Editor, The Beacon:

Having read in this week’s Beacon that Volusia County’s legal staff has informed the County Council that approved developments cannot be stopped midway through their construction, I believe that there are other ways to stop or slow down the rate of destructive development which has so many of us alarmed.

I understand the excuse that local governments use to avoid denying development of private property for fear of lawsuits. Rightly so, the law allows for a property owner to use that property for anything it is zoned for, as long as legally required development criteria are met. To deny that amounts to a “taking” of that property by local authorities, which is not permitted.

However, there is no right to change the zoned use of a parcel to another use. There are legal pathways to request a change, but it is not a right to have that request automatically granted. It is not a property owner’s or developer’s right to purchase land zoned for one purpose and then have it rezoned, or “upzoned” to a more advantageous classification in order to make a large profit.

It would be a great starting place if our elected officials would simply begin to say no to the multiple requests for such zoning changes until we have a better comprehension of the effects of these rezonings. Rural, or semirural land, purchased cheaply, is too readily converted into large subdivisions without adequate roads and other infrastructure, while exacerbating traffic, water runoff and wildlife issues.

A few campaign contributions to purchase three out of five, or four out of seven votes on a council or commission is all that’s needed to guarantee a huge return on investment. The developers move on to the next project, and the residents and citizens of our county are left to pay the consequences.

We can live with the existing platted and approved subdivisions already on the books, as long as the development codes and requirements in effect are met. What we need to do now is halt further zoning changes until we sort out how we will continue to grow, where we want new growth, how it will be paid for and what the consequences of that growth will be.

Don Kanfer

DeLand