A North Texas city that’s one of the fastest growing in the country, extended a temporary stop on new residential developments. The city said utilities are at capacity and before adding more homes, they need to work on a plan to update water, sewers, roads, and emergency services. The city of Princeton is east of McKinney in Collin County. Drive along the major road through the city on U.S. 380, and the expansion is evident with the number of new fast-food restaurants and homes. “I’ve been here quite a while and I’ve seen two spurts of growth, one was in the late 70s and we had another recently,” said Princeton Mayor Pro Tem Steven Deffibaugh. Deffibaugh, who is a retired law enforcement detective, said he moved to Princeton in 1982 when the population was 1,200. “We had two lanes on US 380, it wasn’t 4 lanes. It didn’t even have a signal light. No fast food restaurants. Most of the fields around here growing cotton,” said Deffibaugh. U.S. Census data showed from 2005 to 2023, Princeton’s population exploded from just over 4,000 to more than 28,000 residents. Last year, Princeton was named the third-fastest growing city in the country after its population rose 22%. The number of homes that have popped up has outpaced city services, according to Deffibaugh. That’s why last September, the city voted for a moratorium to temporarily stop new residential developments for four months. It was supposed to expire on Jan. 21, but on Monday during the first city council meeting of the year, councilmembers voted to extend the pause for six months. “We’re not going to solve the world’s problems in 150 days, What we’re going to do is come up with a plan to solve those problems,” said Princeton Public Works Director Tommy Mapp during the meeting. Initially, the extension was for 150 days, but the councilmember suggested adding thirty more days. “It gives us time to look at the infrastructure, especially for providing water and sewer services because that’s one of the things we need to do, we need to provide the water and the necessities,” said Deffibaugh. A city memo from staff on the moratorium said, “The city’s water, wastewater and roadway infrastructure is operating at, near, or beyond capacity.” There’s also a need for more first responders. “Also public safety, the more people who get in, the more calls police receive, the more calls the fire department receives, so we actually have to provide that, and that includes hiring more personnel,” which they’re in the process of doing said Deffibaugh. He said developments that were already under contract before the moratorium in September, can still build homes. The temporary suspension does not impact commercial development. To watch the full city council meeting, click here.