EDGEWATER, Fla. — The city of Edgewater may soon lift its temporary development moratorium, but some residents want leaders to keep the freeze in place.
When Hurricane Milton flooded about 200 homes — many in the Florida Shores neighborhood — last October, city leaders adopted a building moratorium to put a hold on new development.
“Obviously, we’ve had horrible flooding issues for a couple of years now. We’ve got a lot of work being done, things are being done in the city that needed to be done for a very long time and we’re grateful,” said Edgewater resident Kimberly Penny.
The moratorium stopped annexations, rezonings, site plans, and certain building permits. But a new state law is forcing the city’s hand.
Florida Senate Bill 180 bans local governments in disaster areas from passing moratoria or tougher building rules. The bill reaches back to August 2024 and lasts through 2027. Because of that, Edgewater leaders are now considering repealing their moratorium.
“There shouldn’t even be a thought repealing the moratorium, and we need to fix this city,” Penny said.
Some residents fear that lifting the moratorium could put more homes at risk.
“I think that we should be fighting for our residents and continuing forward. So hopefully, that is what they decide on Monday, otherwise, it’s really scary to me what we’re going to look like in a year,” Penny said.
State law may limit what city leaders can do, but residents say they still deserve a voice.
The City Council will take up the issue Monday night. If approved, new development could resume almost immediately.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
