DeLand approves purchase for conservation area

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lake moore deland
PHOTO COURTESY CITY OF DELAND
NATURAL BEAUTY — The 128-acre parcel Volusia County and the City of DeLand are purchasing will be turned into a conservation area and passive park. The park will sport walking trails and access to Lake Moore.

UPDATE, Feb. 8: Volusia County Council OKs the deal

The Volusia County Council on Feb. 7 approved an expenditure of $3 million from the Volusia Forever fund for the City of DeLand’s purchase of property around Lake Moore. The purchase agreement was approved by a 5-2 vote of the County Council, with County Council Members Don Dempsey and Danny Robins voting against the measure, and Members Matt Reinhart, Troy Kent, David Santiago, Jake Johansson and County Chair Jeff Brower voting in favor of the project.

The City of DeLand will operate the property, while Volusia County will assist with the management.


Volusia Forever is helping bankroll the $4.3 million purchase

DeLand is one step closer to having a 128-acre conservation area after the City Commission approved a purchase agreement Jan. 17. DeLand will shell out $1.29 million, while Volusia County, through the Volusia Forever conservation program, will cover the remaining $3 million for the property currently owned by the Ford family.

The city plans to turn the large property into a passive park where people can enjoy the trails, Lake Moore and the “pristine and beautiful” parcel, as City Manager Michael Pleus described it. Situated along the Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway on the city’s southeast side, the property is near the Victoria Park series of neighborhoods. 

The wide parcel, with its upland pine and scrubby flatlands, will be left largely undisturbed.

“We’re not going to build any facilities on it or anything,” Pleus added.

The city commissioners were ecstatic about the project.

“It’s a nice change of pace to be hopefully approving a purchase of land to keep natural versus approving it to all be taken down and developed,” Mayor Chris Cloudman said. “I for one appreciate it, and I know a lot of the residents do as well.”

The purchase agreement for the Lake Moore property was unanimously approved by the City Commission. The next step is for Volusia County to approve its end of the bargain at the next Volusia County Council meeting, Feb. 7.

“Once closed, the county will transfer ownership to the City,” City Manager Pleus explained. He anticipates the city will own the property by the beginning of March.

6 COMMENTS

  1. I was wondering if any one knows about the status of Lake Gertie? I see how beautiful it is there and there is a huge bird population that settles into the trees. I keep hoping it is protected.

  2. Finally!!! As a lifelong resident of DeLand , it looks like we are finally heading in the right direction! Thank you Mayor Cloudman !

  3. The lens on the rose colored glasses I wear when looking at this deal are very scuffed up….

    The purchase of the 128-acre Moore Lake land parcel by Volusia County and the City of DeLand for $4.29 million is not the best deal for the citizens.

    Having this land in conservation is great, however, I feel the price tag was to much, the owners of the land could have been more generous considering their family has made fortunes off most of the developments that are around the property in question and through some very generous zoning changes that have been detrimental to the environment, and the value of the land in question was drastically increase when the City of DeLand annexed it in and changed the zoning to residential. County Council Member Danny Robins mentioned he would have had better feelings about the purchase of the property if the property east of the property in question was included that is around a second lake and I agree. Perhaps the owners of the other property, DEPROP, LLC led by Astrid de Parry, P.A. 107 East Church Street DeLand, FL 32724 will come forward and make a very fair and equitable offer to the County and City. I know Astrid is very community minded and environmentally conscious and what a legacy she could leave.

    As a community we could have so much more for so much less if we had better visionaries coupled with better long term planners and better governance. Sadly so much of the development in the area has already been approved and many opportunities have been lost. And we should never be using tax dollars to buy land for stormwater runoff for new developments and it is undeniable that is one of the reasons for this purchase. There were home/land owners from abutting properties in developments that said they didn’t flood because runoff went into the property in question.

    In our euphoria over the purchase of this property let us please learn from our mistakes and how greed, poor planning, and poor governance got us here. We also must start making the developers and landowners we are enriching to give back more.

    I want to thank all members of the County Council for their lengthy and thoughtful debate and I want to thank Deland’s Mayor Cluadman and City Manager Pleus, their hard work and efforts must be taken into account.

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