The Palm Coast City Council will vote on Sept. 21 on whether to keep its current regulations banning commercial vehicles in residential driveways, or relaxing the regulation.
Unless current council members have changed their positions since July 19, when those positions were as entrenched as a 2-2 split, the vote will come down to Mayor David Alfin. Based on his comments during a 45-minute discussion on the subject today, Alfin does not appear to be a fan of a change. He had sidestepped the question when asked during his run for mayor.
Council members Ed Danko and Victor Barbosa want a change. Council members Nick Klufas and Eddie Branquinho are opposed, though Branquinho sent mixed signals today, albeit only because he was in favor of a referendum on the issue. He was strictly opposed to relaxing the rules when he discussed the matter at a meeting in mid-July.
The council’s decision to simply vote on the question was the result of its own fracture on how to approach the issue, after considering asking residents about it in a more scientific survey, asking them about it in a referendum at the November 2022 election, or simply taking a council vote.
Palm Coast’s regulations disallow all vehicles, commercial or otherwise, with visible graphics or signage of over 3 square feet, from parking in driveways for more than a brief amount of time. It disallows vehicles with “equipment or materials,” like a ladder rack, or big dump or tool trucks, trailers, buses, and so on. Parking limousines is also banned. Work vans and trucks are allowed, of course, when making work calls.
Palm Coast is not unique. An Observer survey of commercial-vehicle regulations in 10 cities of roughly the same size as Palm Coast found that three of the cities had an even strict rule than Palm Coast’s, while others were more permissive, mostly basing restrictions on vehicle size, not visible lettering. Residential restrictions on the parking of large trucks and buses tends to be universal in most cities.
Whether to change that ordinance has been a vexing question in Palm Coast over the years. The then-existing Chamber of Commerce as far back as 2010 led an effort to relax the rule. In vain. The issue reemerged when Barbosa, elected to the council last November, was the subject of code enforcement violations. His black pick-up–previously a Chevy Equinox, now a Jeep–is promiscuously emblazoned with the white logo of his “Man Cave” barbershop (along with his own “BARBOSA” name guarding the hood in the Jeep version). He was parking the pick-up in his residential driveway in violation of city code.
Barbosa went into compliance before the city escalated the matter to a Code Enforcement Board hearing. But the experience soured him. He stepped up both his own code enforcement vigilantism after that and his war against then-City Manager Matt Morton, whom he attempted to fire. Barbosa’s animus aside, the November election also brought on Ed Danko, another partisan of relaxing the commercial-vehicle rule.
Before Mayor Milissa Holland’s resignation the council discussed the issue and agreed to survey residents. The survey, besides relying on a tendentious question, was a bit of a mess, allowing takers to click as often as they wished one way or the other. That skewed the results beyond recognition, until the city’s IT staff weighed the results. That returned an almost dead-even split between those for and those against relaxing the rule. But it left council members with little faith in the numbers. By then Holland had resigned. The council opted to defer any decision to the time when a new mayor was seated. That time is now, with David Alfin in the mayor’s seat.
Danko and Barbosa favor an allowance for parking one commercial vehicle, passenger car, pick-up truck or van or similar. Those vehicles currently may still park in residential driveways, but the lettering must be covered, the vehicle tarped. More specifically, work vans, including those with racks, would be allowed, as would vehicles with signage, as long as the vehicles are within the van-like size or smaller.
Danko renewed his push today. “We’re not an HOA,” he said, citing the acronym for home-owner associations, where residential regulations tend to be as draconian as in Singapore. “People work for a living. There’s nothing wrong with working for a living. That AC truck pulls into your driveway, when your AC goes down in the middle of August, you’re happy to see him. So why wouldn’t you be happy to live next to the guy who owns that AC truck? This hurts business. A lot of our businesses like AC and plumbing vehicles and electrical vehicles, they have to park off site. So when you call them after hours, on a weekend or an evening with an emergency, they’ve got to get in their cars, they’ve got to drive to another location, they’ve got to pick up their work vehicle, and then they’ve got to come to your house. And then they’ve got to do the reverse process to get home. And don’t think for a moment they’re not charging you for that time, because of course they are. But it just seems to me that it seems almost silly that we require a vehicle to be covered up simply because it has signs on it for business.”
