ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — The Zephyrhills City Council voted unanimously Monday night for a yearlong moratorium on new housing developments.
It's a move that some say is a signal the city is growing too fast for the amount of water it has been allotted.
Zephyrhills recently became the largest city in Pasco County and the number of developments proposed could mean the city would go over that allotment in two years.
“Seeing the growth coming, we were trying to be responsible," said Zephriyills City Manager Billy Poe. "As the trajectory for housing and demand begins an upward slope and the water use remains the same, there’s a point where it crosses and then we would have more houses than we have water.”
City officials say the moratorium will not stop development applications that have already been filed, but will affect future approvals based on water availability.
With the news coming just overnight, a few who call Zephyrhills home are sounding off.
“It was a very nice, small-knit town, but it’s just gotten so big now that I don’t want it to lose that feel," said resident Christina Novak.
Zephyrhills isn't just her home, it’s also where Novak has had her restaurant, Tina & Joe’s Café, for the last year and a half.
Originally based in Dade City, Novak and her husband brought their business nine miles south, attracted by Zephyrhills small-town vibes.
“We thought, ‘We’ll just try it and see how it goes,’ because we were doing fairly well in Dade City," says Novak. "But we moved down here and this has been booming here ever since we got here.”
A boom in business, and to go along with it a boom in population — which Novak says is noticeable during the lunchtime rush.
“They need more roads, they need more schools, they’re going to need to get more businesses for all of these people because there is a lot more people in this town in the past three to five years," she said.
City officials say they will try to get an increase in its water-use permit, which will limit how much water the city can use for existing customers. It's something Novak doesn’t expect to impact businesses like hers.
“We can’t cut back," she said. "I mean, we’re a restaurant. We need water to wash our dishes, we need water to cook, we need water for our steam tables. We use a lot of water.”
For now, the moratorium will be in effect for a year. Novak is hopeful the issue will be solved within that time, but says plans should be made in case it isn't.
“If within a year that doesn’t happen, then they need to do it for another year or six months or whatever they need to do to make sure everything runs smoothly in the city," she said. "If they don’t, it’s not going to work out well.”