DELTONA, Fla. – City leaders in Deltona are working to keep their community wild and natural. Like many cities in Central Florida, Deltona is facing challenges from development. To tackle these issues, city leaders are brainstorming ways to grow smarter.
The city commission will soon meet to discuss a new zoning overlay that would give developers more rules about where and how they can build.
This zoning overlay will focus on an area in southeast Deltona, targeting three specific sections. The goal is to keep some of the land empty or at least less crowded.
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Peter Stockman, a resident of Deltona, has noticed many changes in recent years.
“Just across from us here it was cow fields, and I moved out here for this reason, to get away from the city, and now the city has come and found us,” he said.
Stockman also mentioned that flooding has become a problem.
“We’ve got a main road behind us, Doyle, that is a main thoroughfare to I-4. It was shut down for weeks from a hurricane. It kept flooding, and we’ve had hurricanes in the past since I’ve been here, and that didn’t flood.”
To help with these issues, Commissioner Nick Lulli introduced the “Keep Deltona Wild” zoning overlay. He believes that residential development, especially single-family homes, uses the land intensively but offers the least benefit to the community.
“We’re looking at different commercial uses for the zoning overlay. We’re looking at ecotourism and a more agrarian culture,” Lulli explained.
He wants to identify areas for conservation and recreation.
This plan doesn’t mean there will be no development at all.
“Part of that means looking at less dense land use. Instead of having zero-lot line new home subdivisions that have popped up in district six and really throughout Central Florida, we’re going to look at trying to keep it back. Maybe it’s only one house per acre,” Lulli said.
On Saturday, there will be a special city commission meeting at city hall in Deltona at 9 a.m. They will vote on a zoning in progress resolution.
If it passes, it will inform landowners in the area about the changes the city is considering. This will start a 120-day period where they can officially set the rules for the “Keep Deltona Wild” initiative before making a final vote.
