Dave Castagnacci, the former longtime executive director of the Volusia County Association for Responsible Development, has died. He was 71.
“He was everybody’s best friend,” said Rob Renckowski, a friend of Castagnacci who discovered his body in his Ormond Beach condominium Wednesday morning, Oct. 22.
Castagnacci retired in October 2016 after 31 years at the helm of VCARD. Prior to taking on that role, he worked seven years as a local government reporter for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Castagnacci moved to Daytona Beach from Pennsylvania
Friends say Castagnacci grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to Daytona Beach after falling in love with the area while vacationing here.
Castagnacci’s LinkedIn social media page shows that he earned a degree in journalism and political science in 1976 from West Virginia University.
Terry Sadler, who described himself as “best friends (with Castagnacci) for 45 years-plus,” said Castagnacci worked for “small town papers” before getting hired as a reporter at The News-Journal. In addition to covering the local government beat, he also worked for 2-1/2 years as chief of the newspaper’s then-New Smyrna Beach bureau.
He was recruited to become executive director of VCARD in 1985 by Jim Cameron, the then-senior vice president of government affairs for the Daytona Regional Chamber.
VCARD has its office at the chamber building on City Island, at 126 E. Orange Ave. in Daytona Beach. It is led today by executive director Kelli Cosentino.
What is VCARD?
Castagnacci in an interview with The News-Journal in August 2016 described the nonprofit VCARD organization as an “educational group. We mainly liaison between the development community and local governments. We are an educational resource on environmental and growth management topics. To that end, we put on a lot of seminars and also work with governments when they’re amending their land development codes.”
What was Castagnacci most proud of in leading VCARD?
When asked to reflect on his career leading VCARD, Castagnacci said, “It’s been rewarding that I have been able to observe and work with so many outstanding professionals and local government planners and see how Volusia County has developed the last 30 years. Volusia and Flagler counties are a lot of times underrated as far as their environmental standards and regulations and the way they handle growth management. But Volusia was the first county to do a land acquisition tax. Fly over the county and you’ll see a large amount of environmental land. Those kinds of things have been the most rewarding.”
Castagnacci remained active as a volunteer after retiring
In an interview with The News-Journal in June 2016, Castagnacci explained his decision to retire from VCARD at age 62: “This has been a great opportunity and experience for me. I hope to move on to pursue volunteer and personal activities.”
In a follow-up interview with The News-Journal in August 2016, Castagnacci said, “I definitely don’t want to just fade out.”
Friends say Castagnacci followed through with that promise. He served as a volunteer on numerous nonprofit and community boards. He was actively involved in the nonprofit Cinematique Theater in downtown Daytona Beach as well as various arts groups. He also remained involved with VCARD as a volunteer.
“It became kind of a joke: ‘What meeting are you attending today?’,” said longtime friend Terry Sadler who said Castagnacci’s calendar was always full. He said he and Castagnacci had planned to see a movie together on Wednesday.
Cosentino said of Castagnacci, “He wasn’t just my predecessor. He was a really good friend. He, my immediate precedessor Kerry (Karl, who succeeded Castagnacci at VCARD when he retired), and I would have lunch together. He volunteered at most of my events and helped me when I signed on board in May 2023 to get situated and get to know the community players.”
Castagnacci was also a big cat lover
Castagnacci had two cats and also made daily treks to feed a cat colony behind the Arby’s fast-food restaurant on West Granada Boulevard. “He named every cat after an Arby’s menu item,” said Marty Opelt, a former longtime downstairs neighbor at the Wellington Station condominiums.
Renckowski said the cat colony was licensed with the city and that he plans to take over the duties of feeding the cats, whom Castagnacci assigned names such as “Curly Fry,” “Cheddar” and “Brisket.”
Plans are still being made for a celebration of Castagnacci’s life
Sadler is working with Lohman Funeral Homes in making arrangements for a celebration of life to be held at a yet-to-be determined date for Castagnacci.
Castagnacci is survived by a sister, Marilyn Carrelli, who lives in Pennsylvania, and several nieces and nephews.
“It’s such a tragedy,” said Rencknowski of Castagnacci’s death. “It was so unexpected. He was so well loved.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Friends stunned by unexpected death of former longtime VCARD director Dave Castagnacci
Reporting by Clayton Park, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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