ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — The Zephyrhills City Council will soon decide on what to do about a moratorium on new housing developments that it approved unanimously last year.
The vote had to do with the city’s water supply, which city officials worried would not be able to meet the growing demand. The year-long pause has given those in the city a chance to see how they can grow.
But the pause in new housing developments does not mean the city is closing its doors completely, City Manager Billy Poe said.
“We are open for business and we want to make sure that people know that, and businesses know that,” he said.
He said the moratorium was put in place because growth was outpacing the city’s ability to provide services.
“Everyone wanted to come to Florida — the state was open and has great weather,” Poe said. “Who would not want to be here? The subdivisions were fully occupied, and so that put a large strain on our water supply system because we were expecting in 15 to 20 years to hit that capacity, not two to three years.”
But the moratorium didn’t pause everything. Construction of residential properties that were smaller than an acre were allowed to continue, and current developments and any non-residential developments, like businesses, were free to continue, as well.
“We just have to make sure we have enough water going forward with all the future projects and future development, which helps lead us to our goal as a city and what our focus is,” said Poe.
He said there are more plans ahead for the city, with a potential expansion further down the road.
“Just to be able to provide for the community a place where they want to be and they don’t want to go anywhere else,” Poe said.” To just be proud of Zephyrhills.”
The City Council is expected to take a vote in June to decide if the current moratorium should end, or continue.
Calvin Lewis
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