DAYTONA BEACH Less than a decade ago, the local economy here was still in the grips of the Great Recession with real estate development activity practically at a standstill. New development was largely viewed as a sign of hope and optimism.
Not anymore.
Today, a flurry of new home construction, apartment projects and commercial development throughout Volusia County has some citizens and elected officials alarmed that area is quickly becoming over-developed.
Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower is one of them. The flood gates have come open, said Brower while standing on a grassy field along LPGA Boulevard that is set to become the site of a retail center called Tymber Creek Village. The pendulum has swung the other way. Now, it s at the point where people daily are telling me Stop all growth. We can t stop all growth, but what we could do is try to slow things down. It s like we ve been on a sprint.
Hey Senior Living Pros: Boomers Don t Want Your Old, Tired Communities
forbes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forbes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Permits for new homes in Volusia County jumped 22% to 3,564 in 2020, up from 2,906 in 2019.
Permits for new homes in Flagler County climbed to 1,621 in 2020, up 40% from 1,153 in 2019.
The fewest permits for new homes was in 2011 when Volusia had only 474 and Flagler had just 153. and
Most permits for new homes was in 2005 when Volusia had 6,857 and Flagler had 3,043.
DAYTONA BEACH While the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the local economy last year, builders in Volusia and Flagler counties picked up the pace by pulling permits for the most new homes since 2005. When we started coming out of the lockdown last year, we burst out of it, said Toby Tobin, a Realtor with Grand Living Commercial Realty in Palm Coast. Starting in June, building permits for new homes were off the charts.
Impact fees help pay for infrastructure needs created by new development
Florida s population has grown from 18.8 million to 21.5 million over the past 10 years
DAYTONA BEACH As Florida s roads become increasingly clogged amid the unrelenting stream of newcomers, state lawmakers have passed a bill that limits how much counties and cities can raise impact fees to accommodate that growth.
The bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign into law, caps impact fee increases to no more than 12.5% in a given year and no more than 50% over a four-year period. I m disappointed and even a little bit surprised, said Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower. He described the recently passed bill, HB 337, as an unnecessary effort by state lawmakers to take away the decision-making ability of local governments.
PANAMA CITY BEACH For Laura Trammell of Mission Viejo, California, appearing on Wheel of Fortune was truly an unbelievable blessing.
In a Tuesday-night episode of the show, Trammell not only won a trip to Margaritaville Vacation Club St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but her pick of a new home in one of the three Latitude Margaritaville communities, according to a Wheel of Fortune press release.
This includes Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, which is being built along State 79 near its intersection with State 388 through a partnership between the St. Joe Company, Margaritaville Holdings and Minto Communities USA. The other two locations are in Daytona Beach and Hilton Head, South Carolina.
vimarsana © 2020. All Rights Reserved.