- April 1, 2025
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Belvedere Terminals is relocating its proposed fuel farm to Ormond Beach.
For residents, many of whom had been opposing the project since they became aware of it in August 2023, the news brings a sigh of relief.
"This one-and-a-half year fight that we had, it truly was worth it," Ormond Beach resident Elena Krafft said. "But, it's a testament of just the perseverance of our community. We never gave up. It took dozens and dozens of meetings with our county and city officials, and hundreds, if not thousands of letters, petitions, everything in between, just to make this happen."
Krafft and other citizens, specifically those residing in the Ormond Lakes and Bear Creek neighborhoods, vehemently voiced their opposition to the project at both Ormond Beach City Commission and Volusia County Council meetings. Originally slated to be constructed at 874 Hull Road, in an incorporated area of Volusia County next to Ormond Beach city limits, Belvedere Terminals' fuel farm proposal faced significant hurdles since 2023: The city of Ormond Beach refused to provide utilities or allow for annexation, county officials discussed a moratorium (which ultimately failed to pass) for properties with a heavy industrial zoning district — delaying the processing of their submitted conceptual site plan — and local beverage distributor S.R. Perrott, whose headquarters abut the 874 Hull Road property, legally challenged a permit issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to Belvedere Terminal.
A lawsuit was also filed against Volusia County in early 2024, which was voluntarily dismissed by Belvedere Terminals on Feb. 29, 2024.
In June 2024, the governor's signed budget included a $10 million allocation to relocate the fuel farm to a more appropriate site in Volusia, Brevard or Flagler County.
Months of silence ensued.
Then on March 27, the company announced it would construct its $75 million fuel storage facility on a property at Peavy Grade, near the railroad tracks west of U.S. 1, in northern Palm Coast.
“This land is already zoned industrial in Flagler County,” Acting Palm Coast City Manager Lauren Johnston said in a press release. “We’ve heard from our community that economic vitality is a top priority, as it will help us diversify our tax base. This project will help us start to balance our tax base more evenly and minimize the burden on residential homeowners.”
Florida Sen. Tom Leek pushed for state funds to help relocate the fuel farm.
"They were pretty fixated on the Ormond Beach site," Leek said. "So if you wanted to get them to look elsewhere, you had to break that fixation on the Ormond Beach site. The only way to do that was to incentivize them to look elsewhere, which is what I did through the budget process."
Once they had the incentive, Belvedere Terminals started to look for another site, Leek said.
"And they found one," he said. "They found one where they both wanted to be and where people wanted to have them."
That was a problem in Ormond Beach. People didn't want the fuel terminal, and Leek said the community banded together and made their voices heard. And resident opposed the project because of its proximity to neighborhoods and the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
In a statement, the City of Ormond Beach thanked Leek for his leadership in relocating the project, as well as former mayor Bill Partington, who was elected to the Florida House in November.
"Thanks to their actions, the project is now moving forward in a location that better aligns with community needs," the city stated. "We are incredibly grateful for their leadership, responsiveness, and tireless work to protect the unique character and quality of life that make our region so special. Their advocacy is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when elected officials work hand-in-hand with the people they serve."
In a Facebook post, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower acknowledged the project's relocation.
"Congratulations to the people of Volusia County led by Ormond Beach and especially Bear Creek and Ormond Lakes who brought the facts and dangers to the Volusia County Council," he wrote. "I trust the representatives of Palm Coast will do their due diligence."
In a meeting with reporters on Thursday, Belvedere’s chief financial officer Timothy Schwarz said that in Flagler County, Belvedere "found this a much more welcoming climate because of the need for industrial development.”
He also characterized the Ormond Beach opposition as "misinformation."
The statement upset Krafft, which called it "disappointing."
"It's just a disservice to the thousands of community members that took so much time to do their research, to understand the implications for our town, just to be called misinformation," she said. "This company spent no time in our community prior to announcing this project, and they really were clueless as to how many homes were nearby, the sports complex, the wetlands and all of the lacking infrastructure that we are going to be facing. So they didn't do their due diligence with this very inappropriate location, and then yet, they turn around and they call us misinformed."
She urged Palm Coast residents to assess the location and speak up if they have concerns.
"I think the right thing here is to recognize that the citizens made their voices heard," Leek said. "We had great support from the city of Ormond Beach in getting Belvedere to move elsewhere. Great support from the state, and all the staff members at the county did a wonderful job. So I would say, 'Congratulations, you made your voices heard, and now you can breathe a sigh of relief.'"
Flagler County estimates the fuel farm will generate almost $800,000 in local tax revenue per year. The City of Palm Coast and Flagler County wants that tax revenue — more so than the citizens of Ormond Beach and Volusia County, Leek said.
In a press release, Flagler County stated that the fuel farm will provide high-paying jobs, diversify the tax base and bring a "safer, lower cost and more reliable delivery of fuel to the region."
"This would be an economic development boon that would bring tax revenue into Flagler County — the bulk of which comes from homeowners with only about 5% coming from commercial and industrial properties," the press release states.
Belvedere Terminals are not the first to build fuel farms in the state (the company is currently looking at also constructing facilities in Jacksonville and Fort Pierce). The reason to have them is to have fuel readily available during storms.
"It takes part of that supply chain issue off the table so that things can move more efficiently and more rapidly," Leek said.
The next step for Ormond Beach residents? Krafft said they will go back to the county to advocate for a zoning change of the 874 Hull Road property.
"It's heavy industrial still, and their reasoning for not changing it was because there was an application on file," Krafft said. "Now that this has been taken out of the equation, I really hope the county is going to change it back to what it used to be, which is agricultural."
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