What may be a sort of miniature downtown in Deltona’s northwest quadrant may bring many of the urban amenities that the city’s people and leaders have sought for years.

The Deltona City Commission Nov. 18 tabled action on a request to rezone almost 36.5 vacant acres along the east side of North Normandy Boulevard, almost adjacent to the newer of the Amazon fulfillment centers. The future of the property, according to its promoter and developer-in-waiting, is a combination of light-industrial work spaces, warehouses, retail stores, offices and apartments. 

“I’ve been working on this for five years,” Scott Banta, of Longwood, Florida-based Telesis Services LLC, told the commission. “It’s been a really great challenge.”

Banta said he has acquired lots to piece together to create a new development known as Synergy.

Banta is asking the City Commission to rezone his tract from single-family residential (R1-AA) to Mixed Use Planned Unit Development (MPUD). Synergy, he said, will provide places not only for Deltonans to shop, but also to work.

“While the city has 100,000 residents, many of them travel outside the area for employment,” he noted. 

Banta added many people in Deltona have told of lacking opportunities to work closer to home, rather than “seeing our residents and our tax dollars go across the bridge.” The bridge refers to the Interstate 4 bridge over the St. Johns River on the way to work in the Greater Orlando area.

“This will generate a tremendous amount of tax value,” Banta added. “There’s a tremendous amount of new retail that’s going to come to the west side.”

“This rezoning is consistent with the comprehensive plan,” Deltona Development Services Director Jessica Entwistle said.

The comprehensive plan is the city’s state-mandated growth-management plan that sets forth the territorial expansion of Deltona and prescribes how the properties within the city limits are to be used. The growth plans may be changed, subject to standards set by the Florida Legislature. 

The Synergy parcel is situated at a future crossroads that promises to link Deltona more closely with neighboring cities. The extension of East Rhode Island Avenue eastward from Orange City, with a planned future overpass spanning I-4, will provide another thoroughfare for intercity travel. There is another “location/location/location” feature to come with the expansion of I-4 from the current six lanes to 10.

“The I-4 toll lanes are supposed to end at this property,” Banta said.

The long-range vision for a wider superhighway — a continuation of the “I-4 Ultimate” in and through the Orlando metroplex — is known as “Beyond the Ultimate,” and it extends from State Road 434 in Longwood as far north as State Road 472. The “Beyond the Ultimate” project has been on the drawing board for several years, but federal funding for it has not been forthcoming from Congress.

In any case, the likelihood of a future busy intersection at North Normandy Boulevard and Rhode Island Avenue prompted some concerns about the plan to build a gas station/convenience store on the southeast corner of the intersection.

“I just have a concern about the way it’s proposed,” Commissioner Emma Santiago said. “I just wouldn’t want to see a warehouse there or a gas station. The residents have been asking for commercial.”

The Synergy site and surrounding lands are within Deltona’s District 2, which she was elected to represent.

Traffic counts of vehicles using North Normandy Boulevard show the following:

The segment of North Normandy Boulevard between the planned East Rhode Island Avenue and Elkcam Boulevard logs an average of 2,630 vehicles per day. The portion of North Normandy Boulevard between East Rhode Island and Graves avenues draws approximately 3,580 vehicles each day.

“I’m not crazy about all the traffic coming onto North Normandy Boulevard,” Commissioner Maritza Avila-Vazquez said.

To alleviate some of the concerns, Banta said the ingress/egress for the convenience store will be limited to head off congestion and collisions.

“The gas station entrance is right-in/right-out only,” he noted.

Mayor Santiago Avila wanted more information about Synergy, and he moved to table the matter. Avila-Vazquez seconded.

In the public hearing on the rezoning ordinance, Ed Talton voiced his opposition.

“This land is currently zoned for single-family residential. Why would you change from single-family residential to multifamily residential?” he asked. “We get more traffic congestion, crowded schools.”

“You’ve got a motion on the floor. This is a motion for more time,” Mark Watts, attorney for Telesis, said.

The City Commission voted 7-0 to postpone action on the rezoning request.