- April 19, 2024
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The second phase of Shoppes on Granada continues to move forward as the Ormond Beach Planning Board unanimously approved a new PDQ fast-food restaurant with a drive-thru to be constructed on the parcel closest to Mirror Lake Drive.
The item was brought before the board on Thursday, May 10, due to the parcel's current zoning. A fast-food restaurant with a drive-thru is allowed, but the developer, Roger Strcula, President of Upham, Inc., needs a special exemption due to the parcel's suburban boulevard, or B-10, zoning. The PDQ is one of five proposed projects for the plaza's second phase — an Aldi food market, retail/bank space, office/retail and a larger space for the Salzburg Veterinary Office is also in the works.
Some residents were against the project, saying that there were better uses for that space. Robert Renforth said he was against the drive-thru part of a restaurant and that approving this would be "unacceptable." He said the board should discuss other possible projects.
“There are a lot of other options for that property and this does not enhance our life," Renforth said.
John Vinall, whose residence at 7 Mirror Lake Drive will be demolished for phase two of Shoppes on Granada, expressed his approval of the project. He said he's lived in that house for 34 years, and no longer has horses, chickens or children to take care of as he did in the past. He said he's making money off the project and that it's time for him to move on.
“I’m all for it," Vinall said.
A few of the planning board members said they shared some of the same concerns regarding traffic like the citizens. However, planning board member G.G. Galloway said the board should consider what else could have been developed on the project: a multi-family apartment building, funeral home and an assisted living facility are possibilities with the current zoning.
“Yes, there are things that maybe some of us would like to have better, but this is good, and sometimes is what a community or a developer’s going to be build," Galloway said.
The board also listened to Ormond Beach resident Sheila Defreitas, whose home on Mirror Lake Drive has experienced major flooding since the construction of the nearby Seacoast National Bank and the first phase of Shoppes on Granada. Galloway asked that Strcula "be a good neighbor" and work with Defreitas to resolve the issue.
“We can say ‘I don’t want a drive-thru’ or ‘I do,’ but when your house is flooded, it doesn’t matter if it’s a drive-thru or not," Galloway said. "Your house is flooded.”
The PDQ special exemption request will reach the City Commission for final approval on June 26. The planning board also unanimously approved phases two to five of the Pineland residential development.
