- December 20, 2024
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My father is Paul Holub, a local developer. I am a donor to the Ormond Proud Political Action Committee — not with my money, but instead with my time. I have donated countless hours of research both online and at the city of Ormond Beach in order to provide data to support the Ormond Proud ads that have been published and will continue to run over the next several weeks. I wanted to write this letter to share some information with the community.
In speaking with the founders of Ormond Proud, I can tell you that the Ormond Proud PAC was started, first and foremost, to combat the false statements that CANDO 2, their members, and endorsed candidates have been spreading throughout our community. I could write pages upon pages, but it was chosen within the PAC and within the PAC’s group of donors to focus on just a few of the misleading statements that CANDO 2 constantly tout as truths.
To begin, both the leaders, members, and all five endorsed candidates of CANDO 2 like to say that development is out of control, that it is “reckless” and “irresponsible” just to use a couple of their buzz words. Development in Ormond Beach is anything but that, and we have the past and current City Commission to thank for it.
If anyone from CANDO 2 actually took the time to research the numbers on both the residential and commercial side, they would know this. Here are a couple of actual facts about development. Since 2010 there have been 15 permits issued by the city of Ormond Beach for commercial-retail projects. Of those 15, 10 have been for “recycled” development, and five have been for new development.
Those five new development projects are the Prince of Peace Secondhand Shop, the Shoppes on Granada Phase 1, Granada Pointe (a project I am associated with), Zaxby’s, and Shoppes on Granada Phase 2. That is five new commercial-retail developments in nine years.
“Recycled” development means any piece of property that had an abandoned eyesore of a building on it. For example, the old Shell station being converted to a Sunoco on the corner of Granada and U.S. 1, or the old vacant bank being redeveloped into Chicken Salad Chick on Nova Road. I believe this kind of “recycled” development goes exactly in line with what CANDO 2 and their candidates are asking for.
The fact is, this “recycled” development is already being done twice as often as new commercial development.
On the residential side, our growth has been closely guarded and held in check, especially compared to neighboring cities. Since 2010, there has been an average of only 89 new single-family homes built per year in Ormond Beach. Compare that to Port Orange, where they have averaged 142 per year, or New Smyrna Beach, where they have averaged 210. Ormond Beach has only had a 1% population growth per year over the last five years, as well. The fact is, Ormond Beach is growing, but our current City Commission is making sure it grows at a very controlled and smart pace.
CANDO 2 and the candidates the endorse have also misled our community with their statements on the “mass destruction” of wetlands in Ormond Beach at the expense of commercial development. Let's go even further back, from the year 2000 until now (19 years) and give the community some actual facts on wetlands.
Since the year 2000, if you take every piece of developed commercial property in the city (retail, restaurant, industrial, business/office, warehouse, bank, storage, gas stations — everything excluding residential) and add up all the impacted wetlands, you come up with 11.337 acres of wetlands, or 0.59 acres per year.
The biggest contributor to that number is the Shoppes on Granada phases 1 and 2. Where was CANDO 2 when that project was going though approval at the city? Why were they not outraged that wetlands were being developed on, and a massive swath of forest was being clear cut on Granada? I believe I can answer that: When that project was under construction, it was not during a political season, so there was no reason to exploit the project as they have with Granada Pointe.
Again, if their issue is with the destruction of wetlands, why does CANDO 2 support a residential project (Marshland Village) where 3.234 acres of wetlands would be impacted, but take issue with a commercial project like Granada Pointe where only 1.44 acres of wetlands were impacted?
If their argument is trees being clear cut and not wetlands, it should be noted that Marshland Village will bulldoze nearly three times as many trees as Granada Pointe in building their subdivision. Maybe their support of a residential development where wetlands would be destroyed and forests would be clear cut has something to do with the published “gentleman’s agreement” they have with the developer of Marshland Village? The agreement says the contract must include a fine of $25,000 if they develop on protected land.
Is it even even legal for CANDO 2 to make such demands? It certainly is not ethical.
Now to talk about Ormond Proud PAC ads. As a donor, I stand behind every single ad they have put out, including the “No Experience” ad that has Barry du Moulin up in arms. First off Barry, thank you for your Coast Guard service. Both of my grandfathers were Navy, my step father and one of my brothers served in the Army, and another brother is active duty in the Army. I have the utmost respect for anyone who serves our country.
Let me also take a moment to thank Rob Bridger for his Navy service. The ad clearly is not about your military service.
The ad is about your experience when it comes to city politics, of which, I believe you have none. You rarely, if ever, have attended planning or commission meetings in recent years. You have little or no knowledge of the city building code, or for that matter, any idea what it actually takes to run a city and balance an $88 million budget.
Exploiting your military service, however, for personal or political gain, is something I do not agree with. I have never once heard any family member of mine who served or is currently serving try to leverage their service for anything whatsoever. I do not support this type of exploitation when a political candidate does it on any level: local, state, or national.
In closing, I will continue to help the Ormond Proud PAC spread the truth about development and the history of our community, and I will do what I can to combat mistruths spread by CANDO 2 and their endorsed candidates.
If the CANDO 2 candidates and campaigns were using actual facts or even opinions, I would take no issue with it. The problem is, CANDO 2 and their endorsed candidates are spreading mistruths about our community, our current City Commission, the Granada Pointe project, even about myself and my family, and their opinions are being disguised as facts.
It is the dirty politics that CANDO 2 is engaging in that has led me to support and help the Ormond Proud PAC, the incumbents, and Susan Persis in the upcoming election. I think several of the new candidates have a great resume for numerous jobs, just not politics. I also think they all made a massive mistake associating with CANDO 2 and buying into their misleading agenda, and I think that their poor judgment will come back to haunt them on Nov. 6.
Bryan Shaffer is a resident of Ormond Beach.
