COMING SOON? — Pictured is a map of Taylor Ridge, a 26-acre housing development proposed for the northwest corner of South Blue Lake Avenue and East Taylor Road in DeLand. Utilizing the new transitional residential development land-use designation the City of DeLand developed earlier this year, Taylor Ridge developer Hanover Company included amenities like a dog park, a multiuse trail system that will connect with the rest of DeLand’s trails, and more, to secure a greater density of homes than would normally be allowed.
A 26-acre housing development in an area of DeLand rife with flooding problems received a narrow approval by the DeLand City Commission Dec. 4. Rezoning for the development, Taylor Ridge, was denied last year on grounds that it was too dense.
This time, ahead of the 3-2 City Commission approval, water dominated the conversation. If built out, Taylor Ridge would fall along East Taylor Road, north of the Victoria Oaks housing development and east of the Saddlebrook neighborhood. Residents living near where Taylor Ridge could be built have experienced flooding problems for years, and following Hurricane Ian in 2022, a number of residents have reported standing water that they argue is exacerbated by the nearby development.
Representatives for the developer, Hanover Company, said the plan is to account for all of those issues — historic storms, unprecedented flooding and more — when it comes to building Taylor Ridge’s stormwater infrastructure.
“I think what we’re trying to do is anticipate a … worse case scenario than even the current conditions are,” attorney Mike Woods said.
That includes making sure the elevation of the development is far enough above the water table to account for potential floods, and that stormwater ponds intended for drainage don’t turn into ponds filled with standing water like residents said ponds in the nearby Saddlebrook neighborhood have become.
Addressing the City Commission, Stetson University environmental science professor Dr. Wendy Anderson said she was glad to see that the commission and developer Hanover Company were keeping all of these environmental concerns top of mind.
“I really do appreciate the fact that Mr. Woods and Mr. Fortier [Taylor Ridge engineer Sean Fortier] have framed this project in the context of a constantly changing — and directionally changing — condition here in DeLand and certainly southeast DeLand in particular,” Anderson said. “The water table is rising; it will probably stay high for a long time.”
But Anderson still said she wanted to see more work done on this project.
To make the neighborhood less dense, the development plan called for all 65 of the homes in Taylor Ridge to be on 60-foot-wide lots. Anderson, however, said that while she had previously been in favor of larger, detached lots, the unprecedented flooding of the past few years made her wary about them in Taylor Ridge.
Instead, Anderson said, she hoped the developer would fully embrace DeLand planning staff’s vision for parcels designated as transitional residential developments, like Taylor Ridge, where clustered, mixed-size lots could be built, allowing for more green, permeable space.
“I think it would benefit this site, given what the groundwater is doing and will continue to do to actually have your 50- or 60-percent green space preserved …” Anderson said, “and pull those residential units back into a tighter cluster.”
Members of the City Commission, too, were wary about just how transitional this transitional development would be. City Commissioner Dan Reed, who voted against rezoning for the property, said Taylor Ridge wasn’t the type of project he imagined when city planning staff developed the idea of a transition between unincorporated Volusia County and the City of DeLand’s more-dense land-use options for developers.
In voting against Taylor Ridge, Reed also acknowledged the ongoing problem of standing water that many DeLandites near Taylor Ridge’s site are dealing with.
“I think it’s an OK design,” he said. “I say that only because I have a real struggle with the surrounding areas and the water problems they’re having. I certainly don’t want to be part of the problems.”
Slippery when wet
Other DeLandites who live near where Taylor Ridge could be constructed voiced their concern, too, about how the development may impact existing flooding problems in their own neighborhoods.
Flooding has plagued nearby residents, like DeLandite J.C. Figueredo and other residents who live on Jackson Woods Road — just past the southeast intersection of South Blue Lake Avenue and East Taylor Road — as well as the owners of Common Ground Farm, located just north of Jackson Woods Road on Taylor Road.
Figueredo has repeatedly come to DeLand City Commission meetings over the past several years asking the City of DeLand to take responsibility for flooding on his property and others that he argues was caused by the Sawyer’s Landing housing development to his southeast. The city maintains that the flooding has more to do with much of DeLand’s historic penchant for flooding, but attorney Michael Woods said the Taylor Ridge developers aren’t looking to worsen anyone’s standing water problems.
“We are very, very aware of the surrounding area,” he said. “We are very aware of the unique hydrology that seems to be going on in the Taylor area both with J.C. [Figueredo] and the surrounding properties all the way out, Sawyers [Landing] and the [Common Ground] Farm property as well.”
Ultimately, the City Commission voted 3-2 to accept the developer’s requested rezoning for Taylor Ridge. City Commissioners Charles Paiva and Kevin Reid and Mayor Chris Cloudman voted in favor of the project, while City Commissioners Reid and Jessica Davis voted against it.
Taylor Ridge will need a second approval for its rezoning before the developer can begin sketching up construction plans.
