NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Normally, a special joint session of the City Commission and the city's Planning and Zoning Board to talk about the future of regional growth and possibly implementing tighter regulations on development would take place in commission chambers.
The one at 6 p.m. Tuesday is being held at the Brannon Civic Center, since the number of residents expected to attend would dwarf the City Hall space.
City leaders are expected to weigh the possible banning of fire to clear land, changes to minimum lot sizes for new development, landscaping and perpetual maintenance regulations of new development, “undergrounding" utilities, as well as open and green space.
"The residents are speaking loudly and clearly about this growth," said Commissioner Jake Sachs, who in a phone interview Friday said he predicts even the Brannon Center will be packed. "The perception is that we're growing too fast for our infrastructure."
Like any other regular City Commission meeting, citizens will each be allowed to address leaders for three minutes per person, per topic.
New Smyrna Residents Coalition co-founder Sally Gillespie is among those who plan to attend. She said she wants to be sure projects get thorough reviews, by both city staff and the planning board, and ultimately every project should be signed off on by the City Commission. She said she will be listening for assurance from leaders.
As better economic times have returned, planning staff have become overrun by a flood of resurrected and new projects, to the point where planning board members have voiced concern over incomplete projects and delayed votes until projects have all the necessary documentation.
Sachs said residents have legitimate concerns regarding traffic and infrastructure demands.
"Most important to me is our aquifer, our water," Sachs said. "Are we going to be able to provide it?”
He pointed to the Utilities Commission's plans for a $60 million utilities expansion on land where developers are pushing to extend Williamson Boulevard. The expansion has been long planned to serve the thousands of new homes being built on the city’s west side.
The city is at a crossroads, Sachs said, echoing comments from other city leaders in the past several months.
“The city is at a point that we could go either way,” Sachs said. “Either in the direction of urban sprawl, or managed growth. ... We are feeling the pinch. We're feeling a lot of pressure, and it's not just our city. Volusia County has growing pains."