Volusia chair looks to allow county residents free beach driving access

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — One Volusia County leader wants to make it so county residents don’t have to pay to drive on the beach.

Right now, it’s $25 for a county resident to get an annual beach pass, but the county chair wants to do away with that.

County chair Jeff Brower believes people that have already paid taxes that go to the beach, should not have to pay again to use it.

He also believes this would encourage more people to come to the beach and help local businesses.

Brower is working on a plan to get rid of the charges, but the details are still being hashed out.

Volusia County has about 47 miles of coastline, but only a third of it allows cars.

The county collects close to $6 million off those toll fees each year. That could take a hit if residents no longer had to pay.

Brower sees a few options to offset those costs.

One idea he has is for hotels and motels to charge a nominal fee of 50 cents per person per stay.

It’s something the hotel industry strongly opposes because it already pays sales and bed taxes.

Another idea is to sell naming rights to the county’s beach approaches.

Brower sees it as a move that would bring more people down to the beach and help businesses along the coast.

He plans to bring it up during his agenda meeting next week.

See the full report in the video above.

Cox Media Group

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