- February 7, 2025
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The Ormond Beach City Commission unanimously approved a public hearing on a rezoning request and a development order on Tuesday, Oct. 17, for the planned townhome development on 100 N. Halifax Drive, ultimately giving the developer more leeway in regards to the planning board's recommendations based on a single homeowner's concerns.
The Halifax 100 Beachside Garden Townhomes will be a 12-unit development on the old 1.5-acre church lot, with each 2,950 square-foot unit starting at approximately $450,000. The townhomes will retain part of the old church and steeple and incorporate it into the clubhouse for the development. The rest of the property will be demolished to make room for the units.
Developer Ed Schwarz said it wasn't a big impact project, but that one of the key aspects of the townhomes would be the walkability to the downtown district on the beachside.
One resident spoke against the project, citing her problems with the planned townhome's back pool exit and potential foot traffic in the pedestrian dirt road in front of her property on Orchard Lane.
“In general, the size and density of this property will have a tremendous negative impact on my home and my quality of life," Ormond Beach resident Jean-Marie Applebee said.
She told the City Commission the renderings Schwarz presented to them were not accurate and do not represent how much the townhomes will affect her property. Applebee, who has lived in the property for 10 years, said the development will cast a shadow on her home and said the holly trees Schwarz plans to use to landscape the area near the pool gate would be like “ornamental grass." Schwarz also planned to place eight 12-foot-tall trees along the west side of the townhomes to help with privacy between the townhomes and her property.
Schwarz said the townhomes will be 45 ft. away from Applebee's property, but she retains the distance is much shorter than that.
City Commissioner Troy Kent said he has heard many people bring up their property rights with the developments currently happening on Granada Boulevard, but that landowners also have property rights.
“What about your property rights?" Kent said. "You own it. What about yours?”
He called the whole issue "outrageous," and City Commissioner Rick Boehm agreed, especially when noticing the lack of windows on the development's back units which are directly east of Applebee's home.
“This is one of those issues that totally blew my mind when I saw it," Boehm said.
He said he's lived in the same two-story house for 26 years and it has never occurred to him that his neighbors, which he pointed out are not 45 ft away, have windows facing his property. Kent spoke similarly, saying his neighbor's window looks right into his pool and that he's never worried about it. He also said if this was a private home, no problems would exist.
“Are we going to tell you ‘you’re going to build this 45 ft. from the homes behind you and you can’t have any windows in the back because somebody doesn’t want you to have any windows?'" Kent said. "Outrageous. Incredible. Should not have happened."
Another key issue that was brought up was that Schwarz had agreed that there would be no outside activities in the green spaces of the townhomes, which both Kent and Boehm disagreed with. Boehm said children should be able to play outside their homes.
“This whole thing seems to me to be an alternate universe when I read it," Boehm said. "I’m sorry. I want to hear somebody explain to me why these things make any sense because they don’t to me.”
Despite the design outcome, Julia Truilo, executive director for Ormond MainStreet, said they look at developments like this positively since they promote the downtown district and improve walkability to the local restaurants and shops. She said they want more like the Halifax 100 townhomes.
“A new development which can bring these things to a piece of blighted property right outside the downtown district is a gift,” Truilo said.
As for the pedestrian road in front of Applebee's home, the City Commission agreed the residents of the townhomes should have access to it since it is city-owned.
"We can’t deny them access to a right-of-way,” City Commissioner Rob Littleton said.
