The City of DeLand will host a public open house to introduce and discuss proposed Tiny Home regulations. The open house will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 14 at City Hall, 120 South Florida Avenue. City staff will be on hand to share details about the proposed regulations, answer questions and gather feedback from community members. The regulations would guide where and how tiny homes can be constructed within our community. They are tentatively scheduled to go before the Planning Board on September 10 and the City Commission on October 6. "One of the goals of the City’s newly updated 2050 Vision Plan is to provide additional small-format housing options, and tiny homes would add another housing choice for the residents," said Planning Director Carol Kuhn. Residents, developers and anyone interested in learning more are encouraged to attend.
The City of DeLand will host a public open house to introduce and discuss proposed Tiny Home regulations.
The open house will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 14 at City Hall, 120 South Florida Avenue. City staff will be on hand to share details about the proposed regulations, answer questions and gather feedback from community members.
The regulations would guide where and how tiny homes can be constructed within our community. They are tentatively scheduled to go before the Planning Board on September 10 and the City Commission on October 6.
"One of the goals of the City’s newly updated 2050 Vision Plan is to provide additional small-format housing options, and tiny homes would add another housing choice for the residents," said Planning Director Carol Kuhn.
Residents, developers and anyone interested in learning more are encouraged to attend.
The DeLand Fire Department has received Accredited Agency status with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) for meeting the criteria established through the CFAI’s voluntary self-assessment and accreditation program.
The DeLand Fire Department is one of more than 300 agencies to achieve Internationally Accredited agency status with the CFAI and the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc. (CPSE). This makes DeLand Fire the only accredited agency in Volusia County and one of 31 in the state currently accredited. DeLand Fire is also the first fire department in the county to achieve ISO Class 1 status.
“I am extremely proud of our fire department,” said Mayor Chris Cloudman. “This accreditation is a reflection of the dedication, professionalism, and high standards upheld by the men and women of the DeLand Fire Department. Their commitment to excellence and tireless work helps make our community safer and stronger.”
CFAI is dedicated to assisting the fire and emergency service agencies throughout the world in achieving excellence through self-assessment and accreditation to provide continuous quality improvement and the enhancement of service delivery to their communities. The CFAI process provides an agency with an improvement model to assess their service delivery and performance internally, and then works with a team of peers from other agencies to verify and validate their completed self-assessment.
Fire Chief Todd Allen stated that the agency’s achievement of Accredited Agency status “demonstrates the commitment of the agency to provide the highest quality of service to our community.” Chief Allen also said, “We have also been able to use the Commission on Fire Accreditation International’s process as a proactive mechanism to plan for the future of this agency and locate areas where we can improve on the quality of the services we provided.”
Chief Allen said the process took about three years from start to finish, which included conducting a community risk assessment and meeting with community stakeholders to receive input. Outside assessors also gave recommendations for the fire department to focus on such as planning for future growth and internal training practices, Allen said.
As you start your spring cleaning, the City of DeLand is here to help!
The city's annual Community Shred & Clean Up Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 5. The event will be held in the Melching Field parking lot, 601 South Woodland Boulevard.
Shredding will be available on a first come, first served basis from 9 to 11 a.m. or until capacity is reached. Shredding is available to DeLand residents only and is not for commercial use. Each household can shred up to five boxes of documents.
Acceptable items to shred:
• Dry paper products
• Bound books
• Paper clips
• Spiral bound notebooks
• Photographs and blue prints
Prohibited items that CANNOT be shredded:
• Garbage and food products
• Wet paper
• Large metal items or 3-ring binders
• Wood and wood products
• Plastics including styrofoam
• Toner cartridges
Dumpsters will also be on site from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for residents to drop off larger items. Hazardous waste, paint and appliances will not be accepted.
Items that can be accepted include furniture, sinks and toilets and building material scraps.
The City of DeLand is excited to announce the launch of a charity calendar featuring the DeLand Fire Department’s beloved firehouse dog, Henry.
The 12-month calendar is sponsored by Advent Health DeLand and features professional photographs at Fire Station 81 and in-studio by Canovas Photography.
In 2022, a stray dog sauntered to the grand opening of the DeLand Fire Station 81 and photo-bombed the ribbon cutting. After 30 days of not being claimed, the Boston Terrier-Beagle mix (we did a DNA test!) found his forever home at Fire Station 81.
The fire department named him Henry “Hank,” after our city’s founder.
As Henry's fame grew, it was clear he had the potential to be a shining star of community engagement. However, it turns out Henry had other priorities. More often than not, firefighters and staff find him napping or indulging in a snack rather than attending to his "duties."
Henry has claimed several spots around the firehouse as his own personal retreats, including Chief Allen's office, and he’s been known to enjoy the occasional sun-soaked nap on the back patio.
Since we couldn’t quite harness Henry’s talent for community engagement, we realized it was time to put him to work in a way that suited him best. And so, the idea for a Henry-themed calendar was born—100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the firefighters' charity of choice, the Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Each page of the calendar features helpful fire safety tips and important reminders to keep you and your loved ones safe year-round.
Now, Henry’s lack of work ethic is actually working for a great cause!
Sponsors
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the following businesses for their generous support of this project:
Advent Health DeLand – Thank you for covering the printing costs, ensuring 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the Childhood Cancer Foundation
Canovas Photography – A big thank you for donating your professional photography services and capturing Henry’s playful spirit and charm
Bark DeLand – We appreciate your ongoing support in keeping Henry looking his best with your expert grooming services, ensuring he’s always camera-ready
Calendar Highlights:
February: Henry dressed in his Mardi Gras costume for the DeLand dog parade
November: Henry with his firefighters and Tower 81
August: Henry in-studio with swag from area schools for back-to-school
Don’t miss your chance to bring a little Henry into your life.
