NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Significant flooding in part of the Venetian Bay Community in New Smyrna Beach has prompted city leaders to enact an emergency building moratorium.
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The ordinance is technically already in place but needs a second public reading to become official, which is what’s scheduled to happen at Tuesday night’s city commission meeting.
Neighbors tell Eyewitness News the flooding has kept them from leaving their homes for days at a time.
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“It’s not pleasant. We are sitting there day after day wondering when it’s going to go away or when it’s going to happen again,” said Nicholas Rella.
Assistant City Manager Ron Neibert said it’s not clear what’s causing the flooding to occur. But the city is hopeful the moratorium will buy them some time to find out and eventually come up with a solution.
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“It’s not going to help at this point but it’s not going to exaggerate the problem by putting more storm water into a system that we don’t know is capable of handling it,” said Niebert.
The cost of necessary repairs will ultimately be up to the developer. The moratorium will be in place until June, but the city has the power to extend further.
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