Choice for Volusia city: Daytona Beach Shores or The Shores?

There won’t be any City Commission candidates on the ballot in Daytona Beach Shores this year, but there is a big question awaiting Daytona Beach Shores voters.

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Daytona Beach Shores or The Shores?

The 66-year-old city is considering changing its name. Here’s the question that will be on residents’ ballot:

“Shall the Charter of the City of Daytona Beach Shores be amended to change the name of the City to “The Shores” for all purposes, with the change taking effect upon filing of the revised Charter with the Florida Department of State and completion of administrative actions needed to implement the new municipal name?”

Yes means the words “Daytona Beach” will be dropped, and The Shores will become the first city in Florida to start with the word “The.” (Note: The Villages is not a municipality, but a Census-designated place.)

How did The Shores name become a thing?

Residents have been calling the city “The Shores” for decades.

Peggy Rice, a former Daytona Beach Shores city councilwoman, told commissioners at a July 28 meeting that she heard talk of the name change as far back as 1990s, with some voices expressing concern about being associated with “some of the things that go on in Daytona Beach.”

The bigger city to the north may well be The World’s Most Famous Beach, but its reputation is also sometimes linked with a high crime rate and the debauchery of events like Bike Week and spring break.

Rice spoke in support of putting it on the ballot, adding: “I think it’s really a good thing for The Shores.”

Mayor Nancy Miller followed Rice’s comments with her own clarification.

“This had nothing to do with trying to separate from the city of Daytona, from the feedback I’ve gotten,” Miller said. “It’s just that we wanted to be the unique community, from what the residents had said.”

A July city memo states that conversation about making the name change official has picked up in recent years. So the city surveyed residents using social-media posts, utility bill inserts, condominium flyers, at events hosted by Miller, and other means. In all, 545 people responded, 95% of whom were verified as city residents.

The results showed nearly 2 in 3 support The Shores as opposed to Daytona Beach Shores.

What are Daytona Beach Shores residents saying, pro and con?

At a July 28 meeting, where city commissioners voted unanimously to put the issue on the ballot, residents spoke for and against the idea.

Allen Witt, one of Daytona Beach Shores’ many condo residents, called the name change a “marvelous idea,” and considers The Shores a “classy” name.

He said he has neighbors who say they’re from Ponce Inlet because they want to avoid using the name Daytona Beach Shores.

“They hear Daytona Beach, and they think motorcycle gangs,” Witt said. “Remember the riots we had at spring break this year? That’s what we associate with the name Daytona Beach.

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“The Shores sounds like what we are. We’re a residential community,” he said. “Yes, we have some tourists, but we’re not Daytona Beach, and we’re not Ormond Beach. We are a place where people come to live, people come to raise families, people come to retire. And I think The Shores says that perfectly.”

Frances Liquori, a resident for 12 years who said she’s been visiting for 40, opposes changing to The Shores.

“Which Shores? Is it a generic name? It’s too generic. It’s not specific enough,” Liquori told commissioners

She suggested people might be confused by signage at Interstate 95 that says “The Shores.”

Liquori said Daytona Beach Shores is a “classy” name, and she mentioned the potential cost of replacing signs, changing legal documents, and city uniforms, estimated at between $244,000 and $277,000.

“Daytona Beach Shores is specific and sounds distinct,” she said. “The Shores sounds touristy. … Maybe the people of Port Orange could just change it to The Port, or Merritt Island, change it to The Island.”

Vince DonVito, who was elected as a Daytona Beach Shores city commissioner in June without opposition to the commission’s Seat 3, but won’t take office until after the election, said he used to live in California, near Van Nuys, in a neighborhood that started calling itself Valley Glen to distinguish itself from the larger city.

It took years for the name to become established, but the tactic raised real-estate values, DonVito said.

“This will certainly help our real-estate value,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with separating ourselves for whatever the reason. I think it is good to have a new identity, and I’m all in favor of this proposed name change.”

− Mark Harper covers politics, government, and education for The News-Journal, with a focus on Florida, mostly in Volusia County. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Choice for Volusia city: Daytona Beach Shores or The Shores?

Reporting by Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal

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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 5:06 AM.