- March 4, 2026
Dear Editor:
It’s time for Ormond Beach residents to come out again to witness two commissioners meetings in Ormond Beach, one on March 13 at 6 p.m. and the other on March 24 at 7 p.m. at the City Commission Chambers at City Hall in Ormond Beach.
The meeting on March 24 at 7 p.m. will be a regular commissioners meeting with the Tomoka Oaks Golf Course issue on the agenda. The meetings will focus on the developers’ five-year fight to convince everyone that their idea of building homes on the golf course is not a safety or a quality-of-life issue.
I assume that the developers who want to build on the golf course in the middle of the Tomoka Oaks Development will present their case to the city, and the public, about what has changed that makes this the right time to build 254 homes on the golf course.
Could it be that since we last met with the developers that sidewalks have been put in on the sides of the roads leading to the proposed new development or perhaps roads have been widened? Have the 119 species of wildlife packed their bags and moved out of harm’s way? Maybe the residents have convinced themselves that their property values will increase despite the incompatible new homes that would be built in the middle of their long-established neighborhood?
Will the developers be able to convince us that the inevitable traffic congestion accompanying the new homes will not be a public safety issue? Not only would Tomoka Oaks Development be affected, but its four surrounding communities of Escondido, Tomoka Oakwood North, Tallaquah and The Trails.
Many of us who attend the meetings will be waiting to hear the answers to these questions and using our three minutes to voice our concerns as we have for five years. I hope to see everyone there. I’ll be wearing my red shirt.
Darla Widnall
Ormond Beach
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