The Marineland Town Commission Thursday evening agreed to suspend all permitting of special events, including vendor markets, 5K runs and weddings anywhere on the grounds of the River to Sea preserve–a public park–until the town and Flagler County government are in full compliance with the management terms of the preserve both had violated. The suspension is not a small matter for Marineland, whose character as a town with only a handful of residents and just one private business is defined at least in part by the events that take place in town, especially in connection with its natural amenities.
Leisure & Tourism
In ‘Every Brilliant Thing,’ City Rep Produces the ‘Most Hilarious Show About Depression You’ve Ever Seen’
“Every Brilliant Thing” a one-man play, is the story of a man who as a child sought to cope with his mother’s depression and suicidal tendencies, and to find a way to cheer her up. At first glance, “Every Brilliant Thing” may seem to be a play that labors and strains under the profound, harsh realities of depression and suicide. But a critic called it “the most hilarious show about depression you’ve ever seen.”
It’s Not Your Imagination: Palm Coast Homes Used as Vacation Rentals Increase by 70% in 2 Years, to Over 500
It’s not your imagination. The number of single-family homes used as short-term vacation rentals has increased by 60 percent in two years across Flagler County, while the number of vacation rentals in Palm Coast alone, where most of the growth is concentrated, has surged by 70 percent, with the overwhelming share of those in single-family homes, condos or town houses.
USTA and Palm Coast Play to New Courts, New Tournament and Possible Doubles Partnership
Less than an hour before qualifiers were to start for the inaugural Women’s USTA Pro Circuit tournament at the Southern Recreation Center this morning, Palm Coast officials, representatives of the USTA and players gathered at the newest court-side in town to cut the ribbon on four new clay courts.
Daytona Solisti Chamber Orchestra Opens 20th Concert Season Jan. 19 with ‘Baroque and Classical Gems’
The Daytona Solisti Chamber Orchestra will open their Winter Festival – the group’s 20th concert season – with “Baroque and Classical Gems,” featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, a work by his youngest son Johann Christian Bach, and an original piece, based on a 17th-century Lutheran hymn, by Solisti principal cellist Joseph Corporon.
Lee Greenwood Brings His ‘God Bless the USA’ and American Spirit Tour to Palm Coast’s Fitz Arts Center
Country music star Lee Greenwood bring his trademark patriotism, his star-spangled-shirt, his veteran recognitions, his “God Bless the USA,” his many hit songs and many that weren’t to the Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center in Palm Coast the evening of Jan. 23 for a 7 p.m. concert, just six days after Crystal Gayle, that goddess of country, descends with her river of hair on the Fitzgerald stage.
Palm Coast to Host USTA Pro Circuit Event at Southern Recreation Center
The Southern Recreation Center is the new home of the annual Palm Coast Open, a USTA Pro-Circuit event. This year, we are excited to introduce the Women’s 35k Tournament alongside the Men’s 15k Tournament, which has been a community staple for over 13 years. Over the years, Palm Coast has hosted tennis legends like Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Monica Seles, Jimmy Connors, and local star Reilly Opelka.
Town Center Glitters with Palm Coast’s Starlight Parade and County’s Float Takes Best of Show
This year’s Grand Marshal, Randy Stapleford, a retired U.S. Navy Captain and Flagler County’s Florida Inland Navigational District Commissioner, led the parade in grand style. Commander Stapleford, recognized as Flagler County’s Veteran of the Year in 2023, brought his dedication to service and holiday spirit to this cherished community event.
Flagler County Will Spend $250,000 to Fix Wadsworth Skate Park, Exploring Concrete Upgrade in Future
The Flagler County Commission agreed today to spend up to $250,000 to repair and rebuild steel ramps at Wadsworth Skate Park near Flagler Beach in the coming year, while investigating a plan–but not a commitment–to rebuild the park with concrete ramps and possibly include a pump track for cyclists. But that $2 million plan would be more of a hope than a reality.
