- November 26, 2024
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Belvedere Terminals is suing Volusia County, citing a "deliberate and concerted effort by the County Council to rob Belvedere of its property and constitutionally protected rights" in its pursuit to construct a fuel farm near the city of Ormond Beach.
Belvedere filed the lawsuit on Jan. 2 — two days prior to the Jan. 4 County Council meeting where a vote regarding a moratorium on properties zoned I-2 "Heavy Industrial" was set to take place — alleging that the County Council, upon learning of the proposed fuel terminal at 874 Hull Road in unincorporated Volusia County, "began a crusade to stop Belvedere's project, as one council member put it, 'by any means necessary.'" The lawsuit comes after the county refused to process a conceptual site plan application in early December 2023, as the County Council had directed staff to enact a nine-month moratorium on properties zoned heavy industrial on Nov. 21, 2023, to allow the county to review the uses allowed in the zoning district.
"The county, in its confusion, has variously asserted either the moratorium took effect immediately at the November 21 meeting despite a lack of notice, due process, or other quasi-judicial safeguards or the county does not have to process the site plan because it is in the process of considering a moratorium and the 'pending ordinance doctrine' means it can pretend the moratorium is already in place (and refuse to process the site plan application) while it passes an actual moratorium," the lawsuit states.
Belvedere is asking the courts to hold the pending moratorium invalid and direct the county to process its application under the current zoning regulations, as well as mandate that the county not stand in the way of the application without due process.
Belvedere is also requesting the courts grant "any other relief this court deems just and equitable."
Volusia County Councilman Troy Kent said the county attorney was not aware that a lawsuit had been filed until the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 5. That's when the council got an email about the issue. The county, he added, has yet to be served.
"I am not surprised that Belvedere has filed suit against the county," Kent said. "I'm disappointed they would do that, but I'm not surprised. The county attorney and his team will defend the county to the absolute best of their ability."
Kent said he found it "very peculiar" that the attorneys representing Belvedere who spoke at the Jan. 4 council meeting neglected to inform the council that a lawsuit had been filed in relation to the pending moratorium.
But, lawsuit aside, he said it would have no bearing on his vote regarding the moratorium.
"I don't make decisions based off behavior I deem as somewhat as like a bully," Kent said. "This does not affect my decision at all. My decisions will always, 100%, be the best decisions for Volusia County residents."
The Observer reached out to Volusia County for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
In the lawsuit, Belvedere states it stands to be "irreparably harmed by the county's prohibition on accepting and processing site plan applications and the county's present 'moratorium.'"
Belvedere, whose spokesperson directed the Observer to the lawsuit in lieu of a statement, outlined the history of the property dating back to 2005 when property owner Florida East Coast Railway sought to construct an aggregate concrete distribution facility at 874 Hull Road, which was rezoned in 2006 to heavy industrial via a unanimous County Council vote. It states that in 2008, the city of Ormond Beach agreed to annex the property with the heavy industrial zoning in place, and, that it would provide water utilities.
Due to the 2008 recession, the facility was never constructed.
The St. Petersburg-based company adds that when its consultants met with Volusia County permitting staff in June 2022 for a pre-application meeting for the site — which is one of three the company is planning to construct in the state — staff informed them that a rezoning was not necessary and that the project would not need to be approved by the Volusia County Council, as it was an approved use under the heavy industrial zoning.
"Knowing there was no rezoning or land use change necessary for the project, the council members panicked and began devising cloak-and-dagger schemes to stop the project," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit further details comments made by County Councilmen at public meetings, including the Aug. 23 special meeting on the fuel farm, as well as emails expressing their opposition to the fuel farm project and requests for citizens to voice their concerns at meetings too.
"Not only has the county acted in blatant and obvious bad faith in refusing to process plaintiff's application (Belvedere's), it has engaged in an extended series of bad acts and discriminatory treatment of plaintiff, which deprived plaintiff of due process," the lawsuit states.
Kent said he wants residents to know that he is "completely against allowing anything dangerous and inappropriate from happening in their community."
Was the lawsuit inevitable? Kent said no.
"I think the county did a great job of meeting with the Belvedere folks," Kent said. "... The county has met with them and offered to help them find a more suitable location."
He's an advocate for individuals and their property rights, he added.
"But I'm also equally as huge an advocate of making sure we don't allow unsafe things to take place next to other people's property, because they have rights too."
