- October 3, 2024
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The process to prepare for a 2026 Volusia County Charter amendment to implement a rural boundary could take about six months, but Volusia County staff stated the issue is in the pipeline following a vote by the council last month.
In a Sept. 18 County Council meeting, council members voted 4-3 to place a discussion on the charter amendment — which may make it more difficult to develop existing rural areas — at a future meeting in March 2025. Councilmen Troy Kent and Don Dempsey, as well as Chair Jeff Brower, voted against, as the chair wished to hold a discussion at the council's next meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Which, did take place regardless of the Sept. 18 vote, as the chair has the authority to place items on the agenda for discussion. There was confusion on the council, and in the public, about what was meant by the Sept. 18 vote, initiated by County Councilman Jake Johansson, who was absent at the Oct. 1 meeting, alongside Councilman Danny Robins.
"What I heard, and the public heard, was that he slowed that down to March of 2025," Brower said.
Councilman David Santiago said that people were responding to comments made by Brower at the last meeting, where he voiced concern that pushing a discussion to March 2025 would delay the process.
"The public that I've talked to clearly heard that the process begun two weeks ago," Santiago said.
Around 20 people spoke on the rural boundary issue at the council's recent meeting. The local interest in the measure, described by Brower as a "tool" to help with annexations that spark more development in Volusia, follows the ongoing effort in Orange County by its county commissioners who recently approved by its county commissioners who approved the placement of two charter amendments for the November ballot. These amendments would establish a rural boundary, requiring a majority-plus-one vote to approve urban development in those areas, and would require a majority-plus-one vote from the commission to allow governments to annex unincorporated land into their boundaries.
Could something similar be implemented in Volusia County?
Ormond Beach resident and Dream Green Volusia founder Suzanne Scheiber said that when something isn't working, it's time to do something different. Volusia residents have voted to tax themselves twice to aid with buying environmentally sensitive land for conservation, and despite being 24 years into the Volusia Forever program, widespread flooding remain, she said.
"Residents are concerned with the continuous creep of sprawl and annexation and expansion of cities, while flooding looms each time it rains," Scheiber said. "A density boundary can help manage annexations by a super majority vote, manage density and intensity of development, and help manage future flooding from annexations that shouldn't occur. This is an opportunity to plan for the future, which we currently do not have."
DeLand resident Wendy Anderson, a professor at Stetson University and chair of the Volusia County Soil and Water Conservation District, said that implementing a rural boundary charter amendment is a "nuclear option." And, that the county is at the point where it needs that due to rezonings and special exceptions granted to developers.
"Landowners are not entitled to zoning changes," she said. "They are entitled to the things that they were entitled to when they bought the property under the zoning that they bought it and have paid taxes for all these years. I hope we don't have to go to a nuclear option, but if we have to, then we have to, and we need to let the voters make that decision."
One group of stakeholders has already spoken against implementing a rural boundary: the Volusia County Farm Bureau board of directors. Brower recently met with the board to get their input, and in a letter to Robins dated Sept. 25, Board President Kim Conaway said that while the board agreed that some development is creating flooding and road congestion and being allowed in areas that are historically wet, it didn't support the proposal because of concerns including a decrease in property values for lands destined to remain rural, more regulation and government oversight on their properties, and, fear that a charter amendment could trigger a rush of rural properties wanting to be annexed into a city to secure a future potential to develop their land, as is being experienced in Orange County.
"In summation, the board of directors believe Rural Growth Boundaries will hurt landowners without any recompense and any corrections of our county’s growth problems will be limited and with the greatest financial burden borne by rural landowners," Conaway wrote.
Conaway also spoke before the council at its Oct. 1 meeting, where she read her letter. The board also believed that Volusia Forever, Florida Forever and other land trusts are the preferred method of protecting rural lands, as those are voluntary processes.
Brower said he understood that the group didn't want more government interference. But he also noted that the Farm Bureau wanted the county to follow its comprehensive plan when it came to development standards. A rural boundary could help with that, Brower said.
"This doesn't even stop that (development) from happening," he said. "It just requires a little more focus, ... a super majority vote, if that's the way we decided to go with it."
Brower added that he doesn't know what a rural boundary will look like if a charter amendment moves forward. It is a nuclear option, and the county may find a better way to deal with flooding and annexations along the way.
County staff has begun initiating the preliminary mapping needed, which requires working with the cities to ensure boundaries are accurate.
"We're proceeding," said Clay Ervin, county director of Growth and Resource Management. "We're trying to get everything in place so that come March, y'all can make an informed decision and be able to provide sufficient information to you."
Brower said he decided to hold the discussion regardless of the Sept. 18 vote because there was confusion on whether or not the process had started, or was going to start later in March 2025.
If the council moves forward with a rural boundary charter amendment, the council would need to adopt a resolution calling for a referendum to place it on an election ballot.
In 2004, 71.4% of Volusia voters passed a similar charter amendment aimed at implementing urban growth boundaries. This vote was later overturned in court because the ballot language was deemed to be misleading.
