North Port rezoning fight: Flood fears vs. 1 man's retirement dream

NORTH PORT, Fla. — A property owner's 20-year wait to build his dream retirement home has landed in federal court, and the fight is putting North Port's flood safety concerns front and center.

Arthur Yatsko bought a plot of land in North Port with plans to build a single-family home there one day. Now, the city says he waited too long and the lot is no longer zoned for residential use.

Much of the argument goes back to Hurricane Ian, which left parts of the city underwater.

North Port's Director of Development Services Alaina Ray told WINK Investigates the flooding in the Lady Slipper neighborhood near the intersection of Sumter and I-75 pushed the city to act.

"It would have been another 400 to 500 houses that would have developed in a flood zone, in an area that was over waist deep in water after Ian and people had to be brought out on with boats," Ray said.

•  RELATED: North Port city admits "glitch fixes" needed after rezoning backlash

In August 2024, North Port made major changes to its Unified Land Development Code, rezoning several neighborhoods from residential to commercial.

Ray says the goal is to bring in commercial developers who can build proper stormwater systems to reduce flooding risks.

"A commercial entity coming in, buying up a bunch of properties, putting in a master storm water system so that the flooding wouldn't be an issue," Ray said.

Yatsko says the move caught him off guard. Last month, WINK Investigates spoke with Yatsko about the lawsuit he filed against the city in Federal Court.

"I was taken aback to find out that somehow over the last 20 years the city had decided that single families in that neighborhood were now some type of nuisance to be banned," Yatsko said.

The city responded to his lawsuit in federal court saying he “waited 20 years to make efforts to construct on his lot, while ignoring the development of what he himself describes as one of the fastest-growing cities in the state.”

Yatsko’s lawyers argue the rezoning is unconstitutional.

•  RELATED: North Port retiree sues city after zoning change blocks him from building on his own land

Ray could not comment specifically on Yatsko's lawsuit but told WINK Investigates the rezoning is ultimately about keeping people safe.

“It was a really terrible thing that happened,” Ray said, describing the flooding after Hurricane Ian, “and putting that many more people at risk for a future storm was something that the city was trying to find a way to avoid that happening.”

Two years ago, less than 10% of land in North Port was being used by commercial businesses, and the city says that number needs to reach between 20% and 30% to be financially sustainable.

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