After extensive deliberation and public comment, the Leesburg City Commission rejected the proposed moratorium on rezoning and annexing of housing in the city.
At Monday’s meeting, the commissioner voted 4-1 against the suspension, and Commissioner Jay Connell cast the only vote for the Moratorium.
The outage would have suspended virtually any new residential use projects that require comprehensive planning revisions and rezoning until January 1, 2027.
City officials were considering the move because Leesburg is close to the village, the country’s largest retirement community – the country – they were seeing an onslaught of housing developments that undermine the city’s ability to generate other types of economic growth.
However, Leesburg Mayor Al Minner recommended a vote for the moratorium based on his office’s assessment of the city’s economic development efforts.
“There’s a significant amount of growth, but I think the feedback from the people we work with, the people we employ, the people we deal with the industry and commercial types of things, is what calls for movement and progress in development issues,” he said. “To oppose growth doesn’t help us recruit more industries and more jobs in cities.”
Minner argued that the suspension would set a “bad precedent” for developers working in Leedsburg and end misleading messages to city residents opposed to housing growth.
“If you’re in the development sector, you’re going to be upset because you’re looking at the area where capital expansion and the natural economy can move forward,” he said. “And if you’re an opponent of growth, you go out with the expectation that growth will be controlled and you will have time to do things. In reality, that doesn’t happen.”
However, Connell argued that the suspension would not stop Leesburg from growing. He said the city has many undeveloped and already approved residential lots outside the moratorium, and the city will still issue a license for commercial annexation. “I promote commercial development,” he said. “We need economic development, we need more work. We don’t necessarily know now if we need more homes.”
Lake County Commissioner Chair Leslie Campione was in favour of halting the annexation during the public comment period, pointing to how the suspension prioritizes more pressing issues, such as traffic and rural protection.
“I think that’s one of the big discussions we have with the city of Leesburg,” she said. “We are not about respecting the county’s land use maps and annexing rural protected areas with rural transition areas.”
Still, some local business owners and leaders opposed the moratorium, claiming it could lead to economic stagnation and undermine the growth that has benefited the region in recent years.
“As an organization that represents local businesses and supports economic vitality, we want to express our concern about placing a comprehensive suspension on housing growth,” said Sandy Moore, executive director of the Leesburg Chamber of Commerce. “While we fully understand the importance of managing infrastructure, transportation and urban services, we believe a complete suspension could unintentionally slow Leesburg’s long-term progress and put them at a disadvantage compared to nearby communities, which continue to increase investment.”
Leesburg resident Andy Price recently opened a business in the city and said Leesburg needs to grow to support businesses like him. “We don’t want unidentified development. What we want is an opportunity 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 last October to extend the suspension of some development applications.
The county’s ongoing zoning ordinance will temporarily suspend applications for “small and large-scale future land use maps and text amendments, special exceptions” until June 3rd.
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