Planning for the Future of DeLand: DeLand 2050
This project will receive the Award for Program Excellence for a population of 20,001 – 50,000 at the FCCMA Annual Conference.
Unique and collaborative planning is something that the City of DeLand is no stranger to. Back in the 1970’s the State Legislature passed the Greater DeLand Act, the purpose was to provide for the health, welfare and safety of the citizens of the area long term, wherein the city could ultimately provide the area with municipal services. In 1995, the city and county entered into an utility service agreement with different boundaries than the Greater DeLand Act connecting the utility service area and the Greater DeLand Act area, thus being referred to as the “Greater DeLand Area” to avoid a proliferation of privately or publicly owned water and sewage operations in the surrounding unincorporated area of DeLand. The city has also participated in many efforts with the county on various items of importance for residents of the DeLand area.
Fast forward to the last decade, the city chose to pursue a goal of becoming a sustainable community. One of the means to become sustainable, a community’s land use pattern must also be restructured away from the typical urban sprawl pattern. Because planning for such large issues can take years to change the mindset that created the existing development pattern, the city wanted to go beyond the typical 10 or 20 year planning horizon.
Looking into the future, the current Greater DeLand Area is expected to double its population by 2050. With major growth anticipated to come from development in the unincorporated part of our utility service area in part because of the new sunrail station, coupled with the shrinking water supply and other stresses that an increased population places on existing services, the city wanted to look at how the development could be influenced to create a more sustainable community. In addition to issues with the water supply, transportation solutions for the new population have to be developed, along with identifying the preferred location for the new population. In short, all development that will occur outside the city limits in the Greater DeLand Area will impact the city, even if there are no immediate annexation plans for the property to come into the city concurrent with development.
In order to plan for the future utility, transportation and other public system needs, the city coordinated a broad-based effort seeking input from business and community groups, schools and colleges, nonprofit organizations, churches and other governments. Growing out of a mutual understanding of the necessity of creating a shared vision for the future of the Greater DeLand Area, the aforementioned ethos is the DeLand 2050 Vision.
The DeLand 2050 Vision Report which was published in November 2011, has assessed the sum of its parts and focuses the community on meeting tomorrow’s challenges. The City of DeLand draws strength from the great traditions of its past, while utilizing today’s innovations to best suit tomorrow’s needs of the community. This vision will enable our city to create a positive, progressive, and sustainable future for the benefit of our children and grand children.
Other award winners will be featured in upcoming issues of The Manager.
