VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The debate over a proposed liquefied natural gas plant at Port Canaveral is not the only fuel project that’s sparked a community backlash in Central Florida in the last few years.
Belvedere Terminals, a fuel storage and transportation company, announced a $750 million plan to build fuel terminals from Jacksonville to Fort Pierce in 2023, including a terminal in Ormond Beach that was expected to come online in 2026.
The so-called “fuel farm” off US-1 and Hull Road would store 20 million gallons of fuel, largely gasoline and diesel.
But it also drew protests from neighbors who complained about the dangers to the environment, not to mention the added traffic to the roads in the area.
[WATCH: County, city leaders butt heads on how to block fuel facility in Ormond Beach (from 2023)]
“There’s going to be approximately 160 to maybe 180 tankers carrying fuel a day, 24 hours a day onto the Ormond Beach roads,” one resident told News 6 community correspondent Molly Reed in 2023.
Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower pledged to fight the project. Despite an offer of $10 billion from the state of Florida to move the facility to another Volusia County location, Belvedere would look to Flagler County and Palm Coast as a new location in 2025.
The new facility would have been off Peavey Grade and US-1 near a wastewater treatment facility, on nearly 80 acres of property, storing over 300,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel.
However, residents again fought the plan, noting there were already homes a mile and a half from the site and hundreds more expected to be built in the future.
[WATCH: Future of proposed fuel storage facility in Palm Coast still uncertain]
“There are several hundred, if not 1,000 homes already, and there are more in the pipeline. They just approved one hundred more houses that will border this property,” a resident told Molly in 2025.
Initially, Palm Coast’s mayor was in favor of the project, but when residents came out against Belvedere, Mayor Mike Norris recommended that the council withdraw the city from the project in April 2025.
Flagler County confirmed in May 2025 that Palm Coast declined the project, which means the county would not pursue the $10 million Florida grant.
At last check, Belvedere was exploring the possibility of building the facility in Bunnell. We have requested an update from the city clerk’s office and are waiting to hear back.