- November 23, 2024
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Ormond Beach City Commissioner Lori Tolland said she wants the city to be recognized as a statewide leader in native plant installations in municipal spaces.
To do that, she proposed that the city amend its landscape ordinance to favor Florida native plants at the commission’s meeting on Tuesday, June 4.
The city’s land development code currently requires that 50% of replacement trees be native in all zoning districts, and, that at least 50% of landscape areas be composed of xeric — or drought-tolerant — plants. Tolland proposed that the standards be increased to mandate that 75% of all required landscape materials, including shade trees, be native, and not xeric.
“I have high hopes that you will agree with me that this is a critical conversation,” Tolland said. “It’s my hope that in Ormond Beach, Florida native plants are the preferred landscaping choice in all applications.”
Seven residents spoke in favor of native plants at the meeting, including Halifax River Audubon member Melissa Lammers.
Lammers said the night’s presentation was kickstarting an important discussion about land development codes pertaining to landscaping, and how native plants can help the bird population, which has been impacted nationwide due to habitat loss.
“Most local ordinances focus on water conservation,” she said. “... Water conservation and Florida-friendly landscaping are good, but they’re not good enough. They won’t lead us to a future where people and wildlife thrive.”
Tolland suggested that the city could look to Cassen Park — for which a redesign is in the works — as a “new trophy for native plants” in the city.
In 2022, the Garden Club of the Halifax Country (of which Tolland is a member), in partnership with the city, turned Vadner Park into the city’s first all-native plant park, an effort that began in 2019.
Pursuing an amendment to the city’s landscape ordinance to favor native plants is “the right thing,” said City Commissioner Susan Persis.
“I applaud you (Tolland) for you championing this,” Persis said.
A proposed ordinance update would require it to be reviewed by the Planning Board before coming back to the commission for approval.
A group of Ormond Beach residents attended the City Commission meeting on Tuesday, June 4, with a mission in mind: Ask the city to pursue seeking a new golf course operator for the former River Bend golf course property.
The residents’ interest comes after City Commissioner Travis Sargent said at a May 21 meeting that he believed the city should consider issuing a request for proposals for a new operator, to gauge interest in the community.
Riverbend closed in 2020 when its last operator filed for bankruptcy.
“It makes no sense that it wasn’t put out for bid at that time,” resident Barb Moore said. “So it appears, possibly, the golf course was closed only to extend the (airport) runway through three holes in the back nine.”
The city inquired about reinstating golf course in the property in January 2021; at the time, the FAA responded that since the city was considering a runway extension to include lands used by the course, it seemed “counter intuitive” to reassign the lease.
Surviving family members of eligible Ormond Beach Police officers will now receive lifetime pension benefits.
The City Commission unanimously approved on Tuesday, June 4, a modification to the Police Pension Ordinance that will provide a lifetime benefit for the surviving beneficiary of OBPD employees who are eligible for retirement at the time of their death. Prior to the modification, the pension plan only provided a 10-year benefit to the surviving beneficiary.
The pension plans for both general city employees and firefighters already provided lifetime benefits.
The City Commission also approved a $211,570 work authorization to Zev Cohen and Associates for the site design of a 15-acre undeveloped parcel within the Airport Business Park.
The parcel, to be known as Crosswind Park, will provide “a critical economic development opportunity for the city to create pad ready sites for development by companies wishing to relocate or expand in Ormond Beach,” according to the consent agenda item summary. Additionally, the city received $750,000 from the state for the construction phase of the project, slated to begin sometime in fiscal year 2025-2026.
The city also received $105,785 from the Florida Department of Transportation to aid with the site design project cost.
