DeBary reviews transportation element of 2045 plan, sets multimodal goals and trade-off rules

Steven Bap, DeBary—s growth management director, presented the transportation element of the City of DeBary—s 2045 comprehensive plan at an Aug. 2025 council workshop, saying the element is required under Florida Statutes and will coordinate with regional plans and state guidance.

The transportation element, Bap said, covers multimodal mobility — automobiles and trucks as well as pedestrians and bicycles — and is being coordinated with the Volusia-Flagler Transportation Planning Organization and state plans. "This element is a required element, in accordance with Florida statute 163.3177," Bap said. He told the council the city is incorporating the regional bicycle-pedestrian plan, an intelligent transportation systems master plan and FDOT—s 2023 multimodal guidance into the draft.

Why it matters: the element sets new measurable targets for bicycle and pedestrian comfort and formalizes how the city will prioritize nonmotorized travel. Bap said the plan will use bicycle level-of-traffic-stress (BLTS) and pedestrian level-of-traffic-stress (PLTS) metrics on a 1-to-4 scale (1 most comfortable, 4 least). "These use a scale of 1 to 4. 1 is the most comfortable for users. 4 is the lowest level of comfort for a bicycle or a pedestrian," he said.

Key provisions and limits - Target comfort: the draft proposes BLTS/PLTS targets in the range of 1 to 2 for higher-comfort corridors and a nominal target of 2 for other streets. Bap said adopting those targets will guide where the city seeks bike-ped projects. - Roadway level of service (LOS): the city—s roadway LOS remains at D; the draft allows exceeding that standard for vehicle LOS in exchange for corresponding pedestrian or bicycle improvements, but "the level of service shall never fall below level of E for any roadway in the city," Bap said. - Coordination and mapping: a 2045 transportation map is being drafted to show the street network, public transit (including SunRail), bike-ped facilities, terminals and other intermodal elements. - Concurrency and mitigation: Bap said the element follows Florida Statutes on transportation concurrency. "Applicants for development orders may satisfy transportation concurrency requirements to pay for the construction with a proportional share improvements consistent with state law or through our mobility plan," he said.

Council questions and concerns Council members generally supported stronger bike-ped policies. Councilmember Stevenson said she was "glad to see the improvements for the planned improvements for pedestrian, and bicycle safety," and thanked staff for proposing higher comfort targets near denser, newer neighborhoods and the train station.

Council discussion also focused on whether nonmotorized investments can offset vehicle congestion. One councilor asked whether bike-ped investments could reasonably compensate for a decline from LOS D to E on heavily used corridors such as West Highbanks and State Road 1792. "It's gonna be really hard for bike ped investments to offset e level traffic at West Highbanks in 1792 in my mind," the councilor said, urging staff to evaluate trade-offs further before final adoption.

Ownership and maintenance clarifications Bap noted that several arterial streets frequently discussed by councilors nd used by residents and schoolchildren re not owned by the city. "1792, Enterprise, Saxon Boulevard, and Dirksen are not owned or maintained by the city," he said, adding that the designation in the plan is nonbinding and intended to guide coordination with those agencies. Vice Mayor Butland clarified the city does perform landscaping maintenance on State Road 1792 under an agreement with FDOT and receives about $34,000 a year for that work; he stressed the contract covers landscaping only, not pavement.

Micro-mobility, golf carts and complete streets Councilors asked staff to make the element more explicit about micro-mobility and local vehicle types. One councilor noted an older city ordinance limits shared micro-mobility operators and suggested the plan should explicitly address newer devices (e-bikes, scooters, hoverboards) and local preferences such as golf-cart parking at schools. A councilor also asked that the city reference a "complete streets" approach for SR 1792 in the written plan so the policy is clear when resurfacing and lane-narrowing projects occur.

Next steps Bap said the 2045 transportation map and remaining sections of the plan will be presented as the volume 2 review continues at future workshops, with additional detail on the capital improvement element to follow. "This map will be reflected during the map review of our DeBary '45 plan," Bap said, and staff will return with the revised elements in the next meeting cycle.

No formal votes were taken on the transportation element at the workshop; councilors requested more analysis of trade-offs between vehicle LOS and bike-ped investments before a final draft is scheduled for adoption.