- April 18, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Tony Grippa can’t think of a single place he could take his family for dinner on Main Street in Daytona Beach.
Besides the bustling activity in the area twice a year for Bike Week, he said Main Street sees little to no activity the rest of the year. Grippa, an Ormond Beach resident and a former Leon County commissioner, is working with a board to change that. In an effort to make the area between Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach Shores more attractive, the Volusia County Council created the Beachside Redevelopment Committee in late June.
Grippa was appointed chair.
We recently spoke with him in regards to how this new committee and its actions would affect Ormond Beach and its surrounding areas.
Will Ormond Beach see a change?
“Absolutely—because of the proximity to Ormond Beach,” Grippa said.
Grippa mentioned how former mayor Ed Kelly’s leadership along with the Ormond Beach city commissioners and Joyce Shanahan helped to increases business both before and after the Granada bridge, adding restaurants and other small businesses.
“So this area has already got some terrific projects underway and I think they’ll continue but it’ll only benefit from the increased tax base and the private investment in Daytona Beach,” Grippa said.
Also, he said issues from Daytona Beach are starting to trickle into Ormond.
“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen also in Ormond Beach on the beachside is some of the transient population from Daytona Beach unfortunately migrating this way. I think between the homeless shelter and some of the things we can do in Daytona Beach, we’ll hopefully help that situation.”
“In my opinion, we need a strategy to have Main Street in that area be a destination for 365 days a year.”
Tony Grippa, Beachside Redevelopment Committee Chair.
Why should people care about the committee in Ormond Beach?
“Well I live in Ormond Beach and I think the problems are gonna head this way and head south—number one,” Grippa said. “Number two is Ormond Beach has done an excellent job but as Daytona grows in the area, I think Ormond Beach will be well served with more restaurants on the beachside...Ormond Beach will benefit because then its tax base will increase. Daytona Beach—beachside, the area we’re talking about, is actually the poorest part of the county. If that increases, the county’s tax base increases and that will be less burden on the tax payers in Ormond.”
You mentioned earlier that you want somewhere to take your family for dinner on Main Street. Do you think there are many people in Ormond that feel the same way?
“I do,” Grippa said. “I think there’s folks that have lived here a lot longer than me that remember going to Daytona Beach with their family and having a terrific time and then coming back here to go back to their homes. If you look at Daytona Beach for a second, it’s our brand around the United States. Everybody thinks of the area. Very few people know Ormond Beach when you’re in New York or Chicago, very people know Volusia County. But people do know Daytona Beach, so it’s our first impression.”
