Volusia County delays stripped down Ormond-area fuel facility site plan due to moratorium
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from Belvedere Terminals Chief Operating Officer Mike Benedetto.
Volusia County's new pause in development recently stopped, at least temporarily, a site plan from being accepted for the proposed fuel distribution and storage facility at 874 Hull Road in Ormond Beach.
The conceptual site plan submitted recently by Belvedere Terminals, which the county did not accept for processing, shows six fuel tanks total, all 40 feet tall and ranging in diameter from 40-140 feet.
Initial plans for the project filed earlier through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which issued a permit for air quality purposes, called for 16 tanks - six for fuels, all 40 feet in height ranging from 37-140 feet in diameter, plus 10 more tanks for additives and propane, ranging from 13.6-16 feet tall and 8-26 feet in diameter.
Belvedere Terminals is developing the project on Florida East Coast Railway property. Fuel would be shipped via trains, stored at the site, and dispensed into a steady stream of truck traffic.
Belvedere Chief Financial Officer Timothy Schwarz said in October that the facility would be smaller than what the FDEP documents showed. He said it would have three main tanks and some ancillary tanks. The facility would still distribute fuel 24 hours a day, with peak hours seeing about four trucks, he said.
Regardless of the size, the county's pending development moratorium means plans can't move forward for now.
Belvedere Chief Operating Officer Mike Benedetto released a statement about the rejection:
“On December 4th, we submitted a site plan application to Volusia County for our original site which adhered to the existing zoning in place for that site," he wrote. "We also continue to be in communication with the County about possible alternative locations, although the alternatives considered to date are missing elements needed for this project.”
In November, the County Council voted to craft an ordinance to institute a nine-month moratorium for development on land zoned heavy industrial in unincorporated areas of Volusia County to look into possible changes in the zoning category. The site where the fuel facility is planned has an Ormond Beach address but is on unincorporated Volusia County land. Most of the site is zoned heavy industrial.
The County Council hasn't voted on the moratorium. But the county is already refusing to allow developments to move forward on land zoned heavy industrial in unincorporated Volusia County because of the possible moratorium, citing the "pending ordinance doctrine."
When fuel project officials submitted their site plan recently, they were told via email it couldn't be accepted or processed at the moment.
"They were notified immediately that the county cannot ... process the conceptual site plan," County Manager George Recktenwald said.
Plans for the fuel facility caused uproar in the county over its size and proximity to homes, a recreational complex and an airport. Many residents are concerned about safety and are working to stop the project. County officials are also looking for alternative sites.
During the development pause, the county plans to look at possible revisions that would "modernize the zoning category (heavy industrial) and reflect the current state of local communities," according to a county news release.
The moratorium is expected to go to the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission for review on Dec. 21 and to the County Council on Jan. 4, according to an email to project officials from Carol McFarlane, Volusia County director of Planning and Development Services.
If approved county officials expect the moratorium would be in effect until Aug. 21, according to McFarlane.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ormond fuel facility hits barrier amid Volusia development pause
