Daytona is poised to get a new 1,200-lot RV park on the city's western edge
DAYTONA BEACH — A huge swath of vacant property on Daytona Beach's western edge is going to become a 1,200-lot recreational vehicle resort with everything from nature trails to an activity center that will offer both indoor and outdoor entertainment.
At their meeting Wednesday night, Daytona Beach city commissioners approved a rezoning and annexation that will make the Daytona Lakes RV Resort a reality.
The RV park will sprawl across 353 acres between U.S. Highway 92 and Interstate 4, a property that includes 180 acres that was unincorporated rural county land until commissioners unanimously approved the annexation.
The resort will offer guests a clubhouse, 58 acres of lakes where they can canoe and fish, and a shuttle bus that can take them east into Daytona Beach if they want to go to Volusia Mall or a race at Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona Beach attorney Glenn Storch, who's representing developer Blue Coral Properties Inc., said 61% of the site will be undeveloped and have large natural vegetation buffers.
"They'll feel like they're in nature," Storch said.
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He said it will be "a first-rate RV park," something he believes Daytona Beach needs. The facility's developer is going to invest $75 million to $90 million, and the resort will be taxed as a commercial property.
"I think it's a home run for the city, a home run for the area, and something we can all be proud of," Storch said.
'We're being encroached on'
At least some people who live in Highridge Estates, a small neighborhood just west of the RV park site, don't share Storch's enthusiasm. The county residents are worried about noise, traffic, and intrusion into their quiet community.
Storch said the development's goal is for the next door neighborhood residents "to not even know it's there."
Addressing concerns several residents shared at Wednesday's commission meeting, Storch said people who stay in the RV park will undergo background checks. He also said guests will only be allowed to stay in the park for limited visits, and they won't be allowed to continuously move from lot to lot or make it their permanent home.
Storch also said Roosevelt Boulevard, which runs along the eastern edge of the longstanding neighborhood, will be gated and only used by the RV park for emergency vehicles. The development will get a new signalized access point on U.S. 92, and that's the street construction vehicles will use.
At least some Highridge Estates residents were not comforted by Storch's input.
"We live in a small community, and now all of a sudden we're being encroached on," Robert Burns said.
George Flagler, who lives on Aspen Street, wanted to know if the RV park visitors would have access to his neighborhood, and if the tree line that separates his community from the new development would be destroyed.
"We have kids on the street, people walking their pets," said Angela Applegate. "We don't need Winnebagos and big trailers with trucks on our roads."
You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach is getting a new RV park with a clubhouse and trails.
