- April 24, 2024
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Steven Spraker has worked his way up the ranks at the city's planning department, from intern to Ormond Beach's new planning director.
Spraker, who was appointed after former Planning Director Ric Goss retired at the end of last year, began his career in the city's planning department nearly 15 years ago. He got into planning after receiving his bachelor's in economics from Florida State University and taking some urban and regional planning classes and enjoying them. After working as a restaurant manager for a while, he went back to school — this time to the University of Central Florida — and got a master's in public administration.
Spraker moved to the South Daytona and Port Orange area when he was 4 years old, and the beach, river and outdoor activities of this area convinced him to stay here and raise his three children with his wife.
“I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but all my life that I remember I’ve lived in this area,” Spraker said.
“You meet a lot of interesting people. You know, when someone comes in to open a business, you kind of get to learn what their ideas and what their hopes are, and you try to fit them into a category and move them forward.”
Steven Spraker, Ormond Beach planning director
As the city's new planning director, one of the biggest changes to his profession is that now Spraker has to make the decisions. Before, he said all he had to do was provide a recommendation. Now, he also has to make sure to give people timely and correct answers to their questions.
“You kind of get pulled in many different directions, so trying to provide that timely answer that they’re looking for, because they’re not really concerned with everyone else," Spraker said. "They want to deal with their problem.”
Some of the changes Spraker has recently dealt with include updating the city's land development code, which was last done in 2004. Now, 14 years later, he said they're finding some things are a bit outdated or not included.
One example is the code relating to possible medical marijuana dispensaries. As the code stands, they're able to be built wherever a pharmacy is permitted. That's something the planning board will be looking at in the future.
“Basically, that was something in 2004 wasn’t even thought of," Spraker said. "So, times change and you got to kind of keep tweaking that land development code to represent that.”
At the end of the day, people are the reason Spraker loves his job. He said the most exciting thing about working in the planning department is being able to help them.
“You meet a lot of interesting people," Spraker said. "You know, when someone comes in to open a business, you kind of get to learn what their ideas and what their hopes are, and you try to fit them into a category and move them forward.”
