moratorium to 2026. The one thing you need to understand is, although 2023 has been moved back to 2026, this doesn’t mean there are MORE permits to give out. The number of permits remain the same. The only difference is the county is allocating them at a slower rate. They are delaying the end of moratorium on purpose in an effort to delay the lawsuits.

The county actually has a whole department called the Land Trust, where they allocate money to the trust to purchase privately owned land so that there will be less lawsuits. The lawsuits are commonly referred to as “taking lawsuits.” 

Currently, the moratorium is scheduled to end in the county in 2026. In the Village of Islamorada it is set to end in June of 2023. In the City of Marathon, 2024.

If you came across the word Rogo Exempt, follow our link here which explains what this means.

Here are some link to the County, and cities for more Rogo Information.

Village of Islamorada 

Monroe County

City of Marathon

Sign Up to get this ROGO Cheat Sheet!

Amy is a Florida Keys Elite Agent & Diamond Award Winner.  She has been selling real estate for over 13 years in the keys.  Before her career in real estate, Amy implemented and developed various marketing and sales strategies for companies in Upstate New York and Florida.  She holds a Master’s Degree in Marketing and Management.   Amy’s marketing programs are the most comprehensive in the industry and will show case your property to the largest audience of potential buyers.

Tom’s experience is in the Building, Planning, Zoning and Development field.  He worked in the Civil Engineering Department for the USAF.   He was the Building Official/Director of Building Planning and Zoning for a municipality for over ten years; and is the owner of Alliance Custom Builders. He also holds twenty licenses through the International Code counsel, including Commercial & Residential Plan Reviewer and Certified Building Official.  He has built homes in both Marathon and Key Colony Beach.