Proposed 1,660-home Daytona Beach development initially shot down, but may be reconsidered

DAYTONA BEACH — As longtime local attorney Glenn Storch stood before city commissioners Wednesday night, he painted a beautiful picture of a proposed housing and commercial development that would stretch across 415 acres between Interstate 95 and Tomoka Farms Road.

Trails throughout the upscale community where residents could stroll or bicycle around small ponds. Clubhouses, fitness centers and resort pools. Berms and 50-foot natural buffers along the neighborhood's borders, a dog park and a multi-use field.

Storch said the $400 million development would come with a commitment to spend $10 million extending city utility lines across I-95. Another $7 million would be paid in impact fees, and when fully built out in about six years, the new subdivision would start producing an estimated $7.25 million in tax revenue annually, he said.

The land currently yields only $5,000 per year in taxes.

Storch was seeking a vital rezoning for the project that would transform land used to grow crops and produce cattle over the past century, but he was shot down on a 4-3 vote.

There was a mix of groans and cheers in the City Hall meeting room when the decision was made. But like a wide receiver who doesn't stop moving his feet as 300-pound opponents thunder toward him, Storch pivoted and got a first down, as it were.

Commissioners agreed to reconsider the project's rezoning after traffic concerns on the county's Tomoka Farms Road are hashed out between city and county government leaders.

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The mayor and city commissioners have been taking heat from local residents who are worried that Daytona Beach is building too much too quickly. They worry about increasingly congested roads, and whether the city's water and sewer infrastructure can handle the expansion.

The city clerk took a roll call vote on the rezoning, and when she got to Mayor Derrick Henry the vote was 3-3. He broke the tie with a no, and then explained why. He said his decision went beyond recent social media posts calling on him and commissioners to slow down growth.

Henry said it's also not a reflection of his feelings about the proposed development, which he said would be "a good product."

"It's about how we want to grow up, what we want to become," said the 53-year-old Henry, a lifelong Daytona Beach resident who has watched the city evolve since his childhood in the 1970s. "As a commission, we have to look out for the long-term destination of Daytona Beach."

Daytona traffic congestion stalls project

Tomoka Farms Road already bottlenecks at the intersections with Bellevue Avenue and U.S. 92. That would only get worse if no traffic improvements were made and the project Storch pitched carried through on its plans to build 1,660 residential units in apartments, townhouses and single-family homes as well as 340,000 square feet of commercial, institutional and light industrial uses.

The area west of I-95 has most of the large tracts of open land left in Daytona Beach, so more large development in that area is inevitable. And that will be on top of the thousands of new homes on the city's west side already built or in progress.

There will be about 12,500 new homes and apartments when approved projects flanking LPGA Boulevard wrap up.

Henry said he was afraid if he voted yes on the development between I-95 and Tomoka Farms Road that "we'd start a slippery slope we couldn't get out of."

City Commissioner Stacy Cantu was a yes vote on the rezoning. But Cantu, who represents the city on the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization, initially said during Wednesday night's meeting that she wouldn't vote for the project without talking to the county first.

City Commissioner Quanita May also said she was worried about traffic on Tomoka Farms Road.

Storch said he'll talk to county government staff now about the need to widen and reconfigure some of their roads west of I-95 in Daytona Beach. The project already called for adding turn lanes on Tomoka Farms Road at the entrance.

Water supply and drainage concerns

Residents both for and against the Tomoka Farms Road project shared their thoughts at Wednesday's meeting.

Daytona Beach resident Anne Ruby said it's a "phenomenal" idea that checks all the boxes for smart growth.

Daytona Beach resident Sandy Murphy also encouraged commissioners to pursue the development.

"I understand the impulse to say 'this has to stop sometime, so let's stop it now,' " Murphy said. "This is the worst project you could have done this to. ... We should be so lucky to have something like this at the gateway to our town."

Gordon Baggett lives in Samsula, located near State Road 44 and New Smyrna Beach. But as the descendant of people who helped found Daytona Beach in 1870, he said he's "concerned with the direction Daytona Beach is going with development."

Baggett said he would rather see infill development on Daytona Beach's east side.

Another Samsula resident, Nancy Bass, worries Daytona Beach won't have enough water for all the new development.

"We can not make water," Bass said.

Assistant City Manager Andrew Holmes said he wouldn't be nervous about water capacity if the Tomoka Farms Road project gets built.

Daytona Beach resident Frederick Brown said every new development west of I-95 is taking away more natural places for rainwater absorption. He worries the area will become more vulnerable to flooding.

"We need to be careful about every square inch," he said.

Storch said the proposed project would dedicate more than 100 acres to stormwater management, and only one-quarter of an acre of wetlands would be impacted. He noted that the developer would remove septic tanks and wells on the site to protect the groundwater.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach's rapid growth has it questioning proposed development