DeLand commission gives final nod to rezoning of old golf course, landfill for development

DELAND — Whether or not the planned development proposed for a former golf course and city landfill is suitable and needed in the community depends on whom you ask.

But the general consensus among residents and elected officials alike is that further testing of the approximately 168-acre site — and an additional area just north of the square-shaped property — with oversight from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection wouldn't be a bad idea.

The City Commission voted 3-2 during a special meeting Monday night to change the property's zoning from R-1A, which allows 5.28 dwelling units per acre, to a planned development called Beresford Reserve, allowing 3.53 units per acre.

"We know that there's more under there than what they've recorded so far, and we're going to make sure FDEP knows and FDEP demands that they do that level of testing that we were asking for tonight," Wendy Anderson, professor of environmental science and studies at Stetson University and the chair of Volusia Soil and Water Conservation District, said after the meeting adjourned.

The vote comes nearly six months after the first reading on Jan. 31.

As they did with the first reading, Mayor Bob Apgar, Vice Mayor Charles Paiva and Commissioner Kevin Reid voted in favor of the rezoning Monday night; Commissioners Chris Cloudman and Jessica Davis opposed the rezoning.

City staff and those working on behalf of the Orlando-based developer, Elevation Development, made adjustments to the plans over the course of about 20 months as dozens of residents raised objections, largely over environmental concerns.

Ongoing worries

While the reason for the special meeting was to vote on a rezoning, Mark Watts, an attorney with Cobb Cole representing the developer, said much of the discussion throughout the three hours focused on the site assessment work plan.

"You've got far greater protections, far greater standards and something that we've spent 20 months or more working with the community, with the residents, with the planning board and with you and your staff to create something better than what the existing zoning is," Watts said. "That's what you're deciding tonight, not how the ultimate testing plan will be conducted, not what the ultimate results of that will be, but is this form better than the form that exists currently, and is it consistent with your comprehensive plan?"

READ: Site assessment work plan for Beresford Reserve property

Watts said the site assessment work plan was developed by Kimley-Horn, a planning and design engineering consulting firm, in conjunction with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the city's third-party consultants, Pegeen Hanrahan of Community and Conservation Solutions, LLC, and Greg Self of Terra-Com Environmental Consulting, Inc.

For Anderson, the plan isn't enough.

Jason Sheasley, a hydrogeologist for Kimley-Horn, said their overall approach and methodology are in accordance with FDEP rules and the state’s Brownfield program, "which adds another layer of regulatory involvement and oversight."

The developer agreed to participate in the state's Brownfield program in December 2020.

Sheasley said it will determine the horizontal and vertical extent of the contamination.

"If we find out there’s still contamination as deep as 12 feet during the next round of sampling, we’ll go deeper," Sheasley said.

DeBary resident Denise DeGarmo, an author and professor emeritus from Southern Illinois University who now works nationally as a consultant on contaminated sites, addressed the commission virtually as she's receiving medical treatment out of state.

DeGarmo said she wanted to know why more testing wasn't conducted earlier on in the process.

"The community of DeLand deserves to know what lurks in their backyards," DeGarmo said. "Until the FDEP finalizes the testing plan and provides written authorization for remediation and contingent upon the city's experts' approval, any rezoning of this property is premature."

Watts responded.

"I've said before in many of our hearings that you haven't seen additional testing occur because we have to know what the project is we're testing for; we have to know that there is a project to move forward with for the Brownfields program to be the appropriate vehicle," Watts said. "If we still find contaminants, we have to keep digging, and we have to keep doing that until we find the clean boundaries and the clean margins."

Results of preliminary soil tests showed evidence of pesticides from the period during which the site was a golf course from 1968 to 2017 and possibly from when it was a sand mine and city dump.

Anderson told the commission that samples should be taken from additional areas on the property, such as the fairways, as the preliminary samples came from the tees and greens.

She also said she has issues "with the use of the incremental sample methodology in those areas where soils exceed the default groundwater leachability soil cleanup target levels for dieldrin."

Dieldrin "is a decades-old chlorocarbon insecticide that has long been banned from use in most of the world," according to the American Chemical Society. The insecticide "was widely used from the 1950s to the 1970s as an alternative to DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)," but it came with some major drawbacks including being "more toxic to many mammals, including humans, than it is to insects."

Anderson said she worries about resampling areas in a way that involves mixing multiple core samples.

"This minimizes the likelihood of identifying additional hotspots that might be close to areas previously noted as only marginally contaminated," Anderson said. "This might be standard practice for environmental assessments of other sites, but this site needs more."

DeLand resident Jack Davis, noting his more than a decade's worth of experience in geotechnical investigations, also suggested ground-penetrating radar and additional types of borings.

However, Davis said he'd rather see the city follow in the footsteps of other municipalities in regard to the particular site.

"The citizens will be much better served now and for generations to come if the property was cleaned up and kept natural, just like the cities of Longwood and St. Pete did with their defunct golf courses," Davis said.

Past hinders future: Former DeLand golf course's time as city dump stymies developer's plans to build homes

The proposal

Originally, the developer wanted to bring 861 homes to the site. On Monday night, it was down to 597 residential units, the same as proposed during the first reading in January.

The 597 units include 254 single-family homes, 154 fee-simple townhomes and 189 rental townhomes.

Other changes made to the development agreement since the original proposal include:

• HOA-maintained pool amenity is located southerly of the proposed public park

• Commercial area eliminated

• Requires the main park to be constructed, including all required environmental remediation work, to be completed in the first phase of development

• References that the entire project will comply with the approved Brownfield Redevelopment Program

• Provides that any costs associated with environmental clean-up on the park will not be considered in calculating the parks and recreation impact fee credit due the developer

• All quarterly reports submitted to FDEP will also be submitted to the city

• Low-impact development specifics are now provided

"What we think we've arrived at is a PUD (planned unit development) that has a set of standards that will raise the bar substantially with regard to how this property develops moving into the future," Watts said. "And key is the unprecedented level with which the city will be involved specifically in the Brownfield remediation."

Residents, as well as some commissioners, remained concerned about the density, the impact on the region's schools and roadways, and the clear-cutting of trees.

Cloudman, a candidate for mayor, said even if the schools have the capacity to support the development, he worries about the current difficulties with staffing, which could continue to be an issue.

Paiva said he felt the city is getting a better deal with what's proposed than what they'd likely see, "a glut" of single-family homes, if the developer stuck with R-1A zoning

Davis, who is up for re-election, said she worries this project is trying to address too many things at once, a sentiment echoed by Reid, who also is up for re-election.

Reid also echoed Paiva's comments.

"If this went through the straight zoning process, I don't think we would have a project anywhere close to what is being recommended in this proposal," Reid said. "And I think the environmental testing that has been added, the addition of the citizen Brownfield committee and the continuation of our contract with our third-party consultants are good barriers in keeping the developer on task to what has been promised in this (planned development)."

Apgar, who isn't seeking re-election, agreed and said he trusts the process.

"I don’t think FDEP is going to fall asleep at the switch, particularly with the amount of interest that this project has generated," Apgar said.

The mayor recommended the city create a comprehensive checklist of the requirements of the process to post online and update throughout for the community.

Anderson said the votes were political, and it's time for a change.

"Of course we're disappointed, but what are we surprised? Absolutely not," Anderson said. "This commission has given us eight years of (expletive), eight years of clear-cutting, eight years of masquerading, eight years of houses that look exactly the same."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Former DeLand golf course to be developed; environmental testing urged