The Beachside Redevelopment Committee hopes next month it will finalize its list of recommendations to improve the beachside from Ormond Beach to Daytona Beach Shores.
DAYTONA BEACH — The Beachside Redevelopment Committee didn't come up with its final list of recommendations Monday night as originally hoped when the group of community leaders started meeting eight months ago to compile suggestions for improving the peninsula from Granada Boulevard down to Dunlawton Avenue.
But the committee did decide on its top two recommendations during the meeting at Daytona Beach City Hall, and there are hopes the rest of the list will come together by the end of the committee's next — and possibly last — meeting Feb. 19.
Committee members agreed overhauling east International Speedway Boulevard needs to be the beachside's number-one priority. And right behind in second place is an idea to use two government-owned parking lots south of the Ocean Center, along with other land in between, for new housing and businesses in the area between Auditorium Boulevard and Main Street just west of State Road A1A.
That proposed Daytona beachside project would involve putting out a request for proposals nationwide for developers interested in working with the city and county on using the parking lots the two local governments own.
"It's a significant amount of land," said committee Chairman Tony Grippa. "I believe there's an opportunity to do a transformational project for this community."
Grippa said any urban planner would conclude it's "flat out crazy" to continue using land in view of the ocean for large surface parking lots that are off the tax rolls. Not only would the area in the core tourist district be resurrected, but the improvements could help the neighborhoods around it thrive again for the first time in decades, Grippa said.
"I think this could lead to the cleanup of Main Street," said committee member Dave LaMotte, manager of the Salty Dog Surf Shop on Ormond's beachside.
Committee members agreed they wouldn't want to see the city of Daytona Beach's e-zone master plan used in the request for proposals, with some saying it was detailed to the point it could scare off developers who would want more freedom with their ideas.
Grippa recently met with County Manager Jim Dinneen on the proposal, and said the county's top administrator is interested in exploring possibilities. If the city develops a project for that area and makes it a priority, the county would be open to using funds from a proposed half-cent sales tax for infrastructure improvements there, Grippa said. Grippa said he was involved in something similar when he was chairman of the Leon County Commission.
"If we do this, we jump to the top of the list to get state money because we'd have local money to match," Grippa said.
Grippa also noted that if a national infrastructure bill is passed in Washington, D.C., shovel-ready projects are most likely to get those federal dollars.
Committee member Maryam Ghyabi, CEO of Ormond Beach-based civil engineering firm Ghyabi & Associates, said the idea to redevelop the city-owned parking lot east of Peabody Auditorium and the county-owned parking lot west of the Peabody "is amazing."
"We need to put our minds and souls into it," Ghyabi told committee members. "This is it."
The city leases its parking lot to the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, but a parking garage on the land could continue to provide a place to park. Ghyabi dreamed out loud about something possibly as impactful as the new One Daytona development of new hotels and businesses across from Daytona International Speedway.
"A project like this is what makes a community," Ghyabi said.
Some of the property around the Peabody that Grippa envisions for redevelopment is privately owned, but the bulk is owned by the city and county. Ultimately city and county elected officials will decide what becomes of the two parking lots and more county-owned land bordering Main Street.
While committee members are behind the idea to redevelop the area just north of Main Street, they all agreed the east International Speedway Boulevard corridor used by so many visitors needs to be priority number one. The narrow roadway is lined with many dilapidated buildings, some empty and some home to struggling businesses.
Ghyabi's firm is involved in major transportation projects locally, including the plan to possibly put utilities underground, build a roundabout and add raised medians to International Speedway Boulevard east of the Halifax River. Ghyabi told committee members state funding for that project still looks very promising but has not been approved yet.
"To me the thing we need to be most excited about is east International Speedway Boulevard," said committee member Chris Bowler, chief operating officer of Daytona Beverages. "It's where most visitors come through, not Main Street."
Main Street and issues there, such as itinerant vending, will get more discussion at next month's committee meeting.
Committee members also spent a good deal of their meeting talking about improvements they'll suggest for major beachside corridors including Granada Boulevard, State Road A1A, Seabreeze Boulevard, Oakridge Boulevard, Silver Beach Avenue and Dunlawton Avenue. They discussed recommendations such as improved lighting, landscaping, traffic control devices and pedestrian crossings.
Beachside resident Mike Denis told committee members he suggested they not come up with an unwieldy list of recommendations.
"Pick a few items and make them a success," said Denis, a member of the city's Beachside Redevelopment Area Board. "Don't give a laundry list of everything everyone ever wanted because it's sure to fail."