Daytona Beach annexes Tomoka Farms parcels and approves 344-unit Tomoka Farms Road apartment plan

The Daytona Beach City Commission voted 5 to 1 on May 21 to annex county parcels along Tomoka Farms Road, change the properties’ future land‑use designation and rezone the site to allow a 344‑unit multifamily complex. The items approved were: a voluntary annexation of about 20.2 acres, a small‑scale comprehensive plan amendment covering roughly 30.8 acres, and a plan‑development rezoning for a 344‑unit apartment project on land at 1484 Tomoka Farms Road and 3039 West International Speedway Boulevard.

Why it matters: the site sits near the Tomoka River and an interchange area several commissioners described as already strained by traffic. The project’s approvals shift regulatory authority from Volusia County to the city; commissioners said that gives Daytona Beach more control over future development and tax revenues but leaves outstanding questions about road and bridge capacity, drainage and long‑term infrastructure needs.

Developers and landowners said the project had been revised during more than a year of staff and technical review. Rob Arrow, an attorney for the applicant with Cobb Cole, said the annexation would “reduce an existing enclave of county property that’s got…