County questions DeLand SunRail - The West Volusia Beacon

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County questions DeLand SunRail

BEACON PHOTO/PAT ANDREWS
Change is difficult — Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Olson said changing the existing plan by moving the planned SunRail station from DeLand would be complicated and expensive.

By Pat Andrews
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Apr 11, 2012 - 8:28:11am

As officials from the Florida Department of Transportation updated the Volusia County Council April 5 about SunRail, the conversation suddenly took a turn.

Council Member Pat Northey questioned whether the right location had been selected for the DeLand station, planned west of town at the existing Amtrak station on Old New York Avenue.

Northey suggested, instead, putting the station off County Road 472, close to Orange City.

Now, a workshop is in the works, with DeLand, Orange City and Deltona representatives attending to talk about where the commuter-rail station should be built. It’s likely the Department of Transportation will coordinate an analysis of alternatives.

The location of DeBary’s station, at least, is fixed on Fort Florida Road not far from U.S. Highway 17-92. A groundbreaking is planned for that station on Monday, June 11.

While DeBary is part of the commuter-rail project’s first phase, the DeLand station is to be built as part of Phase 2.

At the April 5 County Council meeting, Council Member Northey, who represents Southwest Volusia, turned the conversation to the location of the DeLand station.

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SunRail is supposed to bring economic development, Northey said, and it would likely bring more economic development if it had a station off C.R. 472, where Orange City, Deltona and DeLand converge at Interstate 4.

Council Member Josh Wagner, who represents the Daytona Beach area, joined Northey in the discussion, saying that if SunRail isn’t built right at the beginning, it will require a larger taxpayer subsidy. The rail, if successful, he said, should pay for itself, and a station along C.R. 472 near I-4 would provide an easier connection to Daytona Beach.

Wagner said while he understands the Amtrak connection is important, he can’t see running a line between Daytona Beach and the Amtrak station on DeLand’s west side.

County Council Member Andy Kelly, who represents the DeLand area, said he had suggested an alternate location for the DeLand station a couple of years ago.

Kelly said he has nothing against DeLand, but he wants what is best for the entire county and SunRail ridership.

DeLand residents in the vicinity of the Amtrak station are worried about an increase in traffic and development in the area once SunRail is up and running, Kelly said.

He also noted the county owns adequate right of way to extend C.R. 472 west to the railroad tracks, and the area already has the right zoning for hotels.

Kelly also said the proposed alternate location would provide easier access to SunRail for residents of DeLand, Orange City and northern Deltona. Also, he said, the roads in the area are better able to handle commuter and truck traffic, while the roads surrounding the Amtrak station are narrow, winding and slow-going.

County Chair Frank Bruno and Council Vice Chair Joyce Cusack said plans should stay on track, with the station west of DeLand — already planned and funded.

“What we worked for very hard at the state and federal level was to get that station in DeLand,” Cusack said. “It has to be done.”

SunRail Project Manager Tawny Olore of the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) said the corridor to the DeLand station has already been purchased and cleared environmentally. It would cost a lot of money to do an environmental analysis and other studies, and building another station would be very expensive, she said.

She also noted that inter-local agreements have already been signed and money committed by the state and federal governments to construct the first phase as planned. Even two years ago, Olore said, would have been late in the game to change a station’s location.

An alternatives-analysis study could look at the feasibility and cost of relocating the station. The study would take about 18 months and cost around $1.75 million.

“It’s coming down to two issues: how to maximize the DeLand site and ridership, and how to get connectivity to the east side,” DOT spokesman Steve Olson said, adding, “To change the existing plan would be very complicated.”

Both Bruno and Cusack said postponement could make Volusia County fall behind the other counties in getting state and federal dollars for SunRail-related projects.

The discussion will continue during the next County Council meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. Thursday April 19, in the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center at 123 W. Indiana Ave. in DeLand.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

Reader Comments

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PMoon | posted Apr 19, 2012 - 8:09:21am

