SANFORD, Fla. – Leaders in one Seminole County city are looking into whether they should put a moratorium on approving new apartments.
Monday’s workshop in Sanford comes amid the city’s rapid growth, which Mayor Art Woodruff says is putting a strain on resources and infrastructure. Nothing will be decided at the meeting, but that could change in the future depending on what leaders find out.
Seminole County’s most populous city is booming with new people and new development. Armand Lucas and his wife beat the rush when they moved to Sanford 12 years ago.
“They’re doing the best they can,” Lucas said. “Surprisingly, a lot of infrastructure has been put together, but the boom is happening faster than they can move.”
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As the city’s population has grown, new apartments have followed. One example is the new King’s Crossing mixed-use development, where a Publix just opened on Feb. 2.
“We’re growing at a very quick rate,” Woodruff said. “The fact they put a Publix there tells you the number of rooftops that are coming in and the number of people who are coming in.”
There are currently 17 apartment complexes either under construction or under review in Sanford, which will bring more than 3,800 additional units. With that kind of volume, the city wants to make sure they have the infrastructure in place and whether they need to put a moratorium on approving any additional apartments.
“They’re building them because they can rent them,” Woodruff said. “There are people coming here and they’re filling them up. They’re renting from $1,600 to $1,800, so that’s another issue we’ll have to look at. If we restrict the supply, what does that do to housing prices for the people who are here now?”
The city is also looking into whether they have enough firefighters and police officers to meet the growing demand.
According to data from the Sanford Police Department, officers responded to nearly 9,500 calls last year to the city’s 54 apartment complexes.
“My wife works for Sanford PD, and yeah, she can see the strain a lot,” Lucas said. “They’re getting stretched a little bit.”
“I’m not sure it’s something that we can use to stop building apartments, but certainly we would look at it in terms of our staffing for our police department, equipping them, and maybe even impact fees,” Woodruff said.
Another infrastructure concern surrounds the city’s water and sewage treatment. A few weeks ago, the sewage treatment facility overflowed and spilled millions of gallons of partially treated wastewater into Lake Monroe.
“We’ve had some issues with our treatment plant lately,” Woodruff said. “Whether those are exacerbated by the additional growth coming or not is something we’ll have to look at.”
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