VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower said on social media on Saturday that he aims to propose a construction moratorium for the entire county at the next council meeting.
In the post, Brower said he will propose 9-to-12 month pause on all construction within county limits at the meeting on Nov. 19 until a comprehensive plan to stop flooding is formed.
Brower posted several photos from a flood-damaged Gleneagles neighborhood in DeLand.
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Brower said that in meeting with residents, continuing on with business as usual would be unacceptable.
“Clearly, doing nothing while an increasing number of our neighbors lose everything is, wrong” Brower said. “A growing number of residents are now getting flooded with each normal heavy rain, not just in 100, 200, or 500 year storm events. Flooding is our new normal and we cannot ignore it.”
Brower, the incumbent, is in a runoff with business owner and philanthropist Randy Dye for reelection.
In Edgewater, City Leaders are also considering similar moratorium for 6 to 12 months for housing developments.
“It is due to flooding, not only that, it’s due to our stormwater infrastructure. We need to see and evaluate what we have to move forward and see if new development is causing some watershed to our current infrastructure,” said Edgewater Mayor Diezel DePew.
This is comes after several homes, streets and roadways in Volusia County and Edgewater were soaked during Hurricane Milton.
“As you can see I had to start raising stuff up, what I could to keep it from getting impacted. You can even see the waterline where it came through,” said Edgewater resident Mike Wellendorf.
His garage flooded during Hurricane Milton and the rest of his home is still recovering from the flooding from Hurricane Ian.
“That was the kitchen. That was the bedroom. You can see the water line right there. This side is 6 inches taller than that side,” said Wellendorf.
He’s believes the building moratorium is the right choice.
“That has got to stop until the permanent solution has been recorded and found and put into effect here. I’m not against development. Proper development. I am against just going ahead and flooding people’s homes they have worked their entire lives for and they lose everything they’ve had,” said Wellendorf.
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