The secret is out.  Port Orange is a great and very desirable place to live!  I hear concerns from residents all the time about rapid growth and development in Port Orange and in Volusia County as a region.  While these concerns are quite valid and I share them myself, the question is, what can be done to slow down the growth in Port Orange?  The truth is (legal truth) that cities in the State of Florida can do very little to slow down rate of growth in our State.  Port Orange has actually seen a decline in growth within the city in the past few years, however regional growth in the County as a whole has increased, which is definitely impacting our City.  

So, what can we do?  The most important decision we can make is not to approve zoning change requests that would cause high density increases on existing properties yet to be developed.  I am proud to say that I have a clear and consistent voting record that reflects not voting for or approving zoning requests or zoning changes that increased the residential density for building / development.  I will continue to lead and vote in that manner.  Additionally, we need to maintain oversight for high building and development standards that produce quality products.  While it is the State of Florida that establishes building codes, it is up to our City to enforce and hold the builders to the standards.

Many times when a person campaigns for an elected position, they will say all sorts or things and make a lot of promises that are not true, based solely on opinion, and/or legally cannot be executed (either knowingly or unknowingly).  That is not me.  I want residents to know the truth and facts of what we can do and what we cannot do.  So here is some truths that our residents really need to know.  The State of Florida is one of if not the fastest growing state for population in the United States.  Currently the net growth rate of our State increases by about 8,000 new residents every week.  Why is this?   I believe there are several factors that most people realize as well.  First, due to technology and lessons learned during the peak of COVID, many companies found that a lot of their employees could work effectively from remote locations around the country and did not necessarily need to be based in the same state as the company.  Florida, with its desired weather conditions, relatively low property taxes and no state income tax, puts itself at the top of the list of preferred States to move to, especially for retirees.  Port Orange, as a city with low property tax rates, low crime rate, excellent schools and proximity to the beach (coastal areas) has made it a very desirable community in the Volusia County region. 

“So why not just stop issuing building permits and allowing land to be develop?”  Well, because that is illegal, and the City would have no legal defense in court to withstand massive developer / builder law suits.  It’s been tried, and the cities lose every time.  The truth is that the State of Florida has very strong and powerful land ownership laws that prohibit cities from impeding on a landowner’s rights to develop and/or build in accordance with the land zoning, or the FLU (Future Land Use) zoning designation of the land.  In Port Orange, all of the land zoning and FLU zoning occurred back in the 1980s.  Those zoning designations determine the development rights of landowners.  A City Council can only change or modify a land use zoning if the landowner makes that request.  It cannot be legally imposed by a City.   If someone wants to develop property or build, and they meet the land use zoning designation and State building codes, then a city must issue (by law) a permit for the project.  To not do so is illegal and subjects our City and residents to law suits we cannot win or afford.

So how can we control growth?  What we can and should do is continue not to approve zoning change requests that increase the residential or commercial density of the land.  Our City has consistently done this.  Zoning change requests should only be approved when the requests meets a true community interest.  We should maintain the highest development and building regulations allowed by State law.  We must have impact fees that help fund the development of new city infrastructure, and help to yield a higher quality project.