WATCH REPLAY: Community Town Hall Discusses Driftwood Capital’s Request for $30 Million of Tourism Tax Funds

By  //  July 15, 2022

Become a fully informed constituent and voter – let your elected officials know your position

WATCH: You Decide! Should the hotel developer Driftwood receive $30 million of local tourism tax from Brevard County for their Westin Hotel project in Cocoa Beach? The public is invited to attend and participate in a Community Town Hall Forum set for Thursday, July 14 at the Radisson Resort at the Port to discuss Driftwood Capital‘s request for $30 million of tourism tax funds to promote its proposed Westin Hotel to be built in Cocoa Beach.

WATCH: Interviews after the Community Town Hall discussion regarding Driftwood Capital’s request for $30 million of tourism tax funds.

ERIC GARVEY: It is the opinion of most of us in the industry that this is a misuse of TDC funds for the benefit of a single private developer.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The public is invited to attend and participate in a Community Town Hall Forum set for Thursday, July 14 at the Radisson Resort at the Port to discuss Driftwood Capital‘s request for $30 million of tourism tax funds to promote its proposed Westin Hotel to be built in Cocoa Beach.

The Town Hall will begin at 5 p.m. and you can watch the entire event live on Space Coast Daily TV.

According to feedback in a Space Coast Daily Facebook post, and the response of Space Coast hotel and business community, this is a highly controversial issue that the public and business community opposes almost unanimously.

The issue will be decided when the Brevard County Commission votes on the proposal on July 19 at 9 a.m. at the Brevard County Government Center in Viera.

In a letter to Brevard County hoteliers, hospitality workers, business community and the public, Eric Garvey the COO of Radisson Resort at the Port, Spring Hill Suites in Cape Canaveral, TownePlace Suites Cape Canaveral, Four Points by Sheraton Cocoa Beach, Cocoa Beach Suites, Cocoa Beach Surf Company, Starbucks Cocoa Beach and Park Port Canaveral said:

It is the opinion of most of us in the industry that this is a misuse of TDC funds for the benefit of a single private developer.  

If passed, the agreement represents a drastic change to Brevard County’s Bed Tax Ordinance and will have negative impacts to our tourism community – and all the programs that benefit from tourist tax – for a generation.

I urge you to attend this meeting to learn more about this proposal. We are also asking concerned and well-informed business people to attend the BOCC Board meeting on July 19 at 9 am to make your position known to the County Commission.

This must send a clear message to our elected officials of our industry’s solid opposition to such an outrageous and ill-conceived proposition.

■ Who: All interested parties

■ What: Tourism Community Forum

■ When: Thursday, July 14, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.

■ Where: Radisson Resort at the Port – Jamaica Room, 8701 Astronaut Blvd, Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920.

■ Why: Become a fully informed constituent and voter, and to let your elected officials know of your position.

Space Coast Daily will stream the meeting live at SpaceCoastDaily.com.




WATCH: An Emergency Space Coast Tourist Development Council meeting in underway at the Government Center in Viera to address the $30 million tax request from the Driftwood Project.

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