After extensive deliberation and public comment, the Leesburg City Commission voted against a moratorium that would have paused residential rezonings and annexations in the city.
At Monday’s meeting, commissioners voted 4-1 against the pause, with Commissioner Jay Connell casting the only vote for the moratorium.
The suspension would have stopped virtually all new residential land use projects that require a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning, until Jan.1, 2027 — a period of over 20 months.
Leesburg City Manager Al Minner recommended voting against the pause based on his office’s assessment of the city’s economic development efforts.
“While there is a considerable amount of growth, I think that the feedback we have from folks that we work with, folks that we recruit with, and folks working with industry or commercial type of stuff, they look for movement and advancement of development issues,” he said. “Being opposed to growth is not one that helps us recruit more industry or more jobs to the city.”
Minner argued that a suspension would set a “bad precedent” for developers working in Leesburg and city residents opposed to residential growth.
“If you’re in the development sector, you’re going to be upset because you see an area for capital expansion and the natural economy to move forward,” he said. “And if you’re an opponent of growth, you will walk out with the anticipation that growth is controlled and there’s going to be time to do things. In reality, that doesn’t happen.”
Connell said Leesburg has almost 9,000 more undeveloped residential lots in the city limits than existing homes. He asserted the pause would not stop growth in Leesburg and said the city would still issue permits for commercial annexation. “I promote commercial development,” he said. “We need economic development, and we need more jobs. I don’t know necessarily right now if we need more houses.”
Lake County Commission Chair Leslie Campione spoke in favor of suspension during the public comment period, pointing out how a pause would allow the city to prioritize more pressing issues, such as traffic and the protection of rural areas.
“I think that’s one of the big discussions we’d like to have with the City of Leesburg,” she said. “To honor the county’s land use map and not annex the rural protection areas and rural transition areas.”
Still, several local business owners and leaders spoke against the pause, claiming it could lead to economic stagnation and undermine growth that has benefited the area in recent years.
“As an organization that represents local businesses and supports economic vitality, we want to respectfully express our concern about putting a blanket pause on residential growth,” Sandi Moore, executive director of the Leesburg Chamber of Commerce, said. “While we fully understand the importance of managing infrastructure, traffic and city services, we believe a full suspension may unintentionally slow Leesburg’s long-term progress and put us at a disadvantage compared to neighboring communities that continue to grow and attract investment.”
Leesburg resident Andy Price, who recently opened a business in the city, said Leesburg needs to grow to support businesses like his. “We’re not asking for unchecked development; what we’re asking for is the chance to grow,” he said.
Several other counties in Central Florida have also weighed the benefits of development moratoriums in recent months, with Orange County voting to extend a pause on select development applications last October.
The county’s Zoning in Progress ordinance temporarily suspends applications for “small and large-scale future land use map and text amendments, rezonings, and special exceptions” until June 3, over 8 months after it was set to expire.
A development moratorium in Volusia County, proposed in response to extensive hurricane and flood damage in the area, was rejected earlier this year.
The pause would have enacted a temporary countywide ban on residential development in unincorporated areas of Volusia County for up to one year.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at jwilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
