No Margaritaville? There are pros and cons

Ormond Beach Observer
Business

Citing rising impact and transportation fees, Minto Communities has cancelled Phase 2 of Margaritaville, at least for now, but while the county will be missing property tax dollars, and the businesses in the booming LPGA/Williamson area will lose customers, at least some Ormond Beach residents are relieved.

“It certainly alleviates future traffic and infrastructure concerns,” said former City Commissioner Rick Boehm.

Phase Two, with about 3,000 homes and 4,800 residents, would have had access onto State Road 40 from South Tymber Creek Road.

“We would have seen no benefit in property tax, with a lot of traffic congestion,” Boehm said, referring to the fact that all of Margaritaville is in Daytona Beach.

Former Mayor Ed Kelley, now Volusia County chair, said the area was annexed from Ormond Beach into Daytona Beach about 18 years ago, and it was a terrible decision by the City Commission at the time.

Kelley said he learned of a developer in later years that would have built houses there, if it could be annexed back into Ormond Beach, but he was not successful in drumming up interest in taking the area back into the city.

It’s also possible that Ormond Beach would have to provide water to the neighborhood, requiring the city to increase capacity, but final decisions on utilities have not been made.

Boehm said he regretted Tymber Creek Road not being connected to LPGA Boulevard, which would have provided a bypass around Williamson Boulevard. That connection would have been made in Phase Two.

Brian Rademacher, Ormond Beach economic development director, said it’s hard to predict how much traffic would have travelled Granada Boulevard, saying most affected would be businesses in the Tymber Creek and Interstate 95 area. He pointed out that Margaritaville is designed to be inclusive, with nearby grocery and retail.

However, some of the residents could have been attracted by the locally-owned businesses in Ormond Beach, as opposed to the chain stores in the LPGA area, he said.

“It would have been a good support for local businesses,” he said.

Granada Boulevard would also provide a route to the beach, providing customers for businesses, but more traffic for those getting around town.

Phase Two would also provide another housing option. Phase One has been successful in attracting buyers.

Bill Bullock, president of Minto Communities, said originally the homes were to start at $225,000 but increases in the cost of material and labor caused them to raise the price to $250,000. With the new impact and transportation fees, the price would rise beyond Minto deems affordable in the area.

Phase Two would have started in six to eight years.

“We love Daytona Beach,” Bullock said. “We will try to resolve the issues.”

The land for Phase Two is owned by Consolidated Tomoka and would be purchased by Minto before development starts.