Ragga Surf Fiasco: How Flagler County Risked Losing River to Sea Preserve Over Botched Favor for a Private Business
Flagler County government and the town of Marineland have come close to losing their joint ownership of the 90-acre River to Sea Preserve, the public park, after the state’s land trust discovered that the county and the town were allowing the for-profit Ragga Surf Cafe to use the preserve for its operations since September without permission from the state and in violation of the county’s own rules and procedures. Here’s what happened.
Flagler Beach May Start Policing Grease, Fats and Oil Discharges at Restaurants and Other Businesses
The Flagler Beach City Commission this evening will hear a proposed ordinance that would create a “fats, oils and grease” (or FOG) inspection program that would apply to all restaurants, fast food establishments, automotive businesses and others, with a $25-a-month fee. The program is intended to reduce grease clogging city infrastructure and causing taxpayers expensive repairs.
USTA Interested in Managing Southern Rec Center, But Locals Worry About Messing With a Good Thing
After granting Palm Coast $700,000 to build five additional tennis court at the Southern Recreation Center, the USTA is interested in a management partnership with the city there. But tennis and pickleball players at the center are raising cautions about such an arrangement, worrying either that pickleball would get cheated or that other amenities would be run differently, though the potential arrangement also has some notable support.
Palm Coast’s Vacation-Rental Rules Ready for Prime Time as Council Refines Them, But They Could Be Short-Lived
Palm Coast’s debut short-term rental ordinance is heading for approval over the next few weeks as the City Council today, inheriting a draft in the works for months under a largely different council, signed off on it with minor adjustments. The council will vote on the proposal on Dec. 17 and Jan. 7, when the public may yet address it.
UNF Gets $800,000 National Parks Service Grant to Restore Coastlines and Battle Erosion
The University of North Florida and National Park Service announced the NPS has awarded nearly $800,000 to UNF to ramp up efforts to restore local coastlines and battle shoreline erosion at three national parks in Florida and Georgia.
Addiction v. Redemption in City Repertory Theatre’s Production of Clifford Odets’s ‘Country Girl’
Clifford Odets’s play, opening at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Thursday and running as a staged reading through Sunday, tells the story of Frank Elgin, a once-lauded actor who’s become mired in booze even as he’s hoping to return to his past glory, while his ever-faithful wife, Georgie, struggles to keep him from tumbling into an alcoholic abyss. CRT is staging some of its leading stars and veterans, including Director John Sbordone.
Fairness in Question as Flagler County Puts in Place ‘Tool’ to Tax Barrier Island for Beach Protection
Flagler County’s Hammock residents applaud the county’s efforts to devise a permanent method to pay for the $8 million a year it needs to manage the county’s beaches against constant erosion. But today, those residents told the County Commission that the special taxing district the county is planning for the Hammock and other portions of the barrier island, but not Flagler Beach and not anywhere on the mainland, is unfair.
The Sex Wars Through Neil Simon’s Wit: City Rep Stages “Jake’s Women,” a Comedy in Dramatic Acts
In Neil Simon’s “Jake’s Women,” opening tonight at City Repertory Theatre in Palm Coast, Jake is a novelist who has issues with intimacy, guilt, trust and all sorts of other familiar themes of the sex wars as he navigates the shoals of upper-class middle-age American dynamics, back when those problems were all we had to worry about. But it’s not a traditional play, as Neil Simon has a lot of fun breaking the fourth wall–that imaginary divide between the stage and the audience.
Bunnell, Palm Coast and County Will Host Joint Veterans Day Ceremony and Parade Nov. 11
The parade will travel east on Moody Boulevard and conclude at the Government Services Building where the traditional ceremony will begin. Retired U.S. Naval Captain James Randall “Randy” Stapleford – a career naval aviator who served from 1972 to 2003 – will be the grand marshal of the parade and will share a few words at the ceremony.
DSC Partners with Florida Surf Film Festival in Showings Nov. 15-16
Three-time World Surf League Champion Tom Curren will make a special appearance at the East Coast premiere of “Tom and I”, a film directed by Nilton Baptista and Jeremy Pfeiffer. The premiere will be held during the Florida Surf Film Festival, taking place November 15-16 at Daytona State College’s News-Journal Center.
