- October 13, 2024
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Is it time for Volusia County to revisit how much visitors pay to access its beaches? Should residents be able to drive on the beach for free, or at least at a reduced cost? At least two members on the County Council think so.
The County Council will discuss the costs for beach access at its meeting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21, a result of District 4 Council man Troy Kent making a motion during his closing comments at the council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Kent — who while campaigning for his seat during the recent elections, vowed to "fight tooth and nail" for residents to be able to drive on the beach for free — said at the meeting that he wanted all non-residents to have to pay to park on the beach and at the county's beachfront parks.
"The access for our beaches and many locations is broken," Kent said. "I do not believe the county has done a good job in running our beach. I am hopeful that we can turn that around with this council and this advocate, because there's never been a District 4 representative more pumped up, more concerned, and more excited to get our residents on our beach, enjoying it the way they should."
And while County Council Chair Jeff Brower, who brought similar topics to the council in both 2021 and 2022, was quickly supportive of having a discussion, some council members were hesitant.
Councilman Danny Robins said there are obstacles standing in the way that would take the idea off the table immediately, such as economic uncertainty and the recent hurricane damage.
"The big elephant in the room is, how are we going to pay for it?" Robins said. "I don't want to hear that we have a $1.2 billion budget — that's not a sufficient answer ... We're in an economic decline."
He cited high interest rates, inflation, high insurance costs, businesses shutting down, lack of employees, lack of full economic recovery from the pandemic, the county's SunRail obligation and the cost to repair the beach.
"Why so positive, man?" Kent replied. "Such positive news you share."
He said that Robins reiterated his point that the council won't know if reexamining beach access costs is feasible without a discussion, adding that he may change his mind once he sees the information brought to them during a discussion. But, the council members have to have that discussion first.
Robins argued that by eliminating beach toll fees for residents, the county would be looking at cutting millions of dollars of revenue, and that recuperating those funds would likely result in higher taxes.
"What I'm trying to do is look in advance before we dedicate more staff time to things that we can already process right here, right now," Robins said. "I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy, or a stick in the mud. I want to see us get there — everything you said is correct, so don't take this the wrong way, but we've been down this road before and we're running into the same problems."
While a previous council discussed the issue, Kent said the new council had yet to do so.
District 2 Councilman Matt Reinhart seconded the motion for a future discussion, though he said his views were closer to that of Robins'. His district — which includes Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Ponce Inlet and Wilbur-by-the-Sea — was hit hard by the hurricanes, he said.
"Lets get our beach back before we worry about [a] free beach," Reinhart said, adding that the majority of the people he's spoken with don't want free access to the beach because of the financial impact.
Brower disagreed with the phrase "free beach" or "free beach access" because his opinion is that residents already pay for accessing the beach through property taxes.
"Who we do give free access is everybody that stays in a motel," he said.
The motion passed 4-2, with Robins and At-Large Councilman Jake Johansson voting against.
