- April 25, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Even though the Beachside Redevelopment Committee's purpose is to improve the beachside from Ormond Beach to Daytona Beach Shores, their first focus will be what they consider to be the worst-afflicted area — Daytona Beach itself.
"We've got one of the most blighted beachside communities in the entire country," committee member Frank Molnar said. "We're just going to put some lipstick and think it's going to change all of our problems? It isn't going to happen."
Four Beachside Redevelopment Committee members met in DeLand on Monday, Dec. 4, to discuss the final staff recommendations for the committee which will be presented in the group's official meeting on Monday, Dec. 18. Molnar, along with Harry Jennings, Dave LaMotte and Paul Zimmerman attended the subcommittee meeting, and Chair Tony Grippa called in to listen.
The group went over the 10 different staff recommendations, which included neighborhood stabilization in Daytona Beach, creating tax incentives for people to move to the Main Street area and buckling down on public safety.
"I think we need to make the case, somewhere in the document, that Daytona is the focal point for our entire region, OK?" Daytona Beach Shores Mayor Jennings said. "And that's why we have to build Daytona. All of us will benefit by that."
LaMotte said that until Daytona Beach and Volusia County realizes that people don't have a reason to live in Main Street, partly because of the itinerant vendors that come a few times a year, nothing will change. The subcommittee discussed that in order for things to change, the city has to crack down on code enforcement and perhaps start thinking about phasing out itinerant vendors entirely.
"What would incentivize you all to want to move there right now?" said LaMotte, who owns Salty Dog Surf Shop in Daytona Beach. "Absolutely nothing."
