VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County residents will be able to access, drive and park on the county’s beaches for free starting Oct. 1, while non-residents while see an increase in fees. 

In a 5-2 vote, the Volusia County Council voted on Tuesday to approve an ordinance that allows vehicular access to the county beaches for residents for free and agreed on a new fee schedule for non-residents. District 2 Councilman Matt Reinhart and District 3 Councilman Danny Robins voted against it.  

Public Works Director Ben Bartlett said the ordinance recognizes that residents and property owners pay for the cost of operating the beach through their property taxes. 

“Council’s direction was to allow Volusia County residents to access the beach, park on the beach, drive on the beach at no additional charge. It also included increasing fees for non-residents either on an annual pass or the daily the daily pass rate,” Bartlett said.

Non-residents will pay $30 for a daily pass, an increase from the daily fee of $20, not including sales tax and any credit card processing fees. They will also see an increase in the annual pass cost. The new rate will be $150, up $50 from its current rate of $100.

The decision comes just weeks after the council moved forward with a plan to charge non-residents for off-beach parking. The off-beach parking program will go into effect Jan. 1.

RELATED STORY: Off-beach parking in Volusia County will cost a fee for non-residents starting January

“The additional increase in fees for non-residents on accessing the beach will generate additional revenue, and council wants to see if that additional revenue will offset the revenue that was being charged for residents in their annual pass,” Bartlett said.

District 4 councilman Troy Kent has been a proponent of the ordinance. 

At the meeting, he highlighted the fact that residents pay for the beach out of their taxes. 

“The facts are that this is not free, it’s at no extra charge because you as county residents are already paying to the tune of $17 million out of your General Fund to drive on your beach, you’re already paying that,” Kent said.

He said county residents will benefit from more than $6 million in revenue that off-beach and on-beach parking will generate from non-residents.

“Volusia County, we are giving you your beach back,” Kent said.

Bartlett said as part of the program, the vendor will install automated access ramps to ensure they can stay open all the time, which will also help alleviate traffic backups at busy ramps.

“Our lower volume beach ramps will be automated. People who are registered with annual passes, it’ll read their license plate, it’ll open a gate arm and let them on the beach,” he said. “Higher volume ramps like International Speedway, Dunlawton, Flagler Avenue will include a lane for folks with passes.”

Barnett said the next step is educating the public on the new program.

“The county will be engaging in a very comprehensive campaign to make people aware of what they have to do to register," he said. It’s a license plate reading technology. So, we’re going to ask folks to go online. They’ll be places they can call. They’ll be a brick-and-mortar location where they can go in.”

The motion was approved with an amendment asking staff to come back to the council and present a financial report of how the program is doing by November 2025.

The program is set to expire on Jan. 31, 2026, and will be reverted unless reauthorized by the county council.