It’s official now: The company that wishes to develop a fuel depot next to Ormond Beach is suing Volusia County for impeding its project.

Belvedere Terminals has filed a lawsuit in Volusia County Circuit Court, calling upon the court to compel the county government “to carry out its ministerial duties in processing and approving Plaintiff’s site plan application” under the existing zoning and development regulations.

“We’ve not yet been officially served,” county spokesman Clayton Jackson told The Beacon.

The lengthy complaint has 269 points, among which are allegations of prejudice against the project on the part of county leaders. The suit uses the phrase “baseless animus” to describe the remarks of some officials — even before the St. Petersburg company submitted an application to develop the fuel farm. 

The suit, incidentally, is dated Jan. 2, 2024, even though the council did not meet and vote on the moratorium ordinance until Jan. 4.

Point 41 in the court document references the County Council’s Aug. 15, 2023, meeting: “Even though Belvedere had no pending application for the Project during this August meeting, the County Council immediately expressed great animus towards the Project when Council Chairman [Jeff] Brower announced: ‘if we have the opportunity to have any input on it, that we will stop it in its tracks.’” [Emphasis in the original document]

Point 105 of the suit mentions County Council Member Troy Kent’s intention “to fight this with every tooth in our head.”  [Emphasis in original document]

Happening fast

The move comes days after the County Council tentatively adopted an ordinance setting a nine-month moratorium on consideration of new applications for development on property zoned I-2, meaning land set aside for heavy-industrial activities in the unincorporated areas. Actually, the moratorium, or pause on development in I-2 zones, has been in effect since Nov. 21, but the ordinance was required to bind the halt on I-2 projects. The council’s final public hearing and vote on the ordinance is set for Tuesday, Feb. 6.

If finalized, the moratorium would expire Aug. 20, unless the County Council opts to extend the freeze for another three months, thus making the moratorium in place for a full year. 

The council and the county administration had recommended the moratorium on heavy-industrial projects to give the county’s professional planners time to review the current regulations on activities and development in industrial zones and also for land that may have industrial potential in the future. New standards and regulations for such lands may emerge from the study period.  

The property in question is at 874 Hull Road, approximately 62 acres beside the Florida East Coast Railroad. There are only five parcels now zoned by the county.

After two hours of hearing from Ormond Beach residents and lawyers interested in the proposal by Belvedere Terminals to build a fuel-storage depot on the 62 acres along the Florida East Coast Railroad, the council voted 5-2 for the moratorium, or freeze, on applications for development on acreage zoned I-2.

For a time, it seemed the measure affirming the moratorium on processing applications for development in the county’s I-2 zones may be stalled or voted down. That prompted a strong response from some in the audience.

The County Council, besieged by pleas from Ormond Beach residents to forbid the project, imposed the moratorium to give the county’s planning and legal staff time to determine if new standards are needed for the businesses and activities on unincorporated land zoned I-2. For a time, the fate of the ordinance was in doubt, after a lawyer representing Belvedere Terminals, the prospective developer of the fuel depot, warned the proceedings may be illegal.

“The quasi-judicial rule should be applied here,” Nick Dancaescu, an attorney with GrayRobinson, told the council, arguing the pause on development is “improper.”

“The use Belvedere is proposing is allowed,” Dancaescu added.

Dancaescu’s name appears at the end of the complaint, below Point 267 of the document.

“The County has made it clear it opposes the Project and is attempting ‘at all costs’ to prevent Plaintiff from developing its property in direct contradiction to the existing I-2 Zoning Ordinance,” the suit reads. 

Assistant County Attorney Paolo Soria countered that the council is fulfilling its duty by enacting a stay on development.

“Moratoriums are generally legislative in nature,” Soria said.

Nevertheless, the distinction in the types of legal proceedings got the attention of Council Member Don Dempsey, himself a lawyer.

“This is the first I’m hearing about this,” Dempsey told his colleagues. “I’m going to vote no.”

The county actually has only five parcels zoned I-2 within its jurisdiction, and the study of the possible revisions of proposed uses of industrial properties may be applied to other land, as well, that may be eyed for future industrial use. 

The land in question is located along the Florida East Coast Railroad in an unincorporated enclave mostly surrounded by Ormond Beach. Over the past several years, as growth has accelerated, Ormond Beach annexed properties that are now urban neighborhoods and commercial areas. 

The settlers on the lands now urbanized have objected to plans by Belvedere to build storage capacity for as much as 13 million gallons of gasoline, diesel and ethanol. The proposed site of the fuel farm is also near Ormond Beach Municipal Airport, and that stoked “what if” fears of a plane crash in or near combustibles.

“If that ever exploded, that gives me fear beyond words,” one resident said during the public hearing.

To add to the mix of emotions in the midst of the debate, Council Member Danny Robins displayed on an overhead video screen a social-media post by County Chair Jeff Brower defending the moratorium and highlighting the need for public safety. Robins called the debate “tainted.”

“I don’t know how we can vote on a moratorium,” he said to his peers and the audience. “To put us at this amount of risk is an issue.”

Robins added he would oppose the ordinance instituting the moratorium.

When the vote was taken, Robins and Council Member Jake Johansson dissented. The majority included Brower and Council Members Dempsey, Matt Reinhart, David Santiago and Troy Kent.

The council set the second reading of the ordinance and another public hearing on the measure for its Feb. 6 meeting.