DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona Beach city leaders are considering an ordinance to eliminate restrictions on food pantries that operate out of places of worship in redevelopment areas.

A Redevelopment Area, as defined by the city, is an area that has been designated for redevelopment to improve the quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors. 

What You Need To Know

  • Several church food pantries in Daytona Beach were shut down by the city last fall citing a 2011 ordinance

  • City leaders are proposing a change to the land development code to remove the prohibition of food pantries that operate out of places of worship in redevelopment areas

  • This change would allow all churches to operate a food pantry, regardless of whether they are located in a redevelopment area or not

  • A second reading of the proposal set for Dec. 18

Last fall, Seventh Day Baptist Church of Daytona Beach filed a lawsuit challenging the prohibition after the city shut down their food pantry. Since then, a local attorney working on the case said a settlement agreement has been reached with the city.

Pastor David Troxler has led the congregation at First Christian Church in Daytona Beach since 1995, where they also ran a food pantry until the city shut it down last fall.

The pantry at First Christian Church was allowed to reopen in November after city officials located a form that indicated it was legally grandfathered in after the 2011 measure was passed.

“We just brought food in this morning, so it’s more cluttered than normal,” Troxler said, walking into the pantry.

The pantry opened in 2010 to help meet what he saw as a growing need for food.

“We discovered in the downtown area of Daytona it’s considered a food desert. That means there’s no major food store within five miles that people can go shop,” Troxler said. “People were going without food who were on fixed incomes and had too much pride to ask for help.”

That’s why the pantry runs the third and fourth Fridays of each month to offer families a variety of canned and dry goods, as well as meat.

Troxler said he’s seen the need more than double over the last decade.

“In the beginning, we served probably, I think it was, going back 14 years, it was around 200 a month," he said. "Now, this year, we have served over 500 a month."

But last fall the food pantry got shut down by the city.

“Well, we were kind of blindsided by that," Troxler said. "We had no knowledge that in 2011, I think it was, the city did a new ordinance for downtown area, not allowing any food pantries."

In August 2011, the city passed an ordinance that prohibits new food pantries in all redevelopment areas. 

“And that’s what they enforced, shutting us down for at least two weeks,” he said, noting that the church's food pantry was quickly allowed to reopen.

For more than 10 years, city code has prohibited food pantries at a place of worship in any of Daytona’s five redevelopment areas, saying their presence can be damaging to the task of reviving a struggling area.

On Wednesday, city leaders proposed a change to the land development code to remove the prohibition for food pantries that operate out of places of worship in redevelopment areas. 

This change would allow all churches to operate a food pantry, regardless of whether they are located in a redevelopment area or not.

“That’s a good thing for them to consider," Troxler said. "The needs of people are foremost in our minds because our mission statement here is to serve God, spread love."

A second reading of the proposal is set for Dec. 18.