Partial driving ban on Daytona Beach taken off agenda

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Leaders in Volusia County could be giving up on a Daytona Beach driving ban for at least part of the beach.

Council members were set to vote on the issue Thursday, but it’s been taken off the agenda.

The proposal would have ended beach driving near the old Desert Inn hotel to make room for a four-star Westin Resort, but leaders switched gears.

"One member of county council decided to change their vote and that put me in a swing vote," said Volusia County council member Josh Wagner. "(There were) certain things I wanted that didn't make it feasible."
The developer pulled the item off the agenda after seeing the writing on the wall.

“There were some questions and concerns,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the Hard Rock hotel that is being developed a few miles from the Desert Inn would have been at a competitive disadvantage if one hotel didn’t allow beach driving and theirs did.

“By having driving on the beach, it significantly hurts economic development,” he said. “It makes it difficult to bring in more hotels.”

Wagner wants to add driving to some areas of the beach and take it away from others, to accommodate environmental and economic concerns.

He will be proposing his idea at Thursday afternoon’s afternoon meeting.

WFTV