- December 4, 2025
Citing “quite vocal rejection” of the Belvedere Terminals fuel storage facility proposed not far from homes west of U.S. 1 in Palm Coast, Mayor Mike Norris no longer supports the project.
Norris, on April 7, shared on Facebook a photo of an email that he sent to Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston, which reads as follows:
“Mr. Schwarz is looking for a letter of support from the city council concerning the project. In light of the quite vocal rejection of the project, by our residents, we need to withdraw from consideration for the terminal project.
“He stated that they need property already zoned for industrial operations, and one that wouldn't need to be rezoned for possible consideration. To my knowledge, we don't have any properties within the current city boundaries that fit that criteria.
“I recommend discussing the matter with the rest of the council and withdraw the city from consideration.
“Maybe they can find other properties adjacent to the rail, south of the city, for consideration, but that would be for county to consider whether or not they would want to keep that project in the county.”
The next City Council meeting is 6 p.m. April 8, at City Hall.
Norris had been supportive of the project, advocating to the rest of the council at the April 1 meeting that Belvedere’s proposal represented a “strategic asset” to the state. The terminal would store 300,000 barrels of gas and diesel, transporting it by rail from the gulf, giving Florida a more secure supply.
But, most of the public commentary has been negative. Ormond Beach officials fought the project when it had been proposed for their city two years ago.
Most of the responses to Norris' Facebook post were in agreement with Norris' change of attitude regarding Belvedere, praising and thanking him.
"Wonderful! Thank you for taking a clear stand on this," wrote Robert Rosania.
Norris also noted in his post that "We are severely limited on properties zoned for industrial development and the large land owners are unlikely to offer up lands for zoning changes to bring about meaningful industrial / commercial development."
One Facebook comment, from Mike Stepler, said that "everyone complains about everything." Referring to the lack of industrial land, he added: "So what, we just give up?"
