- January 19, 2025
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Almost 19 acres of wooded land off of Airport Road north of the Tomoka River and west of U.S. 1 will likely stay wooded and become recreational land near Riverbend Nature Park.
“Our residents are clamoring for this. ... They want trails, they want preserved land, and this fits.”
— BILL PARTINGTON, Ormond Beach mayor
The Ormond Beach City Commission voted 4-1 during a City Commission meeting the evening of Aug. 16 to move forward with an agreement to buy the land in partnership with the St. Johns Water Management District and the Volusia County government for $770,000 through the Volusia Forever Land Acquisition program, which preserves ecologically valuable properties from development.
“Our residents are clamoring for this,” Mayor Bill Partington said. “It couldn’t be more clear in the Parks and Rec Master Plan update and other surveys that we’ve done that they want open space, they want trails, they want preserved land, and this fits — I mean check, check, check — and knocks off every single one of those that our residents are demanding from us. … And so it just seems like a huge environmental win. Huge win from a partnership perspective.”
If the sale is finalized, the property will be owned jointly by the Volusia County government and the city of Ormond Beach government, while the Water Management District will have a conservation easement for the whole property.
The city will be responsible for creating and implementing a land management plan for it, and will allow passive recreational activities such as hiking, bicycling and birding.
The Water Management District would pay 60% of the purchase price, or $462,000, while Volusia County and the city of Ormond Beach would pay 20%, or $154,000 each.
The land had previously been appraised at $800,000, and the owner had fielded private offers of $800,000.
Closing costs will be divided equally between the three parties and will not exceed $7,000 each. The city completed a budget amendment to allow for the purchase.
The land had been owned by Penland & Pomerenke and had a previous site plan showing 80,000 square feet of office and industrial use, with a zoning classification of light industrial and land use designations of open space/conservation and light industrial/utilities.
City staff, recognizing late last year that the property might meet Volusia Forever acquisition criteria, had approached Penland & Pomerenke about buying it, and Penland & Pomerenke submitted a Volusia Forever Land Acquisition program application, city staff members told commissioners during the Aug. 16 meeting.
When the city divided potential Volusia Forever properties into two categories based on priority this past spring, the 901 Airport Road was initially in the lower-priority category and didn’t receive funding.
But the St. Johns River Water Management District was interested in preserving the land and its wetlands to mitigate a Florida Department of Transportation Project, according to city records, so Water Management District staff members began meeting with city and county staff members and worked out an agreement for the purchase.
This story has been corrected to clarify that the land sale agreement has not yet been finalized.
