VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Beachgoers in Volusia County may have noticed fewer parking spaces along the shore over the July 4 holiday weekend — and it was intentional. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office quietly launched a pilot program reducing on-beach parking near the county’s busiest beach parks, aiming to cut down on dangerous interactions between vehicles and beachgoers.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood says the decision came after a series of troubling incidents involving children being struck by vehicles on the beach.
“Myself, the deputy county manager, all the beach staff, and my command staff sat down and talked about, ‘Is there something differently we can do to protect children on the beach?’” Chitwood said.
During Memorial Day weekend, a 22-month-old girl was killed in New Smyrna Beach after she darted into a traffic lane on the beach. Before that, a 3-year-old was struck by a vehicle in April during Jeep Beach but survived.
[WATCH: 2-year-old killed after being hit by car on beach]
“I don’t want to see another kid killed or another kid struck, and that’s why the decision was made,” Chitwood said.
Under the pilot, 125 on-beach parking spaces near the 10 busiest beach parks were closed off. Chitwood also posted a 16-minute video to Facebook that he says shows deputies speaking with families who supported the change.
“It’s not drive-free — it’s no parking in that zone. We decided because a lot of families use the parks and their amenities there — let’s try it,” Chitwood said.
Not everyone is on board. Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower argues that reducing parking is the wrong approach — and that expanding beach access is the real solution.
“The solution is to open up more beach. Beach access is beach driving, so we have to open up more beach to where the cars can get there, park and get out of the car and enjoy the beach,” Brower said.
“Don’t take away more parking. Don’t take away more beach access. That’s what’s happening,” Brower added.
The county and the sheriff’s office say they are still evaluating the results of the July 4 weekend pilot. Officials plan to gather additional community feedback as part of an operational review, though they have not yet outlined how that feedback will be collected. Based on those findings, they will determine whether the reduced-parking strategy will be used again during future high-traffic beach weekends.