- February 7, 2025
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The historic Hotel Street, a dirt road dividing the back of the Halifax 100 townhomes and the Orchard Lane neighborhood, is a public right of way and the residents of the luxury townhomes have a right to access it, decided the City Commission during the meeting on Nov. 7, where the project's official rezoning and development order was unanimously approved on second reading.
Manny DeAngelo, a resident of the Orchard Lane neighborhood for 32 years, was part of the group of residents who attended the City Commission meeting to voice their opposition of a back gate in the Halifax 100 townhomes which will grant them access to Hotel Street. Hotel Street and Orchard Lane would be a way for the residents in the townhomes to easily reach Fortunato Park by foot.
DeAngelo said loves progress in the city, but that he does not agree with "incorrect thinking and incorrect practices."
"Even the most ambitious and biggest condominium in downtown on the beach respected the fact that Hotel Street and Orchard Lane are registered historical streets," said DeAngelo, referring to the Ormond Heritage Condominiums.
The historical significance of Hotel Street was a concern shared by others in the audience as well. Orchard Lane resident Tyra Roberson and various of her family members have bought residences in that neighborhood for the historical nature. Her biggest concern was the gate and the fence proposed for the townhome development, and said that if the townhome development next to the Halifax 100 land does not have a gate, she can't see a reason why this one should.
"I feel like Halifax has sidewalks, Granada has sidewalks," Roberson said. "They can get to the park that way. I'm kind of tired of Orchard Lane being a cut-through street."
The City Commission as a whole did not agree with the residents.
"Orchard Lane is not a private road," City Commissioner Rick Boehm said. "You might like it to be, but it's not."
He apologized to the public, and said that a public road should be available for access to everyone, a thought that City Commissioner Rob Littleton echoed.
"I can't sit up here and tell other citizens of Ormond Beach they can't have access to a public road," Littleton said. "I can't do that."
In attendance at the meeting were the attorneys representing the Halifax 100 townhome developer, Ed Schwarz, and Orchard Lane resident Jean-Marie Applebee, whose property is directly behind the land for the townhomes. While both parties never reached an agreement on whether or not Hotel Street was indeed a public right of way, they did agree that the development will have a gated fence and that residents can access Hotel Street only by foot.
City Commissioner Dwight Selby said he was pleased both parties were able to work out the compromises for the development. He said he appreciated hearing the residents voice their concerns about the project and express how they felt — and that he wanted them to understand why the City Commission voted the way they did.
"I just hope that everybody who came here with one feeling about this can leave, maybe not 100% happy because you may not have gotten what you wanted, but you now understand what we've gone through and what we're faced with," Selby said.
