- December 4, 2025
Walmart's plans to expand its Ormond Beach store to serve its online grocery pickup area has taken a step forward.
On Thursday, July 1, the Ormond Beach Planning Board approved an amendment to Walmart's Planned Business Development with a 6-0 vote. Walmart plans to construct a 5,101-square-foot building expansion at the northeast corner of the store located at 1521 W. Granada Blvd. In addition, Walmart seeks to improve the existing façade to a "Mediterranean Beach style," as well as update signage, improve landscaping and make some parking lot modifications to accommodate the expansion.
The Planning Board had tabled the amendment in March because members had concerns about transients, the overgrown green belt buffer, security and the store's aesthetics.
Since then, Walmart's project team met with city staff and cleaned the greenbelt buffer, eliminating invasive plants.
Ormond Beach Police Capt. Chris Roos said Walmart had been "receptive from day one," and cleared the overgrown vegetation, including lifting the buffer to increase visibility from the road.
"I want my cars to be able to drive by and see if there's transients, homeless people hiding in there," Roos said. "... They're doing what we asked them to do."
At the March meeting, board members discussed placing a masonry wall in lieu of the proposed chain-link fence within the greenbelt buffer, but Roos said that would block police's visibility of the buffer area. Transients are likely to jump over it and hide from law enforcement, he explained.
"We'll be in the same situation we are now," Roos said. "Now, I hate to say we don't have time for our officers to get out of the car three or four times a day to walk the property, but we can drive by it 30 times a day and look in there, if we have the ability to see."
When asked by the board, Roos said that call activity has reduced in the store since the greenbelt buffer fronting Granada Boulevard was cleared.
The board reached a consensus to move the amendment forward, without requiring a new masonry wall.
On behalf of Walmart, attorney Rebecca Wilson said the company "really took to heart what they heard in the last meeting" in regards to the board's concerns. Additionally, if the board wanted Walmart to continue to clean up the buffer on the west side of Williamson Boulevard, they would do so.
"Previously, our development order didn't allow us to clean that up, but I agree with you, coming off the interstate, it's going to look so much better," Wilson said. "I think we're in a middle place right now. It doesn't look great because we pulled everything out, but putting in nice looking landscape with irrigation and keeping that, we think will look really great."
As a condition of their recommendation to approve the amendment, the Planning Board asked the western of the greenbelt buffer be cleared within 18 months.
Board Chair Doug Thomas commended Walmart for working with the city on the outlined concerns.
"I got to tell you that they were extremely pleasant to work with and very cooperative," Thomas said.
