’Twas days before Christmas, and all was not quiet as Ormond Beach’s people showed up in force once again to object to the development of a fuel farm close to where they live, work and play. Whether it was the protest or not, the Volusia County Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission unanimously recommended the approval of an ordinance that would make the potential fuel farm — and any other industrial development — untenable for nearly one year.

“This does not fit this community,” one speaker told the PLDRC Dec. 21. “We’ve got pollution right now. … We don’t need it.”

The PLDRC convened for its monthly meeting to listen to public comments on a pending ordinance to solidify a nine-month moratorium on consideration of requests to develop anything on unincorporated county property zoned Heavy Industrial (I-2). Such zoning applies to only five parcels, all of which are in a pocket, or enclave, of land along the Florida East Coast Railroad surrounded by Ormond Beach. Altogether, the five plots cover about 74 acres on Hull Road.

A St. Petersburg company, Belvedere Terminals, has submitted to county planners an application to build a fuel-storage complex on about 62 acres at 874 Hull Road. Belvedere is planning to build several such facilities around Florida, according to information provided by the company. 

But fears of fires or explosions loomed large for those opposing the creation of the fuel depot in a closely packed residential area, along with concerns about groundwater contamination and chemical compounds that may cause cancer or other diseases. Some spoke of a disaster as all but certain or near-inevitable.

The Ormond Beach site would receive by rail gasoline, diesel and ethanol, place the fuels in huge tanks and then load the fuels into tank trailers to be sent to retailers. The location in question would have as much as 13 million gallons of the combustibles on hand at any one time, Belvedere has said. That is too much and too close for critics of the company.

“If you remove Heavy Industrial zoning from Volusia County, you will be protecting families and the environment,” Patricia Franzen said. “The moratorium is necessary for staff to assess the Heavy Industrial zones of Volusia County.”

Belvedere’s proposal has been front and center in conversations and local-news coverage since midsummer, and Ormond Beach-area residents have been steadfast in their calls to halt the project before it begins. 

“A moratorium is a practice used by local governments to take a ‘pause’ to evaluate and update regulations,” a county planning memo reads. “The moratorium is a tool available to local governments to delay new development projects that may not be consistent with proposed policy changes identified by local elected officials.”

Most of the project’s opponents support the moratorium.

The overwhelming majority of the public comments were negative toward Belvedere and its planned fuel-storage and distribution complex. The only positive statement about the company and its intentions came from Billy Dove, an attorney with GrayRobinson, the law firm representing Belvedere. Dove described his client’s proposal as “compliant with existing county standards.”

“The county’s I-2 zoning has been in place for 18 years,” he said. “These are the rules the county put in place.”

The PLDRC needed little persuasion to support the ordinance for the moratorium.

County Chair Jeff Brower, who was in attendance, echoed the calls for a moratorium.

“These citizens have done all their homework,” Brower said, referring to the audience. “You have heard from them what our county charter requires the County Council to do, what the purpose of our government is, and that’s to keep the people safe. Part of the process you are to consider is, is this consistent? The whole reason we have the comprehensive plan is to protect the people. We change zoning all the time in Volusia County. … Things have changed in this area. It’s now a neighborhood, a residential neighborhood. I’m asking you to find this moratorium consistent with the very purpose of the land use management and plan and the very purpose of government; for us to carefully consider, is this still in the best interest of the residents of Volusia County with this zoning?” 

“Please find the moratorium consistent so that we can stay with the state-required process of carefully considering this every step of the way, so that we can protect — the County Council can protect the rights of every property owner, not just one, and provide for their safety and protection,” he concluded.

Brower received a hearty applause for his endorsement of the moratorium.

PLDRC Vice Chair Frank Costa, however, favored a shorter period for review and study, possibly resulting in changes in the county’s industrial zoning. 

“I have an issue with the nine months,” he told fellow county planners and the audience. 

County Growth and Resource Management Director Clay Ervin said the full nine months may indeed be necessary for possible revisions of the county’s zoning for industrial properties.

“We understand the importance of this,” he added. 

“We would have to have this done by the first [County Council] meeting in August,” Ervin also said.

The nine-month moratorium, as now crafted, will expire Aug. 21. It actually went into effect Nov. 21, after a crowd from Ormond Beach packed a meeting of the County Council and demanded action to stop the fuel farm. The council decided that evening to take a timeout and tasked its legal and planning staff to begin working on possible changes in industrial zoning. The PLDRC ultimately voted unanimously, 7-0, to recommend the County Council adopt the ordinance affirming the moratorium.

The County Council is expected to act on the ordinance at its Jan. 16, 2024, meeting.

The ordinance does take into account a possible need for more time beyond Aug. 21, 2024.

“There is an option to extend that deadline for a period of three (3) additional months if additional analysis is needed to facilitate the amendments,” a PLDRC memorandum notes.

If the council uses the three-month option, that would make the moratorium’s expiration date Nov. 21, 2024.

“I’m in no rush to do this, because we’re talking about lives,” Planning Commissioner Jeff Bender said.

For a complete schedule of Volusia County Council meetings, or to watch meetings online, visit the county’s website, HERE.