- April 24, 2024
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The Beachside Redevelopment Committee continued it's review of final recommendations to present to the County Council at a later date, listing the needs for State Road A1A and discussing possible uses for existing surface parking lots around the Ocean Center at it's two and half-hour meeting on Feb. 19.
The committee members agreed that crosswalks and medians were the top priority for the majority of A1A from Granada Boulevard to Dunlawton Avenue, and that landscaping and architectural style should imitate the stretch in Daytona Beach Shores. Once they identified the needs, the discussion circled back to how feasible the needs are. Committee member Charles Lichtigman said the next step would be to see which needs could they find money to complete.
“We have to have a priority based on reality," Committee Chair Tony Grippa said. "We can’t have a priority based on a wish list.”
Daytona Beach resident Mike Dennis said he was disappointed with the committee and the direction it was headed. He referenced what was spoken at the last meeting, where the suggestion to have unified bridge lighting across the beachside was brought up.
“Color-coordinated bridge lights are not going to save the beachside," Dennis said. "I’m sorry, but that’s not going to work.”
A few years ago, Dennis said he and other people in his neighborhood cleaned up East International Speedway Boulevard and that they probably did more to clean up the beachside than the entire room, with the exception of Daytona Beach City Commissioner Aaron Delgado.
The committee spent over a half-hour talking about the surface parking lots surrounding the Ocean Center. Assuming a portion of it would be left in case the center underwent future expansion, the group focused in on a parcel of land to the east of the Peabody Auditorium which is currently being used as valet parking for the Hilton.
Many committee members agreed there was a better way to utilize that space. The most popular suggestion was to build a mix-used two-story parking garage with retail and restaurants below. Member Paul Zimmerman brought up the point about the parking garage interfering with beach access, which he said he knows the committee isn't allowed to talk about per county instruction.
“We’ve got the golden goose," Zimmerman said. "We’ve always had the golden goose. We just make it difficult for people to get to [it.]”
If there was beach access, then a parking garage could be an option, Zimmerman said. Grippa added that the recommendation could be that the city and county develop the property.
"I just don't think it could sit there as separate governmental entity land," Grippa said. "I think it all has to work together."
There was also some confusion when Lichtigman said it could take 20 years, with Grippa saying it can't take 20 years to develop one plot of land, and some audience members shaking their heads. After clarification, Lichtigman said he meant the entire beachside redevelopment could happen gradually over the course of the next two decades.
"This is not a next-week or next-month," Lichtigman said. "A next-week or next-month or next-year is going to be setting up the first step."
The next Beachside Redevelopment Committee meeting is scheduled for March 22.
