Volusia Growth Management Commission presents review process; commission says court upheld its conditional approval in Ormond-Daytona dispute

Debbie Connors, chair of the Volusia Growth Management Commission, told the Volusia County Charter Review panel on Tuesday that the commission exists to coordinate municipal and county comprehensive plans and to flag changes that could adversely affect neighboring jurisdictions.

"The VGMC creates a level playing field," Connors said during a presentation explaining the commission's history, membership and review process. She said VGMC was established in 1986 and has 21 voting members: one representative from each of Volusia's 16 municipalities and five representing Volusia County; the Volusia County School Board and the St. Johns River Water Management District serve as ex officio members.

Connors outlined the typical review flow for a comprehensive-plan amendment: an administrative completeness check (about two days), a notice of application, staff review under the criteria in Section 90-37(c) of the Volusia County Code, a 14-day planning report target from VGMC staff, and local governments' customary 21-day review window. If no objection is filed within the applicable review period, Connors said, the chair issues a consistency certification; most applicants receive certification within about 30 days.

Connors and VGMC staff described how the commission focuses on intergovernmental impacts rather than internal consistency inside a municipality. "We look at development from a high level," said Chris Daugherty, a VGMC planner with Inspire Placemaking Collective, who added that VGMC staff issues courtesy comments and coordinates with local planners to address concerns before escalation to a public hearing.

Connors also reviewed changes adopted after a 2016 Charter Review process that narrowed VGMC's scope and limited standing for some entities while establishing an expedited review path for small‑scale amendments. She said the volume of applications has not changed — roughly 70 applications per year on average over the past decade — but the number of formal case-related public hearings has fallen.

A commissioner asked how that coordination had worked in the dispute that led to a court case over a Daytona Beach amendment tied to the Avalon Park development. Connors said Ormond Beach filed a petition for writ of certiorari challenging VGMC's conditional approval of Daytona Beach's amendment and the circuit court issued an order on 10/27/2025 denying Ormond's petition. Connors said the court found VGMC's decision supported by "competent substantial evidence" and that Ormond did not appeal.

Daugherty characterized the Daytona amendment as an update to a municipal water-supply plan and said VGMC's review found that existing interlocal agreements and adopted policies addressed the overlap between Daytona and Ormond's service areas. When commissioners raised concerns about another pending developer lawsuit over delays, VGMC staff said they were not party to that litigation and had no new information for the commission.

Commissioners also pressed VGMC staff on flooding and stormwater standards, particularly for Southeast Volusia communities. Daugherty said VGMC does not do proactive regional stormwater planning; instead, local governments are required to address stormwater at the development level and many are raising standards (for example, designing to a 100‑year event rather than a 25‑year standard). VGMC can call out amendments that clearly would cause downstream impacts, he said.

The chair thanked Connors and staff and said the presentation would inform further Charter Review deliberations. The commission did not take any formal action on the VGMC presentation itself at the meeting.