Environment advisory committee urges low‑impact development and stormwater ordinance updates; council accepts report and work plan

The Volusia County Council accepted the annual report and 2025 work plan from the county’s Environment and Natural Resource Advisory Committee (NRAC) on Feb. 4. NRAC Chair Melissa Lammers summarized committee accomplishments, and staff said the group will forward revised low‑impact development (LID) and stormwater ordinances for council consideration at an upcoming special meeting.

Lammers said NRAC’s membership is multidisciplinary — including members with backgrounds in agriculture, environmental science, engineering, land use and advocacy — and that the committee had finalized draft ordinances addressing LID and stormwater standards. NRAC said it recommended a hybrid LID approach that encourages or requires developers to adopt measures from a menu of techniques, with incentives for doing more than the baseline.

NRAC and staff stressed there is no single solution to increasingly frequent, high‑intensity rainfall and that revised standards are one tool among many, including wetlands protection, basin retrofits and floodplain management. The committee urged a “holistic approach” and asked the council for policy direction on priorities.

Council members thanked NRAC and asked staff to ensure public outreach and clarity about tradeoffs and costs associated with any tightened stormwater design standards. Staff told the council that ordinance transmittal and public hearings are on the Feb. 11 special meeting agenda.

The council accepted NRAC’s report by unanimous vote and scheduled further legislative work and public hearings on the proposed ordinances.