DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Volusia County leaders are continuing their efforts to gather community feedback regarding the future of the county's beaches.
Preserving the county’s 37-mile coastline has been top of mind for community members and county officials who want to keep the beaches healthy for future generations.
County leaders will conduct a series of community sessions at three different locations across Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach to continue those discussions.
The workshop meetings follow a coastal management survey, which received more than 12,000 responses.
County leaders will share the findings from the survey at each meeting.
The three sessions will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. at the following locations:
• Tuesday, Feb. 25, in meeting room 103 at the Ocean Center, 101 N. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach
• Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Daytona Beach Shores Community Center, 3000 Bellemead Dr., Daytona Beach
• Thursday, Feb. 27, in the ballroom at the Brannon Center, 105 S. Riverside Dr., New Smyrna Beach
Volusia County coastal director Jessica Fentress said the first step to identifying long-term solutions is conducting a historic review of the coastline.
“We have to figure out how our beach works,” Fentress said.
That’s why topics for these meetings will vary from sand placement and artificial reefs, to innovative practices for the future.
She said the county’s goal is to make these workshops as engaging as possible and allow for community members to discuss potential solutions and provide recommendations to a team of coastal engineers and county officials on what they want to see.
Fentress said each Volusia County beach has its own distinguishing factors.
“New Smyrna has a very different dynamic than Ormond-by-the Sea," she said. "What works in New Smyrna in the driving area is not going to be the same solution that we do in Daytona or Ormond-by-the Sea or Ponce. Our community feedback — especially if you are a property owner or it is your favorite beach or if you love Winter Haven Park — I need to know what you want your beach to look like."
Fentress said these are factors that are central to the county’s economy, as well.
“Volusia County is a very large population and, in our hotel overnight stays alone, 10 million overnight stays a year," she said. "So that doesn’t include our residents and our day trippers that come from Orlando. So, our footprint and our impact on our beaches is significant, and it’s one of the major economic drivers of our county.”
Based on the feedback from the survey, Fentress noted there was a lot of engagement from locals and property owners, including business owners.
She said while it’s important to hear from residents and business owners, they also want to hear about what tourists want, since they’re a contributing force to the economy.
Following the three sessions, the county will work to identify the 37-mile coastline’s most critical areas through a preliminary risk analysis that it hopes to complete by the spring.
In the summer, county officials aim to present a draft feasibility report that will include those risk analysis results and recommended beach management solutions.
An economy impact analysis of Volusia County is also currently underway, with the intent of compiling a draft report by summer 2025.
“Our tourism industry is one of our major cornerstones for Volusia County’s economy,” Fentress said.
A second set of outreach meetings are planned between the summer and fall to reopen the community dialogue before making final recommendations in the fall.
Fentress said the county’s goal for the summer or fall is to have an adaptive beach management plan with resiliency solutions identified for the 37 miles of coastline.