{"id":267269,"date":"2026-05-11T22:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/267269\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T22:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:56:10","slug":"ruth-says-apopka-must-slow-growth-reassess-planning-commission-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/267269\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruth says Apopka must slow growth, reassess Planning Commission priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

City\u00a0Commissioner\u00a0Sam Ruth\u00a0says his recent push to revisit the city\u2019s Planning Commission structure stems from a growing concern that development in the city is moving faster than the infrastructure needed to support it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruth, a former city commissioner\u00a0who was\u00a0elected to\u00a0Seat 1\u00a0in March<\/a>,\u00a0said\u00a0while\u00a0he supports growth, the city needs to take a closer look at whether its current planning and infrastructure systems are prepared for what lies ahead.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowth is good, but controlled growth is smarter, wiser and better for the community as a whole,\u201d Ruth said in\u00a0an\u00a0interview\u00a0with The Apopka Chief. \u201cI think we\u2019ve lost sight of that in the last several years.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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According to Ruth, the debate is not about targeting individual Planning Commission members or dismantling the city\u2019s existing review procedures, which he described as \u201csolid.\u201d\u00a0Instead, he said he wants city leaders,\u00a0staff\u00a0and advisory boards to pause and evaluate whether Apopka\u2019s infrastructure can keep pace with continued development.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not about any board\u00a0member,\u201d Ruth said. \u201cThis is about seeing who can get the brightest and smartest people to fulfill these spots while we really do a deep forensic audit of what our infrastructure is like [and] how we can support the city\u2019s needs.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruth\u2019s comments follow a May 6 City Commission meeting where discussion led to the cancellation of the May 12 Planning Commission meeting until the city could hold a workshop examining the board\u2019s future direction and development\u00a0priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruth said his concerns intensified during a\u00a0May 6\u00a0meeting\u00a0discussion involving a proposed\u00a0eight-unit\u00a0townhome project within the Community Redevelopment Agency district,\u00a0which the commission voted 5-0 to deny<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

During discussion of that project, Ruth said he saw a disconnect between city staff\u2019s development recommendations and what he believes are the city\u2019s infrastructure limitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you sit back and you see that disconnect, it only leaves you to ask the question,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0something wrong here, and it needs to be at least questioned,\u201d he\u00a0told the Chief.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the issues Ruth cited\u00a0during the Chief interview\u00a0were aging water and sewer infrastructure, roadway\u00a0congestion,\u00a0and increasing residential density in some neighborhoods. He said the city needs a more comprehensive review of infrastructure capacity before approving\u00a0additional\u00a0projects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have the roads to support it,\u201d Ruth said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the infrastructure to support it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruth also said he would like to see\u00a0wider\u00a0community participation in future Planning Commission appointments. That would include\u00a0encouraging current board members to reapply alongside new candidates from across the city.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis board hasn\u2019t changed in 30 years,\u201d he said. \u201cI think there\u2019s great talent here in the city.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruth said he\u00a0believes elected officials and board members need a deeper understanding of Apopka\u2019s land development code and the planning tools available to manage growth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s tools there, and if you know how to use them, we can slow some of this development down,\u201d Ruth said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The City Commission is expected to discuss\u00a0the Planning Commission further\u00a0at\u00a0its\u00a0May 20 meeting.\u00a0Ruth said he hopes the conversation leads to\u00a0wider\u00a0collaboration among city leaders,\u00a0staff\u00a0and residents about how\u00a0Apopka\u00a0should grow in the coming years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis needs to be a community-driven, community involvement process,\u201d Ruth said. \u201cThis is not about me.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0not about anything\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0doing.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0trying to make\u00a0Apopka better.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

During his report at the May 6 Commission meeting,\u00a0Ruth asked\u00a0his\u00a0fellow commissioners to temporarily pause Planning Commission activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I\u2019ve been elected for a month and a half now, this [is the]\u00a0first open conversation I\u2019ve had,\u201d Ruth said during the meeting. \u201cBy the end of this month, that\u2019s two months that they\u2019re ahead of me, and I\u2019m going to be on defense coming straight out of the chute.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor\u00a0Nick Nesta\u00a0questioned whether delaying Planning Commission meetings could create legal complications under state law or negatively affect developers with pending applications. City\u00a0attorney\u00a0Cliff Shepard\u00a0responded that discussing the issue in a workshop setting would not amount to a development moratorium or code change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re simply saying we\u2019re going to have a workshop to discuss the issue of how we\u2019re going to deal with planning and planning\u00a0board\u00a0and so forth,\u201d Shepard said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nesta later directed staff to postpone the\u00a0May 12\u00a0Planning Commission meeting pending further commission discussion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Teresa Sargeant has been with The Apopka Chief for over 10 years.<\/p>\n

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