- October 9, 2024
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The Ormond Beach Planning Board unanimously recommended the deletion of the newly recreated I-2 “Heavy Industrial” zoning district at its meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9.
This comes after weeks of residents asking the city to eliminate the zoning designation, approved via a land development code amendment on Aug. 1, to prevent Belvedere Terminals’ construction of a fuel farm at 874 Hull Road. The company recently stated it plans to build three fuel storage tanks with about 12.6 million gallons of capacity at the property in unincorporated Volusia County.
The heavy industrial zoning designation had been created to provide the neighboring Halifax Paving property at 860 Hull Road and 1399 Hull Trail with a compatible zoning designation once the city annexed the company’s 52 acres of land, which has a heavy industrial zoning designation from Volusia County.
Properties annexed into the city have a legal right to be assigned a land use and zoning that matches what they had in the county.
According to a city staff report, the city agreed to process Halifax Paving’s zoning as a “Planned Industrial Development” rather than I-2. Halifax Paving is building a new office building.
“It is a zoning district where they can add the uses that they’re doing now and they have historically done, but they’re not going to incorporate all the potential I-2 zoning district (uses),” City Planning Director Steven Spraker said. “So that was a solution for the property that we have that needs to be assigned a zoning district.”
There are currently no property in the city with the heavy industrial zoning designation.
Three residents from Bear Creek spoke at the Planning Board meeting, all in favor of deleting the city’s heavy industrial zoning district to prevent the proposed fuel farm.
“Please continue to do whatever you can to prevent the fuel farm on Hull Road,” resident Patricia Franzem said.
The City Commission will review the deletion of the I-2 zoning district at its Dec. 5 meeting.
Planning Board member Al Jorczak suggested during their meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, that the city look at ways to improve cell phone service at the Airport Business Park off Airport Road.
“This is an issue that has been going on for as long as we’ve been out there,” Jorczak said. “The efforts earlier to put a tower in proximity to the area that would help the business owners out there hasn’t transpired.”
About eight years ago, he said, the board discussed cell service regarding emergency and law enforcement communications. He said maybe it was time to revisit the issue from a business standpoint.
Ormond Beach City Hall and all non-emergency facilities will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 23 and Friday, Nov. 24, in observance of Thanksgiving.
Want to participate in Ormond Beach’s 32nd annual “Home for the Holidays” parade?
Applications for entry are due by Monday, Nov. 20. The 1.5-mile parade’s theme will be “A Groovy Christmas” and will include walkers, vehicles and floats. It will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9. The parade will start at Division Avenue and Ridgewood Avenue, go north until turning east at West Granada Boulevard. The parade will then turn south on Beach Street and end in front of City Hall.
The parade is free to apply, but the city is limiting the number of entries due to the parade’s popularity and length. Visit https://bit.ly/3G0t1Gq for application.
Call 386-676-3241 for more information.
Tomoka Christian Church is looking to build a new Care Center at its property at 1450 Hand Ave.
Representatives with Zev Cohen and Associates and MGN Contracting met with the Ormond Beach Site Plan Review Committee on Oct. 25 to discuss the construction of a 10,000-square-foot, two-story building to house a food pantry, consignment shop and counseling services. The consignment shop, according to the meeting’s minutes, will account for 6,000 square feet of the building.
The church will need to go through the city’s review process to get a special exception amendment for the new care center, to be reviewed by the Planning Board and City Commission at public hearings.
