- November 22, 2024
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Last September, Ormond Beach company S.R. Perrott filed a petition to challenge an air pollution construction permit issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to Belvedere Terminals for a fuel farm proposed behind the company's headquarters.
A judge listened to witnesses and testimony from both S.R. Perrott and Belvedere during an administrative hearing held on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The judge, Edward Early, is expected to issue a ruling in February.
The amended petition filed by the local food and beverage distribution company stated that Belvedere failed to provide adequate public notice for the permit, citing that, though S.R. Perrott's headquarters are located across the railroad tracks from the property at 874 Hull Road — where Belvedere plans to construct its fuel terminal — the company's executive vice president, Gary Connors, only learned about the permit while a getting a haircut at a local barbershop on Aug. 2, 2023, the day after the permit was issued.
Connors said he then called Tad Durrance, president of Halifax Paving, which is based out of 860 Hull Road. Durrance told him he would look into the issue and later sent Connor's daughter Eva Connors McMullin some information about the permit via email.
S.R. Perrott is arguing that Belvedere's public notice for the permit, advertised in the Hometown News, was insufficient and failed to comply with statutory requirements. The company also argues that the "permit and its safeguards do not fully consider and mitigate the proposed project's full potential to emit pollutants."
Both S.R. Perrott and Belvedere Terminals declined to comment due to the ongoing appeal.
At the hearing, Belvedere's attorneys were tasked with providing that the public notice in the Hometown News was indeed adequate. Other witnesses called to testify included Martin Costello, David Read, Jeff Koermer, all with FDEP, and Kirk Dougal, group publisher of the Hometown News.
Koermer said FDEP doesn't normally receive comments specific to an air permit on projects.
"Generally, when we issue an air construction permit for a minor source like this, it's independent of land use or anything," Koermer said. "In other words, that permit could be good in any county, in any municipality."
Ormond Beach resident Elena Krafft was among those who tuned in for the hearing, conducted via Zoom. The city of Ormond Beach livestreamed the hearing at City Hall as well.
Krafft said she felt hopeful at the end of the hearing.
"I felt like the judge was really interested in this case," she said. "He actually acknowledged that this was a new case to him, so he was interested. He gave a lot of interest to both parties and wanted to hear what they had to say."
She added that she thought S.R. Perrott made a strong case in showing that the FDEP didn't take into account the surrounding neighborhoods, nor the company's operations, when issuing the permit. She said she was surprised to learn that FDEP didn't double-check the affidavit provided by Belvedere to see if it complied with the statutory requirements of a public notice and that one of the FDEP representatives said it was his first time reviewing an air permit for a fuel terminal.
"We now realize that we are working with a company who just wants to proceed with this project, regardless of the consequences on our community, to our quality of life, our safety, our health, just overall well-being," Krafft said. "We are obviously very, very motivated to continue the fight."
Residents, she added, are even more motivated in ensuring the county passes a moratorium on heavy industrial development at the upcoming Feb. 6 meeting.
"There is a dire, dire need to modernize the heavy industrial district in Volusia County, and this was really just the trigger point for that," Krafft said. "It's not about Belvedere. It's about the way that the current heavy industrial zoning is in place that does not take into account the growth that happened over the years and all of the various residential neighborhoods nearby."
On Jan. 10, Mayor Bill Partington sent a letter of support for the moratorium to the Volusia County Council.
"The push for a moratorium is not about halting one project but about taking a necessary pause to reassess and modernize the zoning and development plans," Partington wrote. "This reevaluation is crucial to ensure that our growth aligns with the current and future needs of the county and Ormond Beach."
In the letter, Partington recognized Krafft and other residents who have been advocating both against the fuel farm and the moratorium for heavy industrial developments.
"It's crucial that their concerns are not only heard but acted upon," Partington wrote. "This development moratorium represents a tangible response to these community voices, demonstrating that local governance is attentive and responsive to the needs and aspirations of its citizens."
Krafft said that when she and others found out about the fuel terminal in August 2023, she didn't think it would become as large of an issue as it is today.
"I did not think it was going to become such a complex fight and that we were going to have to fight different wars on different fronts, some with our very own county elected officials, some with our state representatives ... and then of course, the third battle is with Belvedere," Krafft said.