He added, “I see nothing wrong with actually being proud of people in our community that run businesses, we should be encouraging them. And we should be business friendly.”
Barbosa called the draping approach “horrible” and asked: “How can that be permitted, and the signage, which would just be plain open, not be permitted? Doesn’t make sense.”
Klufas hasn’t favored the change. “We need to make sure that the majority of Palm Coast wants to see a change and something that’s existing,” he said, pushing for a referendum. It is almost certain that, in a referendum, the proposal to relax the rules would fail: Less than half of Palm Coast’s population is in the workforce, the half that isn’t is overwhelmingly dominated by retirees, and small-business owners who own commercial vehicles are proportionately few in comparison to the workforce as a whole.
Council member Eddie Branquinho took the same approach as Klufas, favoring a referendum. A change, he said, “could adversely impact Palm Coast residents.” Council members opposed to the change have frequently made that statement or a version of it, but without evidence. How it would adversely impact residents remains an unanswered question, especially with more than anecdotal claims–the sort of anecdotal claims Danko made when he said two separate residents who own businesses are moving out of the city because they can’t park their trucks in the driveway. He did not name them. The regulation leads to a perception of the city as anti-business, he said.
“I would challenge the comments,” Alfin, a Realtor, said immediately, also citing the market forces at play, and subtly discrediting Danko’s allegation: “The ordinance has been in place for, I guess, 20 plus years,” Alfin said. “So for us to suddenly not become business-friendly, I would question that. Also, selling a home at this point in time at the top of the market, a good time to move.”
Alfin said he wanted neither an unreliable survey nor council members’ anecdotal claims based on “a limited number of contacts with those that have a special interest in changing it” to decide the future of the regulation. “I would much rather know that the public who we represent as a city council are strongly in favor. And what I would be looking for is something close [to] two thirds majority would like to see the ordinance changed, or perhaps the code not changed.”
He favored yet another survey, but a more scientific one: the biennial National Community Survey Palm Coast commissions, and that’s due this year. A specific question about commercial vehicles could be included. Some 1,200 randomly selected residents will receive a survey by mail, and an additional 2,700 will receive a postcard with a QR code that will enable them to go online and take the survey along the same scientifically controlled lines. Last time, the survey was sent only to the 1,200 recipients, by regular mail, with 400 responses received.
Danko sniffed at another survey and at a referendum, rejecting the “majority vote” approach and going on to make a startly statement: “I don’t think the rights of a business have anything to do with a majority vote.” He added: “It’s our job to lead and not just toss this up to a ballot where we may have, between retirees and folks that work at home, and folks that work in offices, may outnumber those that run a business. But I don’t think they should be setting the precedent for allowing those vehicles in the driveway. And the fact that we’ve been doing it for 20 years doesn’t quite mean anything to me. Because if that was the case, we’d never change anything in this world.”
“Certainly, in my opinion, I do represent the entire voting public of the city of Palm Coast,” Alfin said.
“We all do, sir,” Danko said.
“And we all do. And I agree,” Alfin said, “so I am sensitive to what our residents throughout the entire community would like to see happen to the code.”
“This is not a ballot issue, if we can avoid that,” Alfin said.
In any case, Danko and Barbosa were not willing to abide by the survey results, and Branquinho surprised himself by joining them. Barbosa, Klufas and Branquinho briefly agreed on a referendum, but when potential costs of that arose–even if the referendum question was part of a regularly scheduled election, if it meant adding a page to the ballot, it would increase the city’s costs–Barbosa pulled out of that unlikely coalition. So it was back to the last remaining option.
“So at the next business meeting, we will take a vote on the current ordinance without change,” Alfin said. The action will be either to vote to change the ordinance or to keep it as is. If the council votes for change, then an amended ordinance would go before the council at a subsequent meeting, and two public hearings would be held–giving council members yet another chance to change their mind.
Meanwhile, the two sides may be mobilizing for a show of force at next week’s meeting.
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Paula says
Many of us who work for a living do not want billboards in residential driveways.
Concerned Citizen says
We aren’t asking for Bill Boards. So that’s a bit dramatic.
Why is it so hard for me to park my marked security patrol car in my driveway. When providing a 24 hour service. And having an office more than 30 minutes from home? This mentality caused me and my wife to move out of Palm Coast.
The things we worry about these days. And the open hostility amazes me to no end.
Mark says
You should park it at your buissness if it’s only 30 minutes away. Why should your neighborhood suffer for your convenience?
Concerned Citizen says
You have a lot of anger. You probably call Code Enforcement on folks.
I don’t really think I’m your main concern. And I bet my new vehicle is in much better shape than most work vehicles out there. But lets get all worked over something that doesn’t really matter
Denali says
Why do you insult folks because they do not agree with your thoughts. Mark did not display any anger, and so what if he calls CE. Rules are rules.
Yes, you are a concern if you park a business vehicle in your drive overnight. You are breaking the rules – but how does any of this apply to you? You do not even live in Palm Coast. Your words carry no weight in this city.
Lorraine says
With the pandemic causing job losses, it is great to see these trucks in people’s driveway. It means people are working. I am a Senior citizen and again I am glad to see people going back to work. Why would you want to interfere in that process by put rules and regulations that are decades old to limit that! Time to change with what is happening in this era!!
PS Related to real estate sales…if people see work truck in the neighborhood driveway ways, it is a good indication that people are not dead beat trash. They are hard working people! That would be a plus!
Mike Cocchiola says
No! No tractor trailers, tow trucks and dump trucks in our neighborhoods.
Concerned Citizen says
Again…
Most of us aren’t asking for that. Most of us just need to park a company vehicle in our driveway because we are in a 24 hour industry. And have an office more than 30 minutes from home.
I moved out of Palm Coast because Code Enforcement continiously harrased me over a marked security patrol car. We lived in the older C’s and did not have a garage. I have a jurisdiction from South Jax to Daytona Beach shores. And work sometimes 6 days a week. So taking the car home saved an hour of commute that I did not get paid for.
Come to some sort of agreement. And learn to be neighbors again.
Mark says
Glad you moved, 30 minutes is not far to park your work vehicle. 30 minutes really? Are you that lazy?
Concerned Citizen says
30 minutes times 2 = an hour round trip. Not paid.
It’s not about being lazy. I work 12 to 14 hours a day. Sometimes I get home then have to go back to work again. Sometimes on a day off a situation comes up and I have to go back. Why make it harder?
Mark says
Because your neighbors shouldn’t inherent your problems! Entitled much? Do what’s right and keep your buissness to yourself, an hour drive is nothing, people commute much further everyday. Stop being lazy.
Erobot says
Residential means one thing, commercial another.
Dennis says
Let’s not turn palm coast neighborhoods into commercial advertising spots. Keep it the way it is.
John Stove says
NO,,,NO and NO
When I come home from my job, I want to be stress free and drive thru my beautiful well maintained neighborhood and enjoy the yards, trees and waving neighbors.
I dont want to be reminded of work by seeing all these work trucks with their advertising and then park my car only to see my plumber next door neighbor working on a water heater out of his van in the driveway as “I have to go install it tomorrow so I am saving some time by prepping it here”.
Work is work and home is home, simple as that
Jp says
Entitlement at its finest.
John Stove says
Entitlement?
Hmmmm….lets see. We decide to move to PC and we drive around the neighborhoods and pick one to our liking. I do my due diligence and look into property values, ad valorem rates, property tax increase rates AND what type of rules and regulations are in place to keep the neighborhood looking nice. I see the regulations on no RV’s, no boats and no commercial vehicles and make a decision to purchase a house.
So….I did my research and decided on PC because of these rules and regulations and property values. The neighborhood we chose is not an urban area and not close to shopping malls or stores, just a little place for some peace and quiet and to enjoy coming home after a hard days work. No advertising, no work trucks after dark and everybody generally does their fair share of keeping the neighborhood nice.
Others…get a job that requires them to drive to a location to pickup and return a work vehicle (unpaid in some cases)….or in other words a commute. Did they look in to this when they researched the job benefits or the neighborhood they chose?
Now they realize that this impacts them and they want those around them to accept a change that wasnt part of the regulations when they bought their house and I am the one that is entitled?
Get real
palmcoaster says
No to changing our current ordinance that is part of what keeps Palm Coast beautiful. Right now we have single family homes with 4 or 5 cars and a garage used for storage parking their cars day and night on the swales, street or absentee neighbors driveways and will be allowed to also bring their commercial vehicles…please No. We bought in residential areas, not strip malls, no industrial parks or storage places. Do not change our current commercial vehicle No Parking On Homes ordinance. Remember that the minority wishes were defeated in the Mayoral race and we the silent majority need to be heard now. Thank you.
TheTruth says
Next we will see traitor trailers and RV’s and there you go everyone will do as they please.
I noticed PC no longer regulates people’s lawns getting over grown. They don’t even mow in the area’s they used do. So, what is Code Enforcement actually doing now? Why do we have them if you keep taking away the rules PC once had?
All the City keeps doing is building housing developments anywhere there is an empty lot. Killing off the wild life that now has no where to go. First it was building shopping centers everywhere now it is building homes everywhere. Has the City of PC thought about all the traffic they are creating now? This town was not built for all this traffic but of course they aren’t doing anything about that.
We don’t see them getting in any real large companies to support all these people they are building for. Poor management at its best.
Concerned Citizen says
Ya’ll are some sad folks.
Look at all the animosity and hate on here. And over silly stuff at that. You really show how you feel towards people who are working for a living. What if we channeled all of this hate towards important issues? Like homlessness and mental health care.
Most of us don’t want to park tow trucks and bill boards in our driveways. Some of us have company vehicles no different than what you are driving. But our profession requires them to be marked. What about those electricians and plumbers you so dearly depend on when things crap put? You’re ok with the tech having to drive to his office drop his car off and get his work vehicle? Most of the time not getting paid for it?
I sense more entitlement here than I do true concern about property values. Allowing something takes away your privlidge of telling on folks.
Palm Coast is no longer an ITT retirement community. And so much the better. Let’s learn to be diverse. And a bit more welcoming. A little less snitching on your neighbors for tall grass and the AC repair truck being left over night in the driveway after a 16 hour day.
Let’s learn to be nice again. Kindness is free.
Denali says
I find it very interesting that a person who claims to have moved out of Palm Coast because of the city rules takes such an interest in trying to now change those rules. The term “carpetbagger’ comes to mind.
As for some of your comments; the store clerk, the nurse and the garbage truck driver all have to drive to work every day and guess what, they don’t get paid for it either.
I do agree that the vast majority of folks need an attitude adjustment – this country, state and city lost their ‘decency compass’ and need to find their way back to a civilized world.
Concerned Citizen says
Still in Flagler so Carpetbagger doesn’t apply.
Woukd you like to drive an hour to get a vehicle. Then drive another hour to get to the job site? Sometimes at 3 or 4 in the morning?
My vehicle in question is a 2021 Chevy Capris. No different than any other sedan type vehicle in most driveways. The only exception being my Company markings on the side doors. No light bar. No ladder rack. And no different than driving thru a neighborhood and seeing the Realtors who don’t take of ftheir removable magnets because they are advertising. Unfortunatley for mine mine are decals.
All I’m sayin is let’s find some sort of compromise. And again learn to be nice to each other. Far more things important that our City Council should be addressing.
Roy Longo says
Agreed. 100%.
John stove says
The compromise is for you to understand that the no commercial vehicles in residential areas has been in existence for 20 years and working well. Drive to the office to get your vehicle just like I drive to St Augustine to get mine everyday,
No means no
Concerned Citizen says
Then let’s enforce it evenly and 24/7.
No marked vehicles. No exceptions. That means Law Enforcement, Fire Rescue trucks. Realtors with markings after busniess hours etc etc.
From what you say I shouldn’t need to see a Daytona Beach PD car in my neighborhood. Or an Exit Realty car in a driveway at 10pm. Right?
John stove says
Yes, call code enforcement for the realtor issue. First responders are not @commercial” and should be excluded
Karen Curry says
You might be able to get around these douche bags by purchasing a removable blank magnetic sign to cover up your company’s info.
Denali says
Yes, you are a carpetbagger – crossing political lines to try and influence decisions which have no bearing on you. Why do you insist on inserting yourself into a matter which does not concern you. Do as you please in your corner of unincorporated Flagler County, leave the business of Palm Coast to its residents and taxpayers – no need to rake your muck here. And while on this rant, I must ask why you insist using the collective term ‘our’ when referring to the Palm Coast City Council. You are not subject to any city jurisdiction unless you are served by city utilities.
So now it is a one hour drive one-way as opposed to the 30 minutes you stated earlier. Make up your mind. If your employer does not pay you portal-to-portal you need to renegotiate your contract. I assume that you are paying taxes on that ‘take-home’ vehicle? If not, you might want to talk to your employer, rent-a-cops are not essential personnel.
Oh yeah, if you find the realtor car signs to be offensive, report them. Oh wait, you do not live in Palm Coast so you have no standing to make a complaint.
Concerned Citizen says
Got it.
And thank you for being so insulting. It truly made my day. It’s nice to know that my 30 years of service to my country was invested to be treated like this.
Steve says
30 years in service to the country means everybody should agree with you?
Concerned Citizen says
Not at all. But neither did I start out disrespectful.
My suggestion was simply some sort of compromise. And man did the hate factor turn up.
All I can hope is when issues of homelessness, mental health and substance abuse treatment are brought up we exercise the same outrage .
palmcoaster says
Kudos for your reply, Denali! In Palm Coast lately the vociferous insulting minority like the one Karen Curry above innuendo disparaging us all against changing the ordinance, come to Palm Coast to make a dump of it. Further more all these dudes residing in unincorporated Flagler County attending city meeting hollering and threatening their obtuse demands to be materialized when as I concur with you, what our elected PC city council vote on have no bearing on them while living in the boondocks. They need to attend and holler to the FCBOCC instead. Don’t they get it yet that Palmcoasters defeated the uncivil minority in the mayoral election yet? We do not want wackos running city hall…Jeez!
Really concerned citizen says
Most people drive that long to get to their places of work and no they don’t get paid for that time.
Mark says
Keep your eyesore work vehicles at work. Stop being lazy
Pogo says
@Y’all is doin a helluva lot a exercise on this broken old gate
the cows are long gone:
The nekkid truth:
https://www.google.com/search?d&q=airbnb+market+cap
etc, etc
https://www.google.com/search?d&q=amazon+market+cap
“Whoever has the gold makes the rules.”
― Johnny Hart
P.S.
Barbosa: It’s often said ‘sometimes a cigar is just a cigar’… In the case of your Jeep, well, damn, that’s just plain embarrassing.
Jane Gentile-Youd says
Wanna lower single family home property values? Wanna lower Flagler County ad valorem tax base when your house value depreciates? 30 minutes to and from work? My hubby drives 71 miles each way to work and doesn’t whine and complain. Try working in the Northeast and commuting 2 hours each way to work. Wow – Wow cannot not believe anyone would want to commercialize a single family home district, create ugly views, upset neighbors who enjoy looking at planted flowers for beauty not oversized me me me work vehicles. Just my opinion after 41 years of being a Fla licensed Realtor… no biggie
Steve says
A petulant cry baby runs for office just so he can change a rule that affects him and nobody asks if he is really acting in the best interest of the city he is sworn to represent…Barbosa should recuse himself from the vote due to a conflict of interests.
mike says
There are plenty of place’s in Florida wear you can park your truck in the driveway GO THERE and leave the rest of us that are happy with the rules that were in place when we moved to Palm Coast
Percy's mother says
Absolutely NOT.
NO. NO. NO.
Leave the deed restrictions as they’ve been laid out up to this point.
AND, to Branquinho who said during Tuesday’s city council meeting that he was concerned because some “businesses” are making noise about leaving Palm Coast if they can’t park their work vehicles in their driveways . . . AND that he doesn’t want them to leave . . .
If a business is willing to uproot and leave town because they can’t park their work vehicles in the driveway, then that business doesn’t have much skin in the game.
Between shutting down a business, packing up and moving house AND business, trying to find a new business location, finding a town which allows “them” to park work vehicles in the driveway, moving expense (home and business), finding new work office space, setting up the business AGAIN, finding new clientele, finding a new house, uprooting kids, etc., one would imagine, the aforementioned businesses threatening to leave Palm Coast must not have much financial smarts. All the above is extremely financially costly. It takes years to recover from that type of move.
The threats to leave Palm Coast if “they”, the businesses threatening to leave if they can’t get their way are just threats for leverage. If you’re so upset about parking your work vehicle in the driveway, then have at it. GO! You’ll lose much more in the way of business and house and home than its worth when it comes to having tantrums about parking a work vehicle in your driveway.
By the way, EVERYONE is a hardworking family. Many, many people commute out of Flagler County an hour or more EACH way every day without all the complaining.
I commuted out of Flagler County for 20 years at all hours of the day and night. Sometimes I left home at 3:00 a.m. (getting up at 2:00 a.m.) so as to get to work by 4:00 a.m. I also did the reverse, and commuted out of county and LEFT WORK at 11:30 p.m. and didn’t get home until almost 1:00 a.m. Sometimes I STARTED WORK at 11:00 p.m., which meant driving on 95 at 10:00 p.m. So to the guy who’s crying about having to be up and on the road in the early morning hours, grow up and become a man for God’s sake.
Most of us are sick of the complaining and crying about this topic. If you don’t like the deed restrictions, by all means MOVE and don’t hesitate.
Concerned Citizen says
Again just so long as they are evenly enforced. And 24/7 no exceptions AT ALL.
Law Enforcement Officers can drive to their perspective agencies and jurisdictions just like the rest of us. And start and end their shifts there. One of my friends neighbors has a Daytona Beach PD patrol car parked in his driveway. Pretty far for a take home vehicle. Yet it is marked and in a driveway. Likewise the Battalion Fire Rescue and EM trucks.Need to stay parked at the respective stations and EOC. Better that they are in a secure facility anyways. And many a time I have cruised thru a neighborhood we are responsible for and saw Realtor signs still on vehicles. Because we all know they want to advertise as much as possible. And taking magnets on and off are a pain right?
So before you tell us to move if we don’t like it we just want fair rules. Why is it OK for some and not others?
John Stove says
Again…
First Responders (Police, Fire etc) are not “commercial” and not part of the regulation…THAT is why it is acceptable for them to be parked in residential neighborhoods. As side benefit of having a police cruiser in your neighborhood is a visual deterrent to anyone lurking in the area.
Again if you have problems with realtor signage, handle it by calling code enforcement and NOT by changing the regulations for the rest of us.
Edith Campins says
Approximately 90% of Palm Coast homes have garages. Park your comercial vehicle in your garage.
“Work from Home” means just. You can work at your computer as long as you like. It doesn’t require a commercial vehicle on your driveway.
We already have a problem with a lack of code ebforcement officers, how many more will the taxpayers need to pay for to ensure compliance?
I know a neighborhood that changed the ban. The first thing that happened was the expensive law suits. ” If he can park his vehicle why I can’t I park mine that is just a little bigger?” ” That is discrimination”. The end result was that the property values went down, the families and retirees moved out of the neighborhood and now it looks like a slum.
How about when the commercial vhicle breaks down and needs a “little servicing” right on the driveway? How about the noise from loading and unloading ? And that sound from a truck starting up for an “early morning call out” at 5 in the morning?
Have you seen the “commercial vehicle” driving around PC with the obscene words on it? How would you like that in your neighborhood?
Considring the prices of houses in PC who do you think wants to half a million or more for a house and see a commercial vehicle next door?
Celia M Pugliese says
No to changing our current No to commercial vehicles parked in PA residences orfinance. NO!
Celia M Pugliese says
Sorry the two typos but this issue gets my fingers trembling.
Lorraine says
Good morning all,
I have read all the comments here. And it appears many are against changing the ordinance. I must say after reading the comments I realized that this is a broader issue than I was first placing on it! Palm Coast has grown in magnitude from even 10 years ago. More young families have moved in that are working compared to retired Seniors. Where I live right now I feel it it is “port a potty city”! Every which way you look homes and apartments are being built! At some point the city has to look to the younger population and realize that they are the growth to our city! They need to work to feed their family and pay their bills. So I suggest a happy medium. No trailers, Rv’s, dump trucks, 18 wheelers ect. and limit each household to one work van or pickup tuck and that would include the small business man that has a trailer with a lawn mower on it and tools on it for landscaping. I have no problem with police cars in the driveway. I just feel safer knowing there is a cop in the neighborhood. Same with emergency fire chief cars ect. This does give them faster access to an emergency. BUT I am more concerned with “bulk” garbage sitting at the end of people’s yard then knowing I have a working person with utility van in their driveway next to me. The bulk garbage is a huge eye sore that sits at the persons curb 2 and 3 weeks at a time before pick up. The port a potty’s some times block visable view at intersections when driving. That is a hazard! Keep conditions to the type of work vehicles is important but we as a community need to keep in mind that the community is growing with many younger famlies and we need to take that into consideration.
John Stove says
Nope
Rules were in place before people moved here. Changing demographics doesn’t mean changing the rules.
oldtimer says
If you knew the rules when you moved here it is childish to want to change them to suit yourself
Mary Fusco says
I’m all for rules and structure but it can get ridiculous. When we moved here 22 years ago, the realtor gave us a phamplet of rules and regulations. No problem. 2 years ago, we had to have a dead pine tree cut down CE came out to give the OK and informed us that we did not have “enough” trees on our property. I was surprised since for the past 20 years, we had the same # of trees. We complied and had the 4 additional trees they said we needed planted. Amazingly, no one noticed this before. LOL. All I know is that I can see PC deteriorating, It is not because of trucks in a driveway, # of trees, dogs not licensed or the other BS that comes up but because of the people it is attracting. When we moved here in 1999, I left my car unlocked with my garage door opener in the driveway. Now you cannot even go to the beach without reading huge signs that say “don’t leave anything valuable in your car”. Where I came from, if grass wasn’t cut or snow wasn’t shoveled, a neighbor would come to check, not report you. As for the business trucks, I don’t know. If it goes through there should be some type of permitting with CE monitoring it instead of measuring the height of grass. Just saying. This horse has been dead for sometime now.
Lorraine says
I too have been here for over 20 years. I enjoyed your truthful comment. The attitude was much different years ago here. People said good morning to each other. The political fighting is tirering and accomplishes nothing. There has to be compromise from all on this issue and all other issues! Rules, laws ect. have to change over time with changing demographics.
palmcoaster says
Mary I am also for not changing the ordinance as is now. When we had for over 20 years a store front shop business in a strip mall we used magnetic signs in our business vehicle that we took down before heading home and we will install back next day when back at the shop. Laziness should not cost us all up to 30 % or more home price depreciation for the bad curb appeal of neighbors driveways!
RitaMae says
All this contreversary started when Barbosa got on City Council. He has been sited more than once for having his truck in his driveway advertising his ‘barbershop’. He is the one pushing for this ordinance to change and his ‘buddy’ Stanko is supporting it. You know the saying ‘Birds of a feather stick together’. The residents of Palm Coast concers are not high on their list.
Concerned Citizen says
All this hate over signs on vehicles.
Could we band together and focus on more important issues? Imagine all this angst and hate turned towards fixing issues like Street Lights, Sidewalks and Swale Maintenance. Or how about demanding more facilities for Domestic Violence Victims and The Homeless. See after long service in Airforce and National Guard as an LE and then another 18 years of Civilian Law Enforcement then making the switch I have seen all there is to see, And know that resources are scarce
You all say I have no right to an opinion. Even when I have family in Palm Coast. I suppose your right. Maybe I shouldn’t care. We moved to West Flagler several years ago after many years of renting. Bought a nice house and 3 acres. Was much more affordable and allows me to do my amateur radio activities and volunteer in the Emergency Services Community. After retiring as a Lieutenant from Fire Rescue it never goes away. But because I have family in the city and still work in the area it’s still home. A city limits sign is just that. Just a sign.
I’ll end it here and move forward. After loosing my Mom last week who was a career Nurse and watching my Wife who is a long service BSN turned PA work more than 12 hour days I have more important things to worry about. But thank you to those who showed their true colors. I really do appreciate it. It was a lesson learned.
Mary Fusco says
Concerned Citizen, please accept my condolences on the loss of your mom. My daughter is a home health nurse manager working out of Baptist in JAX. She has worked herself to the point of exhaustion, mostly 7 days a week due to Covid. She cares deeply and it is taking its toll on her. I worry about her every minute of every day.
Concerned Citizen says
Thanks Mary,
It’s still hard to believe it happened. And a hard hit all together. I have 3 tours In Iraq and Afghanistan. Lot’s of friends didn’t make it home. Lost Dad in 96 to a Stroke and that wasn’t easy. I just talked to her on Zoom the day before. She wasn’t feeling well bit I chalked up to age and stress. Then a few days later she is gone. And she hid it from us so we wouldn’t worry. And try to make it home and have to fight all the Covid restrictions. Sigh..
As a career health care professional she always put others first. And still was doing it right up to the end.
JF says
Why does Palm Coast have double standards? I drive for a delivery service and have driven through all of the neighborhoods here. I can tell you for a FACT that there are FCSO patrol cars in so many driveways and with the FCSO patrol cars they have a personal boat stored either in the driveway or in the side of the house. I am not an ill willed person, but why am I paying almost $100 a month to store my 21’ boat at a storage facility but they are allowed to keep theirs in their driveway. I didn’t want to be that guy, but called code enforcement on 4 different addresses over 2 months ago and these boats are still in their driveway/yard. If they can do it why can’t I???
Tim says
I’ve been in all but 2 states in American and have a very diverse back ground in Real Estate. That being said I can see both sides of this issue and feel for both, maybe there can be a compromise made with size, type, specific location, time frame (like over night and gone in the morning excepting couple of days off) and condition of the vehicle. I know first hand experience that if your not careful about this code it will affect conditions, values,re-sales and quality of life! Excuse my French but could turn neighborhoods into a real Sh*t Hole Quick!