An upscale neighborhood in DeBary has absorbed more land to make way for more housing.
Rivington, formerly known as Fort Florida Commons, has expanded to include 30.17 acres on the southeast corner of Fort Florida and Barwick roads. Rivington was first established as a 296-acre spread to be developed into a 700-home neighborhood. The 700 homes will include both single-family dwellings and town houses. The 30 additional acres will be dedicated for the construction of 244 townhomes. Altogether, the mixed-use development located west of the SunRail station will have 944 homes when it is fully built out.
With the blessing of the DeBary City Council, Rivington is a community development district (CDD) created for the benefit of those who live there.
“These are specifically designed to be governed by the residents,” Mark Watts, the attorney representing Steve Costa, whose land forms Rivington, said. “The CDD already exists.”
The CDD serves as a homeowners association and a special entity that can finance its infrastructure and require any current and future homeowners to pay annual assessments to repay the capital debts. The assessments appear on the property-tax bills.
“The CDD is an assessment district,” Watts said.
Watts noted that the Rivington CDD plans to issue bonds for infrastructure worth almost $9 million. Those development costs cover roads, sidewalks, trails, water and sewer lines, stormwater ponds, parks and green spaces.
State law, Florida Statutes Chapter 190, recognizes CDDs as legal entities. Although a CDD may borrow money for its capital improvements, that debt may not and does not become a liability for the local government.
The only other CDD in Volusia County is Indigo Lakes in Daytona Beach.
