VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – For months, residents have been fighting Belvedere Terminals over the company’s efforts at building a fuel terminal in Ormond Beach.
Now, Volusia County officials are fighting it, too, and despite the company submitting applications and plans, the county is putting a temporary stop to it.
“We’ve made it very clear to everybody that this is very inappropriate,” resident Elena Kraft said.
Kraft is one of the residents who has been leading the charge against the project, which has been proposed for a site on Hull Road just off US-1.
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“We’re really getting tired of having to send this message to everyone that this is an inappropriate location,” she said.
On Monday, Belvedere for the first time submitted conceptual site plans to Volusia County showing six fuel tanks standing 40 feet tall. The company wants to use the site so it can also use the railway next to it to carry fuel throughout Florida.
“We submitted a site plan application to Volusia County for our original site, which adhered to the existing zoning in place for that site,” Belvedere said in a statement. “We also continue to be in communication with the county about possible alternative locations, although the alternatives considered to date are missing elements needed for this project.”
Residents said it’s too much of a risk to have near homes, a sports complex and businesses.
“We wish they would respect the community that they’re trying to come into,” Kraft said.
The county rejected the company’s plans the next day. To fight the project, county council members are imposing a moratorium.
“We directed the county attorney and the county manager to impose a nine-month moratorium on any heavy industrial,” said council chair Jeff Brower.
He said the moratorium would help the county rezone the land.
Brower said the company is still pushing to build on the site but is now also looking elsewhere in Central Florida.
“I do know it’s true that they’re looking in Flagler and they’re looking in Brevard. They’re looking all over Florida,” said Brower.
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