Volusia County Council moved on Aug. 15 to narrow the set of land-use cases that must come to the full council and instead send many categories to the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission (PLDRC) or to staff for conditional review.

The council’s measure is a wide-ranging rewrite of chapter 72 special-exception procedures. Staff said the change is intended to speed up approvals for routine applications and reduce duplicative hearings; opponents warned it removes an important public check on uses that neighbors find disruptive.

The discussion lasted more than three hours. Planning staff presented a spreadsheet of some 137 special-exception uses and a proposal to: (a) approve 62 uses “by right” or as staff-level conditional uses, (b) send about 50 uses to PLDRC for decision, and (c) retain roughly 25 uses for county-council review. Council members and members of the public urged adjustments to specific items, including animal hospitals, schools, farmworker housing, poultry operations, and recreational uses.

After debate and several amendments, the council voted 6–1 to move a large share of uses off the council docket and to direct staff to prepare the ordinance amendments reflecting the council’s changes; the council then continued the item for final consideration at a special meeting on Sept. 4 to allow staff to re-draft the ordinance for the public agenda.

Council members said they wanted to balance efficiency against public notice and oversight. Supporters said faster staff and PLDRC decisions reduce months-long delays for small businesses and farming operations; critics said some uses — including certain industrial and agricultural operations — deserve the higher public visibility that a council hearing provides.

The council’s direction preserved some public-review protections: items PLDRC approves may still be appealed to the county council, and staff will present a redrafted ordinance for public notice and comment at the Sept. 4 meeting.

The council also instructed staff to return with targeted follow-up on schools and a handful of uses where members asked for additional conditions or study before finalizing new approval paths.

The council’s action does not change zoning maps or allowed land uses; it changes which body reviews and issues approvals for particular uses and which approvals are handled administratively. Staff emphasized the rewrite was designed to align with state law passed earlier this year and to reduce redundant hearings for applications that can be safely handled under objective standards.

What’s next: staff will prepare the revised ordinance with the council’s edits, publish it for public notice, and bring it back for action on Sept. 4. The council warned that the item will return for a final reading with the updated ordinance text.