County seminar sparks municipal interest in voluntary low-impact development incentives

Volusia County staff and outside presenters briefed elected officials, planners and developers on voluntary low-impact development (LID) incentives and best practices at a joint seminar hosted with the Florida Planning & Zoning Association.

NRAC members who attended said the seminar drew more policymakers than typical technical briefings and that several municipal officials expressed interest in adopting voluntary incentive programs. Jessica Gao, NRAC member, said the joint event brought a broader audience: "...we had more people from the elected official level at this one," she said, noting county staff reviewed the LID incentive program and a vendor (Ferguson Water Works) presented technologies for green stormwater infrastructure.

Staff and presenters described incentive packages that use technical manuals, demonstration projects and voluntary approaches rather than mandatory development standards. Wendy Anderson, NRAC member, said presenters condensed complex material into practical examples: "Sam... did an amazing job, kind of outlining the incentives and how to use the technical manual," she said. Attendees reported at least one planned PUD will implement LID language already included in its development agreement, and another older project returning for redevelopment has signaled intent to incorporate LID elements.

Committee members discussed paths to wider adoption. Several suggested demonstrating economic and maintenance advantages (construction and lifecycle costs) to developers, creating marketing materials and pursuing pilot projects that show long-term performance. Participants also cautioned against assuming LID is always cheaper or problem-free; members noted vendors can benefit from adoption and asked for independent analysis of costs and long-term performance before code incentives are widely promoted.

NRAC did not adopt new policy at the meeting but asked staff to note municipal interest and to consider two potential follow-up items for council direction: a review of conservation/cluster subdivision incentives (including whether to count wetland acreage in set-asides) and exploration of a voluntary transfer-of-development-rights program to protect floodplains and habitat. Committee members indicated those topics fall mostly outside chapter 50 environmental minimum standards and may require explicit council direction before NRAC pursues them further.

Ending

Staff and NRAC members said they will track municipal interest and pilot projects. NRAC scheduled a September meeting to finish tree-code work; members said they will ask council whether the committee should expand its work plan to include voluntary LID incentives and conservation-cluster measures once legal constraints from SB 180 are resolved.