Daytona Beach Shores commission approves comprehensive-plan updates to meet state requirements

Daytona Beach Shores commissioners voted to recommend approval of Ordinance 2025-01, an Evaluation and Appraisal Report–based amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan intended to ensure consistency with the Community Planning Act and other Florida statutes.

City Planner Gwen Herstein said the ordinance updates the plan’s map series, extends the long-range planning horizon and adds policies required by state reviewers. “This is an EAR-based comprehensive plan amendment which is required to be performed every seven years,” Herstein said. Herstein told the commission the state returned an Objections, Recommendations and Comments report with one objection and two comments; staff addressed the objection by updating the future land use and transportation maps with help from the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council.

The street-level and functional-class changes are part of a broader set of updates Herstein said will, once final, update six of the plan’s 12 chapters and several objectives and policies. She said staff recommended adding one objective and two supporting policies to require feasibility studies for any future development of more than 50 lots with more than one septic system per acre, noting there are no current or known potential developments that meet that description but that the policy is being added to satisfy state review.

Herstein also described changes requested by the state to the city’s water-supply facilities work plan in the public facilities element. Staff said it extrapolated available supplier agreement data to update the work plan and that the St. Johns River Water Management District was not expected to object to the approach.

Commissioners asked for clarification about a Coastal Management Element change described in the packet as removing an outdated mandate tied to a former Community Redevelopment Area and replacing it with a commitment to maintain existing off-beach parking spaces rather than add new ones. Herstein said the commitment applies only to noncounty-owned city land and does not convert parks into parking lots. She also said the city has placed signage and a tow agreement to address overnight and extended parking at problem locations.

After discussion, Commissioner Floyd moved to recommend approval of Ordinance 2025-01 “as presented.” Commissioner Gary seconded. The commission took a roll-call vote: Commissioners Horian, Sykes, Salvatore, Blanche and Wood voted yes. The motion passed.

Staff said the ordinance language and related changes had been reviewed earlier by the Planning and Zoning Board, which recommended approval on Jan. 13, and that the commission approved the first reading on Feb. 4 before transmittal to state agencies including the Florida Department of Commerce and other reviewers. Herstein directed commissioners to packet materials, noting the data inventory and analysis (DIA) and specific pages in the hearing packet where the ORC response and new policies are shown.

The commission also heard two brief staff comments after the vote: an invitation to a Sept. 16 training session and a notice of a Sept. 23 event honoring a longtime city employee. No further action on the ordinance was taken at that meeting; staff recommended approval and the commission’s vote was to recommend adoption as presented to move the process forward.