Flagler Auditorium’s New Season Launches with St. Augustine Orchestra, and a Special Violinist, Sunday
When the SAO, which lacks its own permanent performing space in St. Augustine and plays at high schools, churches and other venues across Northeast Florida, reached out to the Fitzgerald to rent its theater for a concert, Fulmer and the performing arts center governing board saw an opportunity they didn’t want to slip away: to bring back classical music performances to the local stage.
Palm Coast Council Wants Another Re-Write of Vacation-Rental Ordinance, Pushing Approval to Next Year
Four months after it directed its attorney to draft it, the Palm Coast City Council again delayed approving the city’s first-ever vacation-rental ordinance as numerous issues and new proposals arose after the latest draft, which was due for a first read on on Tuesday. Instead, the council agreed to table it and schedule another workshop in December or January, when three new members will be on the council. That means the council will barely have time to approve the ordinance before the state Legislature again tries to pass a law that invalidates local ordinances.
The Gathering Place, a New Flagler Beach Venue, Offers a Shamanic Journey and Other Events
The music duo Wandering Spiral, featuring Michelle Davidson and Rick de Yampert, FlaglerLive’s arts and culture writer, will perform during a Full Moon Sound Bath and Meditation from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at The Gathering Place.
Palm Coast Could Have Its First Free, Public 18-Hole Disc Golf Course in a Planned W-Section Park
Palm Coast and Flagler County may soon have their first disc golf course. If the Palm Coast City Council approves a proposed agreement with a builder, the 18-hole course will be the central feature of a new 9-acre city park at the corner of White Mill Drive and Pine Lakes Parkway. The builder, Marbella Apartments, will build the park at its expense, but in exchange for $569,000 in park impact fee credits.
Jesus Christ – He’s a She! City Repertory Theatre Stages All-Female Version of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
Here comes City Repertory Theatre with its all-female version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which opens the Palm Coast troupe’s 14th season with performances tonight and through Sept. 29 in its newly renovated black box theater at City Marketplace. The she-Jesus – at least the one based on Webber’s musical – first reared her head in the 20-teens when Juilliard grad and soul-jazz-musical theater singer Morgan James had a dream that she was singing the role.
A Gender-Miracle Superstar, Shakespeare, Neil Simon and More fill City Repertory Theatre’s 14th Season
When City Repertory Theatre opens in 14th season on tonight with “Jesus Christ Superstar,” patrons will be greeted by a newly renovated venue space at CRT’s black box theater in Palm Coast’s City Marketplace. The new seating risers and new paint, says founding director John Sbordone, are courtesy of a $69,000 gift bequeathed to City Rep by the Palm Coast Arts Foundation. Here’s a look at City Repertory Theatre’s 2024-2025 season.
Here’s How You Fix Your Florida Parks Problem, Gov. DeSantis
Gov. DeSantis’s super-sneaky plan to build a trio of golf courses, two 350-room hotels, and several sport facilities in nine state parks turned out about as well as his school board endorsements. Here’s a way to fix the mess.
Reilly Opelka, Grateful To Be Playing Again, Recounts Odyssey of Harrowing, Nearly Career-Ending Injuries
Though Reilly Opelka, the former Indian Trails Middle student who trained at the Palm Coast Tennis Center, lost his opening match at the US Open this week, he described in an interview with FlaglerLive how close he came to the end of his tennis career as a string of harrowing injuries sidelined him before unique surgeries helped him make his way back to the tour. He continues to be involved in Palm Coast’s tennis endeavors.
Critics Want DeSantis Parks Plan Shredded For Good
Environmentalists are seeking assurances that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has scrapped plans for a series of golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park after a state spokeswoman said the proposal has been dropped. Audubon Florida, the Sierra Club and other groups also are rallying against additional changes floated by the state Department of Environmental Protection for eight other award-winning state parks. The plans, which include a pair of resort-sized lodges, pickleball courts and disc-golf courses, have drawn fierce opposition from Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
‘Hell No!’ Response and Plan Sponsor’s Pull-Out Force DeSantis Administration to ‘Pause’ State Park Scheme
In a masterpiece of spin and understatement, the DeSantis administration credited “overwhelming interest” for temporarily pausing a scheme to put golf courses, hotels and pickleball courts on nine of Florida’s pristine state parks. “Overwhelming opposition” better describes the thunderous “Hell no!” Tallahassee was hearing from private citizens and public officials throughout the state. The secretive groups behind the plan heard the dissent loud and clear. The Tuskegee Dunes Foundation acknowledged it sponsored the plan to build on the park and has pulled out due to the public backlash.
DeSantis Wants to Build Golf Courses and Hotels in Florida’s State Parks
The DeSantis administration has plans to transform Florida’s award winning state parks. One of the worst plans talks of building not one, not two, but three golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound. There are plans at the other parks for big motels and pickleball courts and disc golf courses, all of which run completely counter to what our state parks are all about.
An Inside Look at the Army Corps’ Beach Renourishment Along Flagler County’s Shore as It Nears Completion
The beach renourishment project that started in Flagler Beach last month after almost 20 years of planning and waiting is nearing completion at remarkable speed, with operations moving to the area of the Flagler Beach pier and north of it starting in the middle of next week and windup expected this month. The project is little short of the recreation of earth. Here’s a detailed tour for those unable to make it to the project site.
Flagler Beach Gets $745,000 TDC Grant for Boardwalk Rebuild That May Never Happen, Besting County and Palm Coast
After three bracing presentations by three local governments but tortuous debate by Flagler County’s Tourist Development Council members, the council on Wednesday approved a $745,000 grant for Flagler Beach to rebuild its boardwalk near the pier even though the city has none of the remaining $3 million to build it. Palm Coast and Flagler County were at the losing end of the three-way pitch for the sizeable grant, which the tourism board offers only every two years.
Council Votes 7-2 to Deplete Tourism Fund’s $11 Million Reserves and Build Flagler Visitor Center on SR 100
It was as audacious a plan as any that Flagler County Tourism Director Amy Lukasik presented to the Tourist Development Council this morning: take out $10.3 million out of two tourism funds’ reserves, reducing those reserves to $1.2 million, and appropriate the money for construction of the Flagler County Visitor and Eco Discovery Center on State Road 100, near the metallurgic foot bridge. The council went for it, voting 7-2 to recommend moving forward with Lukasik’s plan.
Alien Menace and Combustible Dancing Shake Up City Repertory Theatre with “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals”
“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals,” which opens tonight at City Repertory Theatre in Palm Coast, takes its cue from the body snatching school: After an extraterrestrial presence stealthily arrives via a meteor that crashes into a small-town theater and proceeds to uncork “some kind of blue” something, the townsfolk are suddenly and inexplicably breaking into song and dance routines in everyday life situations. Soon the infected townsfolk begin acting more and more like zombies.
July 4 Celebration from Flagler Beach Parade to Palm Coast Fireworks at County Airport
Flagler County Government and the Cities of Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, and Bunnell invite all Flagler County residents and visitors to the United Flagler 4th Community Celebration on Thursday, July 4, starting with the Independence Day Parade in Flagler Beah and culminating with a 15-16 minute firework show featuring 3,300 shells at the county airport. All events are free.
Sales Tax Is Lifted On Slew of Recreational Items For All of July
Sales taxes won’t be collected in July on many supplies for boating, fishing and camping and tickets purchased for live music events, sporting events, fairs, festivals, theater performances and movies. Last year, the state offered the tax holiday for three months, but it will be limited to July this year.
At ‘Monumental Groundbreaking’ for Beach-Rebuilding, Shovels of Praise, But Not a Word About Climate Change
Federal, state and local officials gathered at veterans Park in Flagler Beach under a broiling sun this morning for the groundbreaking of the $27 million beach-rebuilding project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a project 20 years in the making. Officials exchanged heaps of praise, but a principal reason behind the project–climate change–was left unspoken in a state where the words are now banned.
Flagler County’s Beach Protection Tax: Right Idea. Wrong Execution.
The county has the right idea: we need a new tax to pay for expensive beach protection, or we’ll lose the beach. But the county’s execution is hurried, the plan is poorly thought-out, it is riddled with holes and inconsistencies, and it has included zero public participation and zero preparatory discussions with other governments. That’s a recