The Ormond Beach City Commission on a 4-1 vote on final reading on Aug. 5 affirmed the Site Plan Review Committee's approval of a Circle K convenience store with gasoline sales at 699 South Nova Road, rejecting an appeal from a neighborhood resident.

The appeal was filed by Amber Bobak, a nearby resident, who argued the project posed health and environmental risks, would degrade stormwater and wetland systems downstream and was incompatible with nearby housing. Planning Director Steven Spreaker told the commission the SPRC's May 14 determination found the site met Land Development Code requirements and technical review by city engineers and outside consultants. City Attorney Randy Hayes advised commissioners their review was limited to whether competent, substantial evidence in the SPRC record supported the committee's decision.

Spreaker said the application proposes demolishing the existing bank building and constructing a roughly 5,200-square-foot convenience store; the property is not in wetlands or the floodplain and the proposed stormwater system was designed to treat a 100-year storm (the code requires 25-year). He said the SPRC required prohibiting left turns onto Hand Avenue, installed signage and a painted channelizing area, and set monitoring at one and two years after certificate of occupancy. "Staff does not believe the appeal meets that substantial and competent evidence," Spreaker said.

Bobak told the commission she had filed a petition with the St. Johns River Water Management District and said she had seen wildlife including gopher tortoises in the neighborhood; she urged the commission to prioritize the comprehensive plan's goals for residential protection. "High traffic fueling stations do not belong a hundred feet from children's bedroom windows," Bobak said.

Rob Merrill, attorney for the applicant, told commissioners the SPRC record included technical reviews, traffic analysis and law-enforcement input and said the commission's role was appellate: to determine whether the SPRC record contained competent substantial evidence. "If you start to reweigh evidence, you're going off course," Merrill said.

After discussion, the commission voted: Commissioners Lori Tolland, Travis Sargent, Kristen Deaton and (recorded as) Commissioner Bridal voted to affirm the SPRC; Mayor Jason Leslie voted against the motion. Commissioners and staff praised Bobak's work and urged the applicant to work with neighbors on lighting, landscaping and delivery hours, but the legal standard required the commission to uphold a decision supported by evidence in the record.

The commission action affirms the Site Plan Review Committee's conditions and allows the applicant to continue final technical review and permitting. The applicant must resolve outstanding technical site comments before permit issuance and comply with the condition monitoring schedule the SPRC imposed.