Debary is going to have a stop which is right on 1792 already, and after all, it is a "commuter" rail. So, we need to have the stops spaced as evenly apart as possible. The idea is to get alternative transportation to those less advantaged areas. We could take an analysis of who already commutes, and most of them would say they use I-4 or 1792 to get to work. I moved here from Orlando and commuted for 3 years and I live on Old New York and have met many others who commute from Hontoon. Lake Helen has access to I4 and 1792 and can get to I4 West much easier than West Volusia and downtown. What about students who drive from Orlando to Stetson University? What are our draws, and what are we drawn to in other cities? As for Old New York Avenue, I envision it with slow going traffic and little sole proprietorships and home occupations, quiet quaint and restored to it's historical granuer as THE GATEWAY TO DELAND, as it was once called with street lights all the way from 44 to the Amtrak Station. Having a sweet trolly going up and down the road, vegtable stands and sidewalks, music playing at each small shop. A place where those with a disability that find I4 difficult to manage, can now work from home tending a home occuation. Bed and Breakfasts, and little cafes, such as Emmy's TOT, and the Stockyard, places where you can have a latte or a glass of wine, a festive place with tranquility and life, a real walkable community. I cannot tell you how many times a week my husband picks up someone walking from the Amtrak Station down Old New York "Avenue" asking how much further to town. We have become the good samaritans of the street to lost strangers. Old New York has fallen into the hands of the demise of those who have stolen the peace the winding streets once had when I first moved here. You can have peace and neighborhood corridor, you can have community with a trolly, but not the noise we are suffering now. I live next to a school that never grew from a special exception church daycare, and now the church is gone and there is a school in my backyard, I can't hear anything else or continue my historical renovations on one of the original homes built during the Pelham Square envisioned community of 1920. This is a historical mecca, a place that would bring in money from out of town to those who want to move here to start a sole proprietorship, providing anyone but a governement employee can have dodge the PLDRC is allowed to have a business here. Give me some feedback.

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Madeline Gutherie | posted Apr 15, 2012 - 10:52:20pm

There are only 2 options for the land surrounding the Amtrak station, Industrial or Community Use Corridor. Only a few short years ago the renovations to our lovely Deland Amtrak Station were completed with over $400,000.00 by ECHO, State and local funding. As for what the people "surviving" the environment on Old New York Station "want or don't want," I am sure it has never mattered before and it doesn't matter to those who just happen to own INDUSTRIAL zoned land nearby [clearing my throat]. Yes, Council members come and go, but the people who are living on Old New York Avenue aren't going anywhere, they are being held hostage. They didn't want a the one room church on the corner, but it was allowed as a non-conforming use, and just 18 months ago it changed it's use to an all-out school, without having to ever appear before the Planning and Land Use Development Committee. They don't want the traffic that aggregate trucks bring, or cement carrying loads. Yes, it is true, the roads are narrow and winding, but that hasn't stopped 2 employees of your local government from benefiting with their school use, and their aggregate trucks. It is a good thing those two were in business together, there is nothing like good planning to maneuver around eminent domain while getting the same benefit. So why don't you just ask the people on Old New York Avenue what they want, they want out. Out of the nightmare they live in. They haven't had a chance to speak, not that it would matter. The plans for a commuter rail were made long ago, many, many years ago. Why, one of the original settlers of Old New York's first family still lives there near the corner of Grand Avenue. When her great grandfather Burgess, laid the plans for Pelham square, he envisioned just such a commuter rail back in 1918, but he never thought the land he set aside for that plan would fall to the banks because his own grandchildren would not be able to afford the taxes [I wonder how much the Burgess/Neilson family has paid in the last century? Why doesn't someone just ask us what THE PEOPLE of OLD New York Avenue WANT? We can't develope our own land, we can't sell our homes, but we can gather and talk amongst ourselves and pray that God might just smile on us so that we could be released from the hostage situation where we are forced to have someone speak for us.

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Greg | posted Apr 13, 2012 - 1:32:28am

Lets not start complaining. The station in Debary is suitable because it is close to I-4, Orange City, and Deltona. Moving the station further from Deland closer to a station (Debary) that already has access to these areas would really isolate Deland from Sunrail. The current Deland station is actually located south of 44, is close to 17 and 92 as well as 472, and has Amtrak connections. The Deland station could not be in a better location for Deland. Just a short drive down New York Ave. and your in downtown and the surrounding area of Deland. That's why they chose it in the first place.

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Jack | posted Apr 12, 2012 - 9:58:24pm

Once again Frank Bruno and Joyce Cusack----lets not delay a project because we will loose some federal or state taxpayer dollars---better to make a mistake in the placement of the station and get the project done early. No one is going to ride this thing anyway, so it is probably a moot point where it is located. More waste of our tax dollars.

