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DeBary council OKs first reading of LDC change to implement state emergency-relief law
Summary
Council approved first reading of an amendment that adds a temporary relief process to the city’s Land Development Code to comply with state law enacted after recent hurricanes.
The City of DeBary approved on first reading Aug. 6 an amendment to Chapter 1 of its Land Development Code that creates a temporary relief procedure for applicants affected by state-declared emergencies.
Growth Management Director Stephen Babgrove told council the ordinance responds to Senate Bill 180 (chapter 2025-190, Laws of Florida), signed June 26, 2025. Babgrove said the state law bars municipalities in certain counties from adopting more restrictive or burdensome changes to comprehensive plans or land-development regulations affecting review or permitting for sites within declared-disaster counties through Oct. 1, 2027, and it applies retroactively to regulations adopted after Aug. 1, 2024.
Ordinance O-6-2025 would add section 1.8 to the LDC, allowing applicants who believe a city-initiated post-2024 LDC or comprehensive-plan amendment is more restrictive to request that the city apply the previous regulatory version to their pending application. The new section would automatically expire on Oct. 1, 2027, unless repealed sooner. Babgrove said the city manager also may “freeze” the ordinance’s operation if the state statute changes or is declared invalid.
Council members had no substantive questions on the item. The council approved first reading and instructed staff to advertise a second-reading hearing. Babgrove said final adoption would be considered at the second reading after public notice.
