County Council Rejects Special Event Request

Participants in the 21^st annual Daytona Freeride jet ski event slated for January won’t be getting a free ride when it comes to using the county’s beaches. The Volusia County Council earlier this month rejected a request by event organizers to offer reduced beach access fees for registered attendees.

According to Randa Matusiak, interim director of Public Protection for the county, organizers wanted to offer participants a reduction in beach access “to essentially create a four-day pass for $50.” In August the County Council approved a plan to eliminate fees for county residents and increased the cost for non-residents. Previously, non-residents paid $20 for a daily pass and $100 for an annual pass. Under the new plan rates increased to $30 for a daily pass and $150 for an annual pass.

County Council member Troy Kent was quick to speak out against the Daytona Freeride request.

“I’m just going to come out of the gate with this,” he said. “I hate this.”

Kent said the request “goes directly against everything we are trying to do with our beach” and would set a precedent for reducing beach access fees for other events and organizations.

“I want this new rate structure to be successful,” he said. “I am drawing a line in the sand.”

Kent offered a motion to deny the request which did not pass.

County Council member Danny Robins said while he appreciated Kent’s concerns, he was also worried about the potential economic impact on the specific event and other special events.

“When we talk about free rides and people paying their fair share, we’ve got to be realistic and transparent because there are plenty of things in this county we do,” he said, citing the economic development programs the county has approved with several airlines. “We are a tourism-based community. I don’t want some of these venues and some of these special events leaving to go somewhere else. Some of our businesses are still recovering from Covid, from hurricanes and we need all the businesses we can get.”

During the public comment period, Daytona Beach resident John Nicholson reminded Council members of the importance of the county’s beaches.

“Daytona Beach is an economic engine for the county,” he said. “We have lost five major events for the beachside. Those are heads in beds, those are taxes, those are tips, those are all kinds of things.”

After Kent’s motion to deny failed, Council member David Santiago made a motion to approve the request, which also failed.