Volusia County Council to Vote on Adopting Formal Moratorium Related to Ormond Beach Fuel Terminal

An unprecedented level of community opposition has led the County to impose a “pending moratorium” to pause site plan applications in heavy industrial areas.

DELAND, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, February 2, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Ormond Beach, a beautiful small town in Central Florida, is trying to stop a massive fuel terminal from being built in a residential area. Belvedere’s proposed fuel terminal would consist of 3 storage tanks, 40 feet tall, that would store more than 13 million gallons of liquid petroleum products and additives, and through its rail operations would feed a constant stream of tanker trucks onto our roadways. Belvedere Terminals (owned by Grupo Mexico, a foreign limited liability corporation) is using an incompatibly zoned parcel at 874 Hull Rd. in Ormond Beach to pursue a project that is highly unpopular among residents, elected officials, fire and police departments, and schools in the area.

Over 40,000 people have signed the petition opposing the location of the proposed fuel terminal at 874 Hull Rd., Ormond Beach, due to its close proximity to several major residential neighborhoods, a highly utilized sports complex, a municipal airport that trains student pilots, multiple businesses along U.S. 1, and inadequate infrastructure to handle the proposed demands. Residents are gravely concerned about the imminent dangers that this out of place fuel terminal would expose them to, including increased chemical emissions, loss of quality of life through increased train and truck traffic, and loss in property values.

Belvedere Terminals has not engaged with the community prior to pursuing this project, and Volusia County now finds itself sued by this company for trying to place a moratorium on heavy industrial development. There are over 5000 people who live within a 2-mile radius of this proposed location. Volusia County did not update the zoning of 874 Hull Rd., Ormond Beach since 2006 when it was zoned Heavy Industrial. It is now a highly populated area. Because of this, nearby residents now face the prospect of a large fuel terminal project being build near their homes. Belvedere’s proposed fuel terminal in Ormond Beach is part of a larger $700M project that would install similar terminals throughout the state. Volusia County has presented Belvedere Terminals with multiple alternate sites away from residential areas to build the proposed fuel terminal, but they refused. Please see the attached map for a visual of the proposed location in Ormond Beach. Multiple calls/emails to Governor DeSantis have gone unanswered. Furthermore, in Tallahassee, Senator Collins has introduced bills in the Senate (SB 1624, SB 1628) attempting to circumvent a local government’s ability to put restrictions on zoning in the fuel storage and distribution sector. Certain provisions in these bills appear to be a direct response to local opposition to the proposed fuel terminal project in Ormond Beach.

The County has used the “pending ordinance doctrine” to stall the development of the fuel terminal in Ormond Beach. If the formal moratorium passes, it will be in effect until August 21, 2024, giving the County time to assess and modernize current heavy industrial zoning in Volusia County to ensure compatibility with the current state of local communities. We expect a record-breaking attendance at the final moratorium hearing on February 6th in DeLand — the result of which will be very consequential in our efforts to stop the fuel terminal.

Meeting Date and Time: February 6th 2024, 9:00 AM

Location: Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 West Indiana Avenue, DeLand

Elena Krafft
Protect Ormond Beach
+1 909-747-4860
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