Florida rezoning blocks man’s retirement home 18 years after he bought lot

A retirement plan that began with a vacant Florida lot has now become the subject of a federal lawsuit. In 2006, Rhode Island resident Art Yatsko bought a residential lot in North Port, Florida, intending to eventually build a home there. Eighteen years later, as he prepared to begin construction, he learned that the property had been rezoned and no longer permitted a new single-family residence. According to the Institute for Justice, which represents Yatsko, the zoning change prevented him from building the home he had planned for years. Yatsko filed a federal lawsuit against the City of North Port on June 9, 2026.A retirement home planned for yearsYatsko purchased the vacant property on Kumquat Avenue in North Port in 2006 after seeing an advertisement for residential lots being offered at auction.