DELTONA, Fla. – The city of Deltona has put a stop to a big new development in the Vineland Reserve community.
City leaders were supposed to approve the final plans for building new homes off Doyle Road, but they changed their minds and instead voted against it.
People living nearby are worried about problems with stormwater, and the issue isn’t settled yet.
The plan was to add 150 - 200 new townhomes, but the city decided to stop it.
“My yard stays wet for days when it rains, and I never had that problem before,” said Randi Priest, who lives near the Vineland Reserve.
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She thinks stopping the development is a big win for her neighbors. After recent hurricanes, the area was flooded for a long time.
“The stormwater stayed full for 138 days, I believe it was, we counted, so that stormwater never drained when it’s supposed to drain quickly out,” Priest explained.
City Commissioner Nick Lulli said the city hired an expert to look into the stormwater issues. The expert found more problems at the site where the new homes were supposed to be built.
“We had our stormwater engineering consultant there who said that he could not guarantee that we would not have to widen this stormwater pond in order to accommodate all of the water that would be generated by this development,” Lulli said.
He mentioned that there are similar problems with stormwater systems in other parts of the city, including Vineland Reserve.
Even though the city stopped the project, Lulli thinks the developer might try other ways to keep building, like going to court.
“Of course, we also are going to hear from the developer as well to see if they still have any new plans as well because they do still own this property,” Lulli added.
The city leaders also agreed to think about buying the land. They might use it for conservation or turn it into a park.
News 6 reached out to the developer to find out what they plan to do next, but they haven’t responded yet.