The city has broken ground on a new Utility Administration Building – part of a $95 million plan to expand and enhance the city’s public services complex and wastewater treatment plant to meet future demand and reduce the reliance on septic systems in the region.
The city held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, June 23 at the Public Services complex, 1102 South Amelia Avenue, to kick-off construction of the new Utility Administration Building. The new 24,000-square-foot utilities administration/emergency support and response building (UAB) will be one of many changes to the Public Services Complex. The new building will house the full complement of Utility Department and Engineering Divisions personnel. Both teams have outgrown allocated space in multiple buildings that they occupy. In addition, the UAB will offer educational support rooms for training, emergency support facilities that do not exist to adequately support the 80+ team members that are charged with supporting the needs of the water and sewer infrastructure during activations.
The improvements to the water reclamation facility project includes; the expansion of the permitted daily treatment capacity of the plant from 6 million gallons per day (MGD) to 8 MGD, the replacement of the current gaseous chlorine disinfection process with the use of ultraviolet disinfection technology, and other improvements that will permit us to meet the new advanced treatment process requirements of St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
City Commissioners also recently approved annexation of almost 5 acres of land to the north of the existing property at 1102 South Amelia Avenue to allow for expansion of the entire complex.
“These projects are the resultant of years of planning, thousands of hours of design and coordination, and will better support and house our Public Service Department Team members that not only serve the City but over 80 square miles of north-central Florida ,” said Public Services Director Chad Gamble. “Our city is not only dedicated to exceeding the environmental goals of the State FDEP and St. Johns River Water Management District but also being purposeful and intentional about attracting and retaining the best and brightest people to serve the greater DeLand area. This re-envisioning of our public services complex will achieve both of these things.”
Built in 1978, the city’s wastewater treatment plant was named in honor of Wiley M. Nash, who served as Utilities/Public Works Director and later as Mayor. In 1990, the facility was upgraded to an advance treatment system to produce reclamation water and reduce the discharge of effluent into the St. Johns River. The plant currently services to 68,000 residential customers within the city and outlying areas of northwestern Volusia County. In total, the utility service area is roughly 80 square miles.
With estimates of an additional 20,000 residents living in DeLand and surrounding areas by 2035, the plant’s capacity would need to increase by an additional 2 million gallons per day. A total of 6.4 million gallons per day is expected to be treated by 2040.
Additionally, the improvements will allow the city to decrease nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into the Blue Spring Water Basin and maintain the city’s compliance with state regulations on effluent discharge. Once complete, it is projected that the water treatment plant will help reduce total nitrogen flow to Blue Spring by 146,177 pounds per year and total phosphorus by 91,324 pounds per year.
Construction is expected to start later this year with a projected completion date of the summer of 2026.
Long after Mayor Robert F. Apgar retires, his memory will live on in an area where he has dedicated a majority of his adult life improving for the benefit of others.
On Monday night, the City Commission unanimously approved naming an area encompassing Spec Martin Memorial Stadium, Conrad Park, the Chipper Jones Family Little League Complex of DeLand and Earl Brown Park, the “Apgar Sports Complex”.
All of the parks and facilities will retain their names within the complex being named in Apgar’s honor.
A resident of DeLand since 1959, Apgar will retire after roughly 34 years serving on the City Commission. First elected in 1983, Apgar served on the commission until 1991 and returned from 1996 to 2001. He resigned in 2001 to run for a Mayor and was elected later that year. He has served as the city’s mayor for the past 21 years.
Apgar will retire in November and is believed to be the longest serving mayor in Volusia County’s history. His last day in office is November 15.
Naming the complex after Apgar is a great way to commemorate his efforts to improve the city’s sports and recreation facilities, said Vice Mayor Charles Paiva who made the motion at the end of Monday night’s meeting.
Under Apgar’s watch, the city has undertaken a number of projects to improve its recreational facilities, including multi-million dollar renovations at Earl Brown Park, Conrad Park and Spec Martin as well as the construction of the Sanborn Activity and Events Center that replaced the original 1969 building.
City staff has been working with engineering firm, CPH, to design entryway features for the Apgar Sports Complex.
“It means a lot to me,” said Apgar, who was left in the dark on the plans. “Most of you probably don’t know, but I ran a playground at Earl Brown Park; played on all of those fields; coached on most those fields; and spent a lot of my life in that area, so that does mean a lot to me.”
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The City Commission will hold a Workshop on Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. in the City Commission Chambers, City Hall, 120 South Florida Avenue, DeLand, Florida. The purpose of the Workshop is to discuss updates to the City’s Strategic Plan.
Public participation is encouraged on any matter on the agenda. If you desire to be recognized by the mayor, please fill out a Speaker’s Card and present it to the City Clerk.
If any person decides to appeal a decision made with respect to any matter considered at a public meeting or hearing, he/she will need a record of the proceedings including all testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. To that end, such person will want to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made.
In accordance with the American Disabilities Act, persons needing a special accommodation in order to participate in the proceedings should notify the City Clerk’s Office at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting: 386-626-7130.
Assisted Listening System receivers are available for the hearing impaired, and can be obtained from the City Clerk.
If you wish to obtain more information regarding the agenda, please call the City Clerk’s Office: 386-626-7130.
We respectfully request that all electronic devices and cell phones be turned OFFduring meetings.
Electronic Information! Agendas are now available on the City’s web page: www.deland.org
The committee will next meet on Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 at 5:15 pm in the DeLand Public Works Building in the Carl Williamson Conference Room.
The City of DeLand Tree Advisory Committee which was scheduled to meet Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 5:15 p.m. at the DeLand Public Works Building has been CANCELLED.