VOLUSIA’s URBAN
GROWTH BOUNDARIES
BACKGROUND
The future boundaries of Volusia’s Urbanized Areas
could begin taking shape within the next several months. County government
staff is working to complete background materials and reports that supplement a
tentative future land use map for
The
map proposes future growth limits for Volusia cities, based on their service
capabilities, existing vacant lands and urban land use designations in outlying
areas. As planned, growth beyond those limits largely would be
restricted to rural and agricultural development.
The goal of these Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) is
to encourage compact urban growth, maintain efficient public services, and
protect the county’s environmental and agricultural resources. A series
of Rural Communities and Special Protection Areas also are provided safeguards
from urban development under the plan.
County planners have been crafting the UGB program for the past year,
negotiating the boundaries with cities’ leaders and VCARD. The County
Council is scheduled to begin integrating the land use changes into the
county’s comprehensive plan. As projected, the UGBs
could be incorporated into the plan by the end of 2004.
Once the UGBs become part of the comprehensive plan,
opportunities to expand the boundaries would be very restricted. County
officials also could seek to incorporate the boundaries into the county
charter, by way of a voter referendum thus making the growth limits even more
difficult to expand.
The UGBs have
raised serious concerns with many business and development representatives,
landowner interests and officials of city governments. They fear
that the programs as proposed is too rigid, only allowing the urban boundary
lines to be reasonably changed every five to eight years (when the local
governments update their comprehensive plans). As an example, such a
restriction could severely handicap the recruitment of a lucrative business
prospect that proposes to develop outside an urban boundary that could be
easily serviced with infrastructure (roads and utilities).
Some
proponents of Volusia's recent "Smart Growth" project fear that the UGBs actually could thwart this initiative. The UGBs would encourage rural, large-lot development that
would be reliant on individual wells and septic tanks, instead of central
public systems. Such development also would encourage urban sprawl instead
of compact "cluster" subdivisions, a primary component of "smart
growth."
Real
estate interests also are concerned about the UGBs
impact to affordable housing, as well as the construction industry. A
study of existing UGBs in other parts of the country
reveals that home prices within the urban boundaries have increased
significantly, while property values outside the boundaries have
devalued. The building industry would be impacted by a lack of affordable
urban tracts on which to construct homes.
Some officials of Volusia's city governments
fear that the UGB, as proposed, could too severely restrict their future
comprehensive planning and responsible growth. In particular, they are
asking county officials to reconsider placing the issue before voters as a
special referendum.
POSITION
The Daytona Beach/Halifax Area Chamber opposes adding
Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) to the County’s
4/04