If approved in a final vote in 2 weeks, the City of Zephyrhills will be able to pause new development and annexation applications to allow the officials time to handle future growth. The city is working on increasing their water-use permits, which limits how much water the city uses for existing customers and promises future developments.

The city is currently nearing the maximum water use that is allowed with the existing permit. The city also wants to review impact fees, which is an assessment that is charged to new developments to pay for affects on the city ranging from roads to parks. There will also be a potential limit on housing density, and the city will negotiate with both the county and state for transportation needs.

The moratorium gives just a one-year pause to complete all of this. The current water use permit with the Southwest Florida Water Management District allows Zephyrhills 3.3 million gallons per day, and at times in the past year usage has crept over the 3-million-gallon mark. City Manager Billy Poe has already sought a permit expansion, with projections showing the daily use over the next 20 years would top 4 million.

Zephyrhills has a population of over 17,000 and is Pasco County’s largest city as per the 2020 census. The moratorium will not stop any development applications that have been filed, but those in the early stages will receive warning of approvals being based on available water capacity.

New applications have appeared since the discussion of a moratorium has spread, but none being surprises to city staff. Minor modifications to existing but not-yet built developments will be allowed along with small scale buildings on lots that are an acre or less.

Blue Triton, the operator of the Zephyrhills bottled water plant, is the largest water user in the city, but operations will not affect the current water situation. The water management district has determined that bottled water operations account for less than 1% of the district’s water use.