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Andy Ferrari | posted Apr 12, 2012 - 9:47:10am

Qhy are you people so chicken to use your real names? I don't see any reason for an educated reply to you anonymous cowards...you try to be an elected official...see how often YOU get it 100% right....just sayin....I use my real name every time, and I get called out when I am wrong...never have minded the criticism either !!!

Our elected leaders are doing the best they can for the most people they can....I watch them battle with what to fund, how to fund it, where to increase or decrease ALL the while trying to keep homeowners happy by not increasing Property Taxes.....

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You are killing me. | posted Apr 11, 2012 - 9:52:38pm

Jennifer there are lots of empty building in Volusia County. If you have lived he all of your life you need to think back at how positive Sherwood was in its prime and Brunswick along with a few others. All around the Deland Air Port is prime for manufacturing. Large manufacturing brings good pay checks and provides a better tax base, thus you and I pay less and have more. It pains me but I have to agree with you, Pat Northey, and Andy Kelly. "IF" we have to have a station, note I don't want it, it should be placed by 472. I love the area around the Amtrak station and it would make me crazy to see it developed and destroyed. We would be much better off to work on developing the manufacturing area that we have. I-4 and 44 is an ideal area for manufacturing as well. To think spending 40 some odd million to start on SunRail is a waste. Bring manufacturing and jobs here in the areas that are suitable for them. If you think SunRail will pay for its self you are living in a dream land.

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jenniferinfl | posted Apr 11, 2012 - 8:15:20pm

Additionally, there are already manufacturing jobs available in Orlando, why waste resources building more warehouses here in Volusia County when there are empty manufacturing facilities in Orlando? Factories are loud and dirty and they already exist in a large dirty area of orlando. Makes more sense to leave them there and have access to a better commuting system. I grew up in Deland and like it just the way it is. I just would love a faster commute to Orlando, would make working there and living here a lot more feasible. Unfortunately, I do agree that off of the 472 makes a lot more sense. I only live a couple miles from the current Amtrak station and really don't see that area handling the volume it would take to make this a success. That area is charming for it's quiet surroundings, 472 is already a busy commuter hub where a good chunk of Deland hops on I-4. I would rather drive a few more miles than have a crowd trying to get into that Amtrak station.

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jenniferinfl | posted Apr 11, 2012 - 8:09:31pm

I cannot wait for Sunrail! I hate commuting to Orlando. I live in Deland and plan to commute to Debary to try it when phase 1 starts. Beats driving with the crazy lane switchers on I4.

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David | posted Apr 11, 2012 - 2:14:52pm

**** they have been working on I 4 for many years and cant get that wright want makes you think they can do any better with Sunrail

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If you only knew. LR | posted Apr 11, 2012 - 11:54:04am

The rail (if successful) will pay for it's self. If is a big word here. Looks like a politician making away to agree to build. After it fails. He will yhen say I said it would fail.

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Laughing to Keep from Crying | posted Apr 11, 2012 - 10:32:01am

WHY ARE WE SO INTERESTED IN SENDING PEOPLE TO WORK IN ORLANDO AS OPPOSED TO BRINGING JOBS TO VOLUSIA COUNTY!!! All Sun Rail is going to do is help Orlando. We do not need more housing we need more manufacturing. JOBS JOBS JOBS for who? More government workers is all. The County Council is living in some sort of a dream land. I have lost respect for the entire County Council. Most of which have made being a politician a career. They are all sheepherders and the voters in this County are the sheep that are being lead to the slaughter house.

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South DeLand Resident | posted Apr 11, 2012 - 10:01:53am

Using the DeLand Amtrak Station makes absolutely no sense, and Bruno and Cusack do not look out for the majority. They are blinded by the huge sum of money they will claim as being used to “get people working”, but will be out of office when it is finished and becomes a ghost town. The only people benefiting from the DeLand Station as it is currently planned are those directly north and west of the station (Glenwood and Hontoon areas) and any future development around the station. Who from the northeastern, eastern, and southern communities or even Lake Helen will use it? These are the communities with many people already commuting to Seminole and Orange counties. The area around 472 and I-4, or even 472 and 17-92 would create a much larger ridership. Who will drive 5-10 miles west, or northwest to use the SunRail in DeLand? I personally will not. And as the article mentions, the roads leading to the station will require millions of dollars of upgrades as they are already in bad condition or do not have the capcity to handle the additional volumes they are "projecting". Use the funds that would be required to widen or improve the roadways to “re-study” the alternate station locations. This seems to be a no-brainer, much like our County Chair and Vice Chair!! It's not too late!

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