Three new housing developments are winding their way through DeLand’s process.
Kirk DeLand Planned Development
On Feb. 15, the DeLand City Commission approved a new development for rezoning to a planned development.
The Kirk DeLand Planned Development land is at the northeast corner of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway and Cassadaga Road, across from Integra Dunes Apartment Homes.
The development will bring 140 single-family homes to the area, extending DeLand’s development to the most southeastern corner of the city limits.
Ultimately, commissioners hope the area will become a part of a transition corridor where development changes from housing to businesses where the MLK Beltway intersects with State Road 472.
But the business area has yet to materialize, something City Commissioner Jessica Davis pointed out in the meeting.
“We have more homes than we have jobs,” Davis said.
She reiterated the need for affordable housing, and questioned whether the Kirk DeLand lots, which range from 48 feet to 60 feet wide, are designed for current residents, or people moving to DeLand from elsewhere.
GRAPHIC COURTESY CITY OF DELAND
The homes will be priced at “market-rate,” according to Mark Watts, an attorney for the Cobb Cole law firm, which represents the developer.
“We’ve been having a lot of conversation about affordability and trying to help those that are here, rather than develop more for people to just continue to come here,” Davis said. “This is just not relating to the everyday people in our area and what [wages] they are making. They are just not able to move there.”
She expressed hope that an industrial and commercial area will materialize, bringing more jobs to the area.
The City Commission unanimously approved the planned development zoning, after negotiating some language about Florida-friendly landscaping, and a brief discussion of parking near a planned community pool.
The plan includes a 40-foot tree-line buffer between the development and its property line along the MLK Beltway, and a 30-foot buffer along Cassadaga Road. A pocket park and a pool-and-cabana amenity area are planned, and mulch trails are envisioned throughout the green spaces.
The platting process
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Concept plan. Must be approved by the City Commission and Planning Board, and agree with the overall city master plan, and follow city ordinances.
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Preliminary plat. A detailed graph of the exact placement and area
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Construction plans. Engineering plans and infrastructure improvements
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Final plat. The final step formalizes the subdivision for the legal record
Beresford Woods and Beresford Springs
Two other developments are winding their way through the DeLand Planning Board review process. The Planning Board considers development plans, and makes recommendations about them to the City Commission, which has the final say.
The Beresford Springs project, at 800 E. Beresford Ave., between Boston and Hill avenues, is in the earliest phases, and the developer is currently seeking approval to rezone 167.65 acres from residential to planned development.
The Beresford Woods project, on the western portion of Beresford Avenue, is further along. The development was approved by the City Commission in January 2020, and is in Phase I of platting out the land, which extends from Spring Garden Avenue to Woodward Avenue (just behind Woodward Avenue Elementary School at 1201 S. Woodward Ave.)
Beresford Woods would have 289 single-family homes.
The next meeting of the Planning Board is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, in the City Commission Chambers at DeLand City Hall, 120 S. Florida Ave.
