- April 28, 2024
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Dear Editor:
We're going the wrong way here! After the city of Ormond Beach Planning Board and commissioners both voted no to an earlier developer plan with 272 houses, the developers are seeking a zoning change for the golf course to build 317 houses.
Come to the public Planning Board meeting for the Tomoka Reserve project on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. The Planning Board meeting location will be at Tomoka Christian Church at 1450 Hand Ave., Ormond Beach, FL 32174, and will start at 6 p.m.
Our traffic, property values, storm flooding, sewage processing, school and hospital capacity will all be adversely affected by all these new houses.
The developers, Sheldon Rubin, Ray Barshay and Carl Velie, should sell the old golf course to the city and we can have a public golf course, park or other open space, instead of more houses.
We moved here to avoid living in Orlando. Now the developers are bringing Orlando to us. Just to benefit a few, they are making life more miserable for many.
Save beautiful Ormond Beach!
Tom Fitzgibbon and Denise Corley
Ormond Beach
Dear Editor:
It is interesting to try to follow the reasoning of the developers who bought the Tomoka Oaks golf course property of 147 acres almost three years ago.
Now, instead of 272 homes, which the Planning Board and the commissioners thought were too many, they would like to build 317 homes.
What will the Planning Board say when they receive this latest request from the developers to “increase” the number of homes?
Did something change? Will the one and only 450-foot road leading in and out of Tomoka Oaks and the proposed development change to be a wider and longer road? Will the imposition of added traffic and devaluation of the homes in the Tomoka Oaks development and all the affected surrounding developments change?
Will the two-lane roads in Tomoka Oaks and The Trails suddenly become four lanes and sidewalks appear where there are none? Will the homeowners change their minds about missing the beauty of the open space and the golf course that was promised to them in a written, spoken and/or implied agreement?
Will the threatened and protected gopher tortoises relocate to a safer place along with their burrow guests of up to 350 different species who hunker down with them in their burrows? By the way, this is one of the reasons the tortoises are protected, because they provide a home to these grateful guests.
Will this 147 acres on one of the highest elevations in east Volusia with impervious newly constructed houses and streets and sidewalks suddenly soak up water during a storm when the retention ponds fail? Will the Trails welcome the added traffic in their development that was not designed for that volume of traffic? Will the Escondido condo residents find a way to get out of their one and only driveway?
Will the developers suddenly propose an emergency evacuation plan that will show that we can all get out in a safe and timely manner? It has been almost three years and our concern for the safety of walkers and bicyclists in addition to this missing evacuation plan does not even seem to be on their radar.
It will be interesting to see what has changed.
Darla Widnall
Ormond Beach
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