County Votes 4-1 to Resolve Annexation Dispute Over Veranda Bay and Summertown, Ending Lawsuit Threat Against City

Flagler County government will not sue Flagler Beach after all. The County Commission today voted 4-1 to approve a settlement agreement with the city, ending what had been preliminary steps toward litigation. The agreement resolves five disputes centering on the annexations of the sister developments known as Veranda Bay and Summertown on the east and west sides of John Anderson Highway.

The settlement also clears the way for the Flagler Beach City Commission to approve the Veranda Bay annexation, which it had approved on first reading last month, only to suspend a second and final reading until all possibilities of litigation were removed. They now are. 

The Summertown annexation was completed in January. The City Commission takes up the final reading of the Veranda Bay annexation Thursday. The county does not intend to have a representative there, as it has in the past, since its issues have been resolved. 

“I am extremely pleased that the issues of concern to the county were resolved, despite the lone vote against the settlement by Flagler County Commissioner Kim Carney, whose district includes Flagler Beach,” City Commissioner Scott Spradley, an attorney, said. “I stated earlier that the issues at hand should and would get resolved short of litigation. I am very happy this proved true. As I had also stated, I would not subject the city to litigation, even if it were to be winning litigation, by moving forward on the annexation agenda without a resolution. So that box is now checked.”

In a 24-minute special meeting of the County Commission this morning, County Attorney Michael Rodriguez summarized the Feb. 13 negotiating session between the two sides’ attorneys and administrators, where the two parties resolved four of the five issues in dispute. The fifth was resolved in subsequent negotiations between the county and the developer. (See: “Flagler County and City Near Deal to Avoid Annexation Lawsuit But for Last-Minute Conservation Demand on Developer.”)

Ken Belshe, the developer who represents Veranda Bay and Summertown, attended the session with his attorney, Michael Chiumento, as did John Tanner, a resident of John Anderson Highway and an attorney who represents Save Flagler Beach and Bulow Creek, a non-profit that has largely opposed the size of the two developments. 

The settlement resolution recognizes that Flagler Beach will commit to providing water and sewer service to Veranda Bay and Summertown. The differences over responsibilities for and impacts on John Anderson Highway were resolved in part through a pledge of money by the developer for the proportional transportation impact fees that would have been paid to the county, had the land been developed in the county’s jurisdiction. 

With annexation into Flagler Beach, those impact fees vanish because the city has no transportation impact fees. But the developer agreed to still pay their equivalent to the county. (The Flagler Beach City Commission will vote on adding transportation impact fees in March.) 

“The developer’s contribution is not intended to fully fund the county’s future capital improvements or ongoing maintenance of the John Anderson right of way,” the resolution states. 

The biggest hurdle was a conservation matter. The county wants to buy 153 acres out of the Summertown acreage and place it in conservation. The 153 acres are around the headwaters of Bulow Creek, and would, in the county’s view, form a cohesive part of a future county park there. (See: “Flagler County Clears 1st State Hurdle to Acquire 153 Acres of Summertown for Conservation, Valued at $4.4 Million.”)

Belshe is a willing seller. The county and the developer had previously agreed to a two-year window, giving the county time to line up state and local money to buy the land. Failing that, the county wanted to put a conservation easement on the 153 acres. Belshe vehemently objected. That was the unresolved issue following the Feb. 13 meeting. To resolve it, the county and the developer agreed to extend the window to three years. The easement discussion was set aside. 

“The county and the city agree to work together with the developer of the subject property to effectuate the preservation of the sensitive environmental lands that are the subject of the county’s application for Florida Forever funding,” the settlement resolution reads, “as well as well as investigating potential alternative financial resources for the acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands for a period of three years.”

Thank you Pierre.

“I feel like the staffs from the City of Flagler Beach and the County worked well together to hammer out an agreement that is equitable for both sides,” Belshe said. “We look forward to developing both Summertown and Veranda Bay. We know that both communities will become places that the City will be very proud of. We are also looking forward to participating in the County’s ESL program.” The ESL program is the county’s Environmentally Sensitive Land fund.

Carney, a resident of Flagler Beach and a former city commissioner there, spoke briefly before voting against the settlement. 

She said the city and the developer have not resolved the issue of reclaimed water. The two sides would dispute that. The developer has repeatedly said that Veranda Bay and Summertown will consume the near totality of the city’s reclaimed water, once it is processed starting in the next decade. Carney said that’s an issue for the city to resolve. 

Second, Carney said the county made a mistake not buying the preservation land previously, but she was encouraged by the three-year window, as long as the land was at the top of the county’s priorities for preservation. She was also glad the issues around John Anderson Highway were resolved. 

Tanner also addressed the commission this morning, again objecting to the city paying $47 million to build a new sewer plant without extracting a more substantial share of the cost from the developer. (The developer will pay water and sewer impact fees to Flagler Beach.) 

Chiumento, the attorney, in an email he sent this afternoon to the Flagler Beach City Commission, requested that the commission formally approve the same settlement on Thursday, then approve the annexation of Veranda Bay. “All matters relating to Summertown and Veranda Bay should be concluded,” Chiumento wrote. “Accordingly, we respectfully request the City’s support for the annexation, comprehensive plan amendment, and rezoning approvals necessary to finalize the Veranda Bay project so that the parties may proceed to the next phase, including development of the Veranda Bay Marina and the Summertown commercial parcels.”

Absent yet another surprise–there have been many since Veranda Bay and Summertown re-emerged as proposed developments, when they were called The Gardens, in 2019–annexation appears to be all but done.  

“I’m glad that it’s over and now there is no risk of the county suing us,” City Commissioner Rick Belhumeur said. “Without that risk, it will definitely help us get the second reading of the Veranda Bay annexation across the finish line on Thursday. I’m also perplexed as to why Commissioner Carney continues to vote against things that certainly appear to be in our best interest.”