VolusiaNews.net and NSBNEWS.net provide 24/7 online-media coverage for a 21st-century world
.jpg)
(Photo by Dale Smith). Glenn Storch, local attorney for the developers of the proposed Hampton Inn on Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach, asks the CRA for a six-month extension to secure funding., pushing groundbreaking on the $15 million project until July 2011 at the earliest.
Editor's note: The following story was submitted by contributing writer Dale Smith:
NEW SMYRNA BEACH – The attorney of HiHo, LLC, developers of the proposed Hampton Inn on Flagler Avenue, received unanimous approval from the Community Redevelopment Agency for a six month extension in order to secure funding for the $15 million project.
Glenn Storch, of Storch, Morris & Harris, LLC, of Daytona Beach, told the board that problems in the past with the city’s planning department cost his client a lot of time, delaying the project. The CRA had given HiHo until Jan. 26, to have a signed contract, but because of what Storch termed “city-inspired” problems, he said his client was requesting a six-month extension to get everything finished.
City officials discovered last fall that their own planning department failed to submit several large and small-scale amendments to the department of Community Affairs for their review, jeopardizing tens of millions of dollars in several projects that had already gone through the Planning and Zoning Department and public hearings with the City Commission.
One of the largest projects affected was the Flagler Hotel project. Others included a Walmart Supercenter west of Intetstate 95 and a church groundbreaking. The fallout from the planning debacle led to the firings of planners Mark Rakowski and Chad Lingenfelter.
“We’re in the process of working everything out,” Storch said Wednesday afternoon. “We hope we can get most of this finished up in the first quarter of 2011.”
Storch said HiHo, led by South Carolina-based David Swentor, was on twin tracks for financing the project; either looking at industrial bonds, which hotels are eligible for , or through private financing.
CRA board member Jim Kosmas reminded Storch that the agency's $1 million-plus in funding was dependent on the contract deadline that also had incentives built in with funding in place. Kosmas made the motion to extend the closing no later than July 26. The motion passed unanimously.
Storch said he and his client would return in two months with an update on their progress.
The planned hotel has been in the works for more than two years now and has faced major opposition from residents living near the Flagler Avenue site. They argue the hotel is too large for the 2-plus acres and there is not enough parking for hotel guests and Flagler Avenue shoppers. Opponents also say traffic on Flagler Avenue approaching the North Causeway Bridge and South Peninsula Avenue could turn into a bottleneck all day long.
.jpg)
(Photoa by Dale Smith). CRA member Jim Kosmas, at left, made the motion to extend the deadline for the developers of Hampton Inn to secure funding. At far right, CRA member Steve Dennis, fired in August from the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce on issues unrelated to the proposed Hampton Inn, reviews paperwork before voting to approve the extension. Dennis had lobbied the city extensively for the 112- room hotel.
Merchants on Flagler Avenue, led by former Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce executive Steve Dennis, extensively lobbied the City Commission for approval of the project. Dennis, fired from the chamber in August, is a member of the CRA. Besides Dennis and Kosmas, the unanimous CRA vote to extend the request included Chairman Chartles Belote and members Cynthia Lybrand, Mike Thomas and newcomer Chad Schilsky.
(NSBNEWS.net videos by Sera Frederick). Here is a set of videos from one of the hearings early last year before the City Commission on the proposed hotel project, which was eventually approved and then stalled because of the city's planning debacle.
About the contributing writer:
.jpg)
Dale Smith is a resident of New Smyrna Beach, who has reported on local news in Volusia County since October 2009. His writing background includes a mix of journalism and public relations in several community newspapers and a p.r. firm in northern Virginia. He attended Barton Academy in Barton, Vt., and the Cambridge (Mass.) School of Broadcasting for radio & TV broadcasting.