- February 21, 2025
A 20-acre property located on the southeast corner of Wilmette Avenue and North Center Street in Ormond Beach is being sold for $2 million. Should the city of Ormond Beach buy it for preservation?
City Commissioner Travis Sargent proposed the purchase at the commission meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18, citing the property's proximity to Thompson Creek and possibility to help mitigate flooding issues occurring in local neighborhoods.
"I think this is something that we really can look into and preserve a very special piece of land, I think, in the center of our city from being developed," Sargent said.
The property consists of about 10 acres of uplands, with 1,787 feet of combined frontage on Wilmette Avenue and North Center Street, according to the listing. It's currently zoned B-1 Professional/Office, which permits the construction of adult day care centers, assisted living facilities, offices, financial institutions, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies and veterinarian offices, with uses such as restaurants, retail and multifamily units identified as conditional uses.
Sargent added that the property is also typically very wet.
"We hear about the fill and build and everything," he said. "To build on this is going to be trouble."
The city doesn't have many undeveloped parcels like this left, he added. The property could also be turned into a recreational amenity for the community, he suggested.
Commissioners were open to the idea.
"I'd like to preserve that area," Commissioner Kristin Deaton said. "That would be a phenomenal option. If it truly is an option, I would like to look into that."
Commissioner Lori Tolland said she loved the idea, and that she had looked at other areas too in preparation for the commission's future workshop on stormwater.
"This would be the right time to identify properties that might work," Tolland said. "I'm not saying this isn't a great idea — this one specifically — but there might be other opportunities as well that we can use to protect flooding and stormwater and all."
City Planning Director Steven Spraker said staff solicited properties a few years ago for the Volusia Forever program, which was created in 2000 through a voter referendum for the purchase of environmentally-sensitive land. This resulted in the purchase of the 19-acre Penland and Pomerenke property located off Airport Road in Ormond Beach.
"A similar exercise could be done, trying to see which properties are interested," Spraker said.
