In Volusia, District 3 Council candidates voice different views on development

As the general election approaches, growth is one of the most hotly debated topics in Volusia County races ― and candidates disagree on how to approach the issue and even the facts.

The same is true for the District 3 Volusia County Council race between incumbent Councilman Danny Robins and challenger Ted Noftall.

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District 3 covers a large part of the county, including Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Oak Hill and part of South Daytona, according to the county's website.

Robins has the lead in fundraising with $99,565 to Noftall's $14,525, according to the Volusia County supervisor of elections website.

Early voting begins Wednesday, and the general election is Nov. 8.

Danny Robins

First elected in August 2020, Robins grew up in Saugerties, New York. He has lived in Volusia County since 2004. Robins, 37, has a background in law enforcement, including working as a police officer for the Daytona Beach Police Department. He owns a sporting goods business, and he is married with two children.

On growth and development, he said, "Finding that balance on the ecological and the economic end is very important. Doing nothing or shutting down the shop doesn't accomplish anything," he said. "It can affect our local economy greatly."

He said some politicians and candidates aren't giving an accurate picture of development and growth and how the County Council has managed it.

"The cities aren't built out, so you know (the) majority of the growth is happening in the cities. So in terms of our growth in unincorporated Volusia County and what we've been able to control, it's been very miniscule compared to ... the rest of the cities," he said.

He said he believes the Council has been doing "a pretty good job" protecting natural resources in its jurisdiction, pointing to efforts such as the taxpayer-funded grant program called ECHO which voters first approved in 2000. The grants go toward "acquisition, restoration, construction or improvement of projects to be used for environmental, cultural, historical and outdoor recreational purposes," according to the county.

"(In) unincorporated Volusia County, where that is within my job description and my purview, yes, I believe we are in excellent shape or good shape," Robins said.

He said increasing the cost of development, such as through impact fees, is passed on to homebuyers. He said the county is limited by state law in how much officials can charge for impact fees, and how and where the funds can be used.

"It's a tricky subject because you want houses and everything to remain affordable. You want your kids to stay and grow up here, but meanwhile we're pricing them out and nickel-and-diming everybody to death," Robins said.

In response to questions from The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Robins listed among his top priorities "properly funding" first responders, fiscal responsibility and conservation.

While he said the county has done a great job of increasing its public safety budget, there are still some positions that need pay increases, including workers in emergency medical services and corrections.

On fiscal responsibility, Robins said he would like the county to find ways to save money through modernization, such as using LED instead of fluorescent lights, using wastewater from sinks to flush toilets and getting rid of paper.

"There is no reason in 2022 in my opinion that we are still using paper. You know of course you're going to need it time to time, but booklets, pamphlets, all this stuff, it all can be done digitally in my opinion," he said.

Robins also said he plans to focus on job creation across the county if he's re-elected.

"We need to get industry here," he said. "We need to get people here that are wanting to get good-paying jobs for our kids to stimulate some of these forgotten-about areas like Oak Hill, and the space industry and whatnot. All that is a top priority of mine."

Ted Noftall

Noftall, 70, has lived in Volusia County for over 30 years. He owns J&M Moving and Storage. He also has a background in property management and public accounting, according to his campaign website.

Noftall, who is divorced, has three children and three grandchildren. He served on the Volusia Soil and Water Conservation District.

In response to a question from The News-Journal for a candidate Q&A, Noftall listed among his top priorities "stopping overdevelopment by ending the taxpayer subsidies that encourage it."

He's against annual tax increases. He's also opposed to using treated wastewater for drinking water and wants to ban such use by ordinance in January 2023 and via charter amendment in November 2024, according to his campaign website.

On Oct. 18, the County Council rejected a request by Chair Jeff Brower to have an ordinance drafted prohibiting wastewater being used as a potential drinking water supply in the county's service area. Brower said he made the request in part so the county could get ahead of any possible state requirements on the matter. The Council had already voted against drafting regulations at an August meeting.

During the October discussion, Council members Ben Johnson and Barb Girtman said they didn't see a need to pursue the issue at the time. And Johnson called bringing up the issue a political move on Brower's part.

"I believe we're trying to find a solution for a problem that doesn't exist," Johnson said.

Council members voted not to discuss the issue again while the current Council is sitting. Council members Heather Post and Robins weren't present.

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Noftall said he wants developments to be paid for up front by the developers and not taxpayer subsidized down the road, including making sure that infrastructure is fully equipped to handle traffic that will come from a new development.

"I would look to remove the taxpayer assistance completely," Noftall said.

He said he would scrutinize annexation requests because he is concerned about property being upzoned when it is annexed from the county into a city's jurisdiction.

Noftall said he supports higher impact fees, but even if doubled or tripled they still wouldn't cover the true cost of development, he said.

"It doesn't take much investigation to come to the understanding that there is a constant unrelenting upward pressure on property taxes," he said. "Now you've got to ask yourself, 'What is the root cause of that just continual pressure for higher taxes?' And the only conclusion I can come to is that growth is not paying for itself. It's not even coming close to paying for itself because there are so many residual costs that end up on the taxpayers' plate."

Noftall said that for the most part he is also against county-funded economic incentive programs for businesses.

Noftall said he is not against development, though.

"What I want to eliminate out of that equation is the taxpayer assistance in the form of ... (taxpayers paying) residual costs of these developments and the gift of upzoning being made by those people that developers get elected through their contributions ... that's the only sand I'm trying to throw in these gears," he said.

In a response to question from The News-Journal for the candidate Q&A, Noftall said if elected he would work to preserve not only the county's natural resources, but also its character.

"I treasure that Volusia is a great place to raise a family and that we are a happy mix of high-brow and honky-tonk, and I especially treasure that the large metro centers of Orlando and Jacksonville are no closer to Volusia than they are," he said. "There is little that I desire to change about Volusia County beyond the erroneous developer-fed notion that Volusia residents are eager for more development, more traffic congestion, more pollution, higher taxes, and declining water quality."

― Political Editor Mark Harper contributed to this report 

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Election 2022: Volusia County development in focus in Council race