EDGEWATER, Fla. — The city of Edgewater kicked off the new year with a development moratorium that will temporarily halt construction for a year.

Residents packed the chambers on Monday to express their support for a moratorium, in hopes of finding a long-term solution to flooding in their city.

Dozens of Edgewater residents who have had their homes flooded during Hurricane Milton called on city council members to "do the right thing" and vote in favor of the people, and that's exactly what happened.

The development moratorium that has been discussed for months since and will take effect for the duration of a year.

The approved moratorium that includes two ordinances, one stating that building permits will stop being issued in areas that sustained the most damage from previous hurricanes and another one stating citywide development will be temporarily halted with some exclusions.

Eric Rainbird, who has lived in Edgewater for nearly two decades, laid blame at the feet of the council for the troubles city residents are having.

"It's kind of rude that you see what's going on in this city and you're taking legal action to just keep building," he said. "A lot of these builders aren’t even from this state."

Other residents pleaded for the moratorium so they don't have to take matters into their own hands to protect themselves and their neighbors from flooding.

"My husband was forced to put drains in our backyard and use a pipe to connect from the backyard to the front yard to dump the water from the backyard which is flooding because of the Volco road neighborhood, you can see it flooding down the street," said resident Robin Regacho.

Edgewater Mayor Diezel Depew says the moratorium is not a complete halt of development, but giving the city a chance to pump the brakes to better address flooding concerns long-term.

A special meeting will be held on Jan. 27 to address the Public Works Department’s goals for the new year.