Proposed oceanfront condo-hotel on Silver Beach Avenue draws resistance from residents
DAYTONA BEACH — City commissioners are two weeks away from voting on an oceanfront condo-hotel project, but they got a preview at their Wednesday night meeting of the outcry they're likely to hear from opponents of the plan.
One Daytona Beach man opposed to any development east of State Road A1A urged commissioners to "look beyond the dollars and cents," and think about the impact the proposed 25-story condo-hotel could have on the beach, dunes and ocean.
Janet Meredith, who also doesn't want to see any more new development east of A1A, said there's already been serious erosion to Volusia County's beaches.
"Mother Nature will always win," Meredith said. She maintained that seawalls only add to erosion for property located on the edges.
At their Dec. 20 meeting, commissioners will vote on a developer's request to rezone 2.66 acres of land located on the southeast corner of A1A and Silver Beach Avenue from Tourist Accommodations to Planned Development-Redevelopment.
The change is being sought to allow the construction of a condo-hotel that could include a pool, a restaurant and a bar.
The pushback prompted the developer to reduce the condo-hotel tower design from 27 stories to 25 and to pare the maximum building height from 350 feet to 265 feet. The total number of hotel rooms planned for the 8,900-square-foot building has also dropped from 300 to 270.
The building design has also been revised to accommodate a more narrow base for the structure to expand view corridors from A1A and adjacent properties, and revise the scale and footprint of the project.
New home for Daytona fire station
In other action at Wednesday night's meeting, city commissioners voted unanimously to buy three properties along Ridgewood Avenue tallying 1.75 acres that will provide land for a new fire station.
The city already purchased a 1.85-acre property on Ridgewood Avenue to create a new home for Station No. 1, so the additional adjacent parcels will double the amount of land the city will have for the station.
The full 3.6-acre site between Live Oak and Loomis avenues will allow the station to have ample room for a new building, retention pond and parking, said Fire Chief Dru Driscoll. The block of land will also leave space for future expansion of the fire station or another type of city facility, Driscoll said.
The full purchase price for the three properties, which includes fees and costs, is about $1.6 million.
Daytona Beach buying fire station land: $1.6 million land buy would make new downtown Daytona Beach fire station possible
Driscoll told commissioners the current Station No. 1 on Beach Street at Orange Avenue can be impossible to operate out of when the downtown riverfront floods during severe rainstorms. Firefighters have had to evacuate the building during tropical storms, making it more difficult to do their jobs, he said.
The new site for Station No. 1 will provide higher ground that sits on a ridge. Being located on a major thoroughfare also helps, he said, and the city has secured enough land to have property left over for future growth.
You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach city commissioners voting soon on condo-hotel project.
