Doug Daniels wrote this editorial that was published in the News Journal yesterday... In a state where too many urban beaches have been walled off by condominiums and hotels, the Volusia County Council is determined to maintain public access — access that is safe and convenient. It is our legal obligation under the Volusia County Charter, and our moral obligation to the future. To that end, the County Council recently told its staff to identify properties needed for off beach parking and negotiate contracts to buy them. The prospect of replacing the dilapidated Desert Inn with an upscale Westin hotel precipitated the council’s action. The Desert Inn’s new owners will renovate anyway, but they want to create a signature hotel, a Westin hotel with standards exceeding anything on the beach. To provide its guests with the quality they have come to expect, Westin is requiring that an additional $10 million be spent on improvements and that cars come off the beach in front of the hotel. The Westin franchise is not the first to require a car-free beach, and it will not be the last. Any superior brand would require the same. Beach driving may not be at an end, but many, including many former beach-driving advocates, believe we can see it from here. We need to prepare. We need to buy the land now, while it is affordable, just in case. Where possible, off-beach parking should be on the east side of State Road A1A, directly on the beach. This is feasible, given the number of beachfront lots that are either vacant, or should be. We may settle for the west side where necessary, but those properties should be at a traffic light or where safe, well-marked pedestrian crossings are possible. Since the 1950s — the last decade of beach stock-car racing — things have changed. Beach driving, once freedom itself, is now more like a ride around the mall parking lot at Christmas time. The freedom was killed by urbanization, regulation, soft sand, erosion, endangered species and economic reality. We have successfully defended a number of legal challenges to beach driving so far, but at a cost: increased regulation, restricted access, and a proliferation of signs telling our guests the increasing long list of what is, and what is not, permitted. Particularly on crowded days, the beach is a distracting place, dangerously so. Soft, red sand is migrating south of Granada Boulevard, limiting access, and hurricanes have eroded the beach, lowering the slope and reducing the width, allowing high tides to reach higher, causing more frequent beach closings. As the 1950s’ fascination with the automobile faded, so did the economic justification for beach driving. It now costs us millions, directly in increased taxes, and indirectly in lost economic opportunity, the latter being the more significant. We pay at least $7.5 million a year supporting beach driving, while collecting only $2.5 million in beach tolls, leaving the rest to the taxpayers. We know it hurts tourism; we never show it in our advertising. The Westin offer hints at the magnitude of the economic opportunity loss. If we remove the cars, the owners will invest an additional $10 million, renovating the property to a much higher standard. That is $10 million — on one property. How much has beach driving retarded our progress and raised our taxes? We can only speculate. Regardless, we cannot sacrifice public access. It’s the thing that makes us unique, the tradition worth preserving. The Desert Inn owners have offered us replacement parking on the west side of A1A, but we need parking on the east. We need to acquire one of the beachfront lots in the area — small, difficult to develop but perfect for parking, thereby providing greater access, not only in the number of cars, but in availability. We need parking that is there 24 hours a day, unaffected by the weather or tides. Suitable land is still affordable, but the window may be closing. If we are to ensure access, we must act now, using whatever means available: grants, ECHO funds, Port Authority funds, special assessment districts, contributions from other governments and contributions from hotel developers, particularly those that will benefit disproportionately. Once done, we can rest easy knowing that one of Florida’s most spectacular and storied beaches will be open to the public, whatever the future holds.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 12:02:21 +0000