Midtown board approves plan-development rezoning and site plan for 129 Marion Street with multiple waivers

The Midtown Redevelopment Board voted to approve staff’s recommendation to rezone about 0.59 acres at 129 Marion Street from the RDM-5 zoning district to a site-specific Plan Development designation and approved the related site plan, allowing industrial, commercial and other uses and several requested code modifications.

The recommendation before you is provided all land development code modifications are accepted, staff recommends approval to rezone 0.59 plus or minus acres at 129 Marion Street and three adjacent vacant parcels from RDM-5 to Plan Development, the planning staff said. The board moved to approve the recommendation, a second was recorded, and the chair announced “motion carries; site plan is approved.” (Exact mover/second not specified in the transcript.)

Why it matters: the rezoning would formalize the property’s mixed-use proposal and allow continued industrial and outdoor equipment storage operations that currently do not meet several Land Development Code standards. The approval also clears the way for the item to go to the Planning Board and City Commission for later public hearings (planning board scheduled 02/27/2025; city commission first reading 04/02/2025 and second reading/public hearing 04/16/2025, as noted in the staff presentation).

Planning staff described the site as four parcels on the east side of Marion Street about 30 feet south of International Speedway Boulevard. City and county property records shared with the board show a mixed ownership and use history dating to the 1990s, including storage buildings, a former single-family home that was demolished, a taxi business license previously issued to Southern Comfort Taxi Company, and an existing cell tower on one parcel. The staff presentation identified the parcels (including parcel numbers 533901-23-0031, 533901-23-002A and 533921-03-0012) and said the applicant seeks to “bring the property into compliance with the land development code” by rezoning to a plan development that permits industrial uses along with communications, health care, animal care, business support services, office and retail.

The applicant requested multiple waivers and modifications to City of Daytona Beach land development standards, including:

- A modification to the industrial-use separation standard that normally requires heavy equipment sales, rental or storage to be at least 250 feet from any residential use or childcare facility, to allow the existing use to remain in place.

- Waivers to perimeter and vehicular use-area landscaping requirements (Article 6 text cited in the presentation) and a request to permit existing fence in lieu of a masonry perimeter wall where the code would normally require a wall.

- A waiver allowing existing parking and outdoor storage surfacing composed of milled asphalt (millings/dirt areas) to remain until redevelopment rather than requiring immediate hard surfacing (asphalt/concrete/pavers), and a request to allow an access gate at the property line in its current location despite stacking-distance standards.

- Permission to retain existing barbed-wire fencing on site, which the staff presentation noted is generally prohibited except in industrial districts.

Developer representative Rob Merrill (with Kyle Cole) explained the site has long hosted industrial uses and vehicle staging and that the request stems from a change in zoning language that later rendered existing parking/staging nonconforming. “We’re not on ISB. We’re off of — I don’t know what that building is… but it’s been primarily industrial stuff for quite a long time,” Merrill said, describing the property as a longstanding staging area for Bryson Crane operations and others.

Board members asked whether the waivers applied only until the property is redeveloped; the applicant’s representative confirmed the relief is intended to persist only until redevelopment, at which point full development standards would apply. The board also asked about hazards; the applicant said utilities appear to be in order and there are no known active hazards on the property.

Formal next steps: the staff memo states a majority vote of Midtown Redevelopment Board members present is required to forward a recommendation to the Planning Board and City Commission; the board’s approval at this meeting forwards the item for the Planning Board hearing on 02/27/2025 and City Commission readings in April 2025.

Ending: The staff presentation and the board’s motion together move the applicant’s rezoning and the site plan forward for public hearings; the transcript records the board’s approval but does not include a roll-call tally by name in the meeting record.