VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County leaders on Tuesday will discuss a plan to pause developments with a residential moratorium.

The meeting at 4 p.m. at the Thomas C. Kelly County Administration Center comes just a week after the city of Edgewater approved and implemented a development moratorium to address flooding concerns.

What You Need To Know

  • Volusia County will discuss the idea of a countywide development moratorium at a meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday

  • The moratorium calls for pausing residential development only

  • Flooding across Volusia County has been a major concern following Hurricane Milton from last year. The county received anywhere from 15 to 20 inches of rain

  • Both the east and west sides of the county have dealt with the flooding because The St. Johns River peaked four days after Milton passed

The decision didn’t come easily, as the community seemed to be divided on the issue. Officials at the county level said that’s how it should be, each individual city making that decision on its own, not a countywide mandate.

At-large Councilman Jake Johansson also serves as the co-chair for the Volusia County elected officials stormwater and flooding subcommittee.

Johansson said last year the community saw 15 to 20 inches of rainfall on the east side of the county. Hurricane Milton left a significant amount of water across the county, and nobody really knew how to handle it. 

To add insult to injury, four days after the storm, on the west side of Volusia County, the St. Johns River peaked.

Storm after storm, the water ran out of places to go, and in many cases, sat in neighborhoods for days.

While officials like Johansson said they understand the frustration, he said he doesn’t believe a moratorium fixes the issues.

“It’s going to take time,” Johansson said. “People don’t want to take time because they’re sitting in water right now, and I understand that. But in my opinion, a moratorium isn’t going to fix their problem.”

Similar to the arguments made during readings for the moratorium in Edgewater, officials said the solution to the stormwater issues is investing in better infrastructure, not putting a halt on development.

Johansson said that if development were the problem, this proposed moratorium wouldn’t focus solely on residential projects.

“If we really care about flooding, and this isn’t just a move to stop development for the sake of stopping development, why aren’t we putting a moratorium on commercial and industrial?” Johansson asked. “I’ll tell you why. Because they’re economic drivers. I feel like we want our cake and to eat it, too. Homes house people, and people cause traffic.”

Johansson said that it is his belief that many people are more concerned with the growing population, and that is the reason for the residential moratorium push. He said excess water is less likely to soak into the ground in areas around commercial and industrial projects.

“We don’t want the state telling us what to do. Well, I’m going to follow that one step further,” Johansson said. “I don’t want the county telling the cities what to do.”

Officials said the flooding concerns may not be the same in every city across Volusia County, and that’s something to keep in mind ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.

Johansson said several questions still need to be answered before a decision is made.