City Attorney censors Planning Director; did commissioners know?
The email from Ormond Beach Planning Director is as damning as it is shocking.
While Ormond City Commissioners and the City Attorney grandstanded for the public on how a former golf course was not eligible for a zoning designation called R-2, the planning director was raising his hand with a different view.
“Good morning, Randy,” wrote Planning Director Steven Spraker to City Attorney Randy Hayes on Dec. 20, 2023. “We are having issues with the analysis of why the R-2 zoning is not appropriate zoning for the application.”
Spraker then listed three reasons why R-2 was the appropriate designation:
- It was zoned that way for more than 40 years.
- The surrounding subdivisions are all zoned R-2.
- The R-2 designation is consistent with the type of land use that had been proposed to the city commission.
City Attorney Hayes was having nothing of Planning Director Spraker’s views.
Red Tape Florida obtained a “red-lined” draft of the portion of the planning board report written by Spraker in which the Hayes struck the planning director’s views and didn’t bring them up verbally to commissioners or the public during the April 16, 2024, meeting in which the matter was discussed.
Now, Ormond Beach residents are facing a massive lawsuit, lost opportunities for affordable housing and the jobs that would be created from a new development.
First, a recap of the story: The long-defunct Tomoka Oaks Golf Course in Ormond Beach was acquired by developers aiming to revitalize the area with an upscale residential community.
The proposed development seeks to transform the neglected land into a vibrant neighborhood, addressing the increasing demand for quality housing in Ormond Beach. The developers emphasize that this project will not only enhance the aesthetic appeal of the area but also contribute to the local economy by attracting new residents and creating job opportunities during the construction phase.
But the entire commission has kowtowed to a small group of residents who oppose the plans, saying it will hurt their quality of life.
The city has demanded the developer dramatically reduce the number of homes built on the property – without giving a specific number – and has refused to allow R-2 zoning even though that’s what existed before and after the golf course and that’s how the surrounding homes are zoned.
The city has gone even further, pressuring the developer – Tomoka Reserve – to build homes that were $1 million or even more in a transparent attempt to placate residents’ concerns that “riff raff” will invade their neighborhood.
No movement from the city
While Tomoka Reserve has voluntarily increased green space, increased buffering, decreased density and made other concessions, the city hasn’t budged.
“It’s understandable that city commissioners want to be responsive to the neighbors of this project,” said Patrick Slevin, a spokesman for Tomoka Reserve. “But why should the land in question be zoned any differently than the land the protesting homeowners live on? Why is R-2 good enough for the current homeowners, but not potentially NEW homeowners?
Also, what about taxpayers? What about property rights? What about affordable housing? What about jobs?”
The price of NIMBY: Jobs
When it comes to jobs, local tradespeople pay a price for NIMBY obstructionism.
Fortunately, we don’t have to guess at the negative impact on jobs and the economy, the University of Colorado created an interactive model to quantify it.
The numbers are staggering:
The Tomoka Reserve project would create an average of 365 jobs a year for the five years of the project, pumping over $200 million into the economy.
Those jobs would mean a lot to local tradespeople like Cuba Hanks, who runs Abaco Windows, in Ormond Beach. New homes mean he can hire up local workers and pay them a fair wage. Even if he only got a third of the window business, Hanks says it would be huge.
“This would absolutely benefit my company and all of the trades,” Hanks said. “It would give security to me and my company and my employees.
‘There is a very good chance I’d need to hire more people.”
Hanks bristles at the idea that the project wouldn’t have a positive economic impact.
“If somebody tells you that it won’t help Ormond Beach, they are bald-faced lying,” he said. “I don’t care who you are, nearly 300 houses is life-altering for a business.”
Property rights for me, not thee
Meanwhile, not only can the property owner not create new homes and new jobs, but the nearby homeowners – who are fighting to deny Tomoka Reserve its property rights – are flagrantly infringing on those very rights.
Trucks, trampolines and more are residing on Tomoka Reserve property.
So far, the city has not responded to Tomoka’s requests for action.
Which means all that is left is expensive litigation and the promise of less pressure on the housing market. And more jobs are missed.