- March 20, 2025
Last fall, the Volusia County Council voted to delay discussing a 2026 Volusia County Charter amendment to implement a rural boundary until March 2025.
Then came Florida Senate Bill 1118, filed in late February. The bill, if approved, would render any local government charter amendments to protect rural areas as null and void — retroactive to June 1, 2011.
So where does that leave the County Council and its delayed rural boundary discussion? Delayed, once again, this time indefinitely.
On Tuesday, March 18, the County Council voted 3-1 to hold off on having the discussion and watch what happens at the Legislature with SB 1118, which was filed by Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala. County Councilmen Troy Kent and David Santiago were absent from the meeting.
County Council Chair Jeff Brower, a vocal proponent for bringing a rural boundary charter amendment for a referendum vote in 2026, said he wasn't upset at the council's vote. But he was upset with state legislators.
"I am adamantly opposed to Tallahassee continuing to preempt us and strip away local control," Brower said.
As he campaigned for reelection last year, Brower said people in the community were in favor of a rural boundary, a measure that would make it harder for developers to build on rural land. Orange County voters recently approved two charter amendments to establish a rural boundary, requiring a majority-plus-one vote to approve urban development in those areas, as well as a majority-plus-one vote from the commission to allow governments to annex unincorporated land into their boundaries.
The vote to delay Volusia's discussion came during the meeting's closing comments, after County Councilman Jake Johansson, who was in Tallahassee last week, brought it to the council's attention.
"This is just smart rule making," Johansson said. "I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about stuff that may change in a month and a half."
Volusia County staff was preparing to place the discussion at the council's April 1 meeting. The goal of last fall's delay was for the discussion to be held shortly before having the Volusia County Charter Review Commission review a possible rural boundary in May.
In 2004, Volusia County voters passed a similar charter amendment to implement urban growth boundaries, which supporters said would protect environmentally sensitive land and restrict sprawl. Those who opposed it, however, said the boundaries would detrimental economic impacts and drive up urban housing costs. The referendum vote was later overturned in court on the basis that the ballot language was misleading.
Brower said he didn't disagree with Johansson's reasoning to delay the discussion, but he did disagree with the overall delay.
"I didn't want to delay it to begin with," Brower said. "... I'm really concerned and really tired of preemptions from Tallahassee, and I would like us to move ahead."
What's happening in Tallahassee is "very pro development," Brower said, citing the Live Local Act — which allows developers to build at high densities without much local government oversight if the developments meet certain affordable housing criteria — as an example.
"We're going to have everything stripped from us that we're allowed to do, except for going to ribbon cuttings, is what it looks like to me," Brower said. "The preemptions are just wild."
Johansson said Brower brought up a good point, which is why he wants to move forward with caution. The feeling he got while in Tallahassee, he said, is that preemption happens "when people make knee-jerk reactions."
"I just want to make sure that we're thinking through it and we include whatever this thing ends up looking like, so we can say we did our due diligence," he said. "We can see how the vote goes and then go from there."
One resident spoke during this discussion. John Nicholson, of Daytona Beach, asked them to consider starting the process, as the council originally planned.
"Whatever happens in Tallahassee, you've at least started the ball rolling, which is what the public wants," Nicholson said.
