NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — High water elevations within the stormwater system have resulted in prolonged flooding of some roadways within the Venetian Bay neighborhood in New Smyrna Beach.

New Smyrna Beach city commissioners have proposed an ordinance that will stop any development in that area until the flooding issues are resolved.

A group of residents at Venetian Bay are coming together to support the moratorium that will stop development until flooding issues in their community are taken care of.

Resident Carl Scharwath says he has organized two town halls to discuss the flooding problems this community has seen in the past, including during Hurricane Ian.

“The entire development was flooded — the streets, some people were stuck in their homes. Some people did get water in their house. I know it was historic, but now with all the building going on, we are concerned,” Scharwath said.

He says his main concern is the new development known as Venetian Bay Phase 2, a proposed mixed-use property. 

“I found out that they’re tying into our stormwater system, which is first in line, so their homes are first in line and it comes into our storm system. So, I think it’s going to be overtaxed,” Scharwath said.

Resident Nicholas Rella lives in Portofino, one of the communities within Venetian Bay. He showed pictures showing his home flooded twice in 2023.

“We came to the conclusion that we have a problem here. And lo-and-behold, in September, we had an actual flood,” Rella said.

Rella said they notified the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD). District staff conducted two additional field investigations, October 2 and 6, 2023, and extensive research into the files for The Palms at Venetian Bay and Venetian Bay. They said they also reviewed the 2019 Stormwater Inspection Report and the 2023 Stormwater Inspection Report.

Following the research, in Oct. 2023, the district issued a warning letter to the Venetian Bay Homeowners Association stating that their stormwater system was not functioning as designed and permitted. They made five comments to the association and requested a response by Nov. 2023.

“We’re not against development, but we want it done right. I mean, people have to, and then when the systems fail that people supposedly design and put in place, there have to be consequences for those people. They need to come back and fix it,” Rella said.

New Smyrna Beach Assistant City Manager Ronald Neibert said to address this problem, the city voted to put in place a temporary moratorium to stop issuing building permits in Venetian Bay Phase 2, with the exception of single-family lots that have already been approved.

“In terms of trying to be safe to the neighbors here to try to minimize any impact, the commission is considering a temporary moratorium to stop any growth of commercial projects and non single-family projects in that specific area to minimize any stormwater impacts until we figure out what the solution is,” Neibert said.

Neibert says the city will look at the findings from the two engineering firms that have conducted studies at Venetian Bay, which have found problems with the stormwater system design. 

“It’s not draining at the rate, flow and volumes that it was designed to apparently or intended to,” Neibert said. 

He said the city will review the findings of these studies and will create computer modeling of what the problem is, but ultimately it would be the responsibility of the developer, Venetian Bay Homeowners Association, Inc. to take care of these issues.

“The city’s responsibility is to make sure that the developer completes the project as intended and designed. That’s our that’s our sole function,” Neibert said.

The city says that Venetian Bay HOA is working to try to address all the comments, but to date, the stormwater system is still malfunctioning.

The temporary moratorium was considered by the Planning and Zoning Board on March 18, 2024, when they recommended approval in a 6-0 vote. On Tuesday night, NSB city commissioners will meet for the first of two readings of this ordinance, as part of the standard approval process for a land development ordinance.

The ordinance will go into effect immediately, creating a temporary moratorium until June 25, 2024.      

According to the city, it is unknown how long it will take to address the issues, so the moratorium is set up to terminate automatically if all conditions are satisfied prior to June 25, 2024. Alternatively, if additional time is needed, a new ordinance will be processed, allowing for an extension of the temporary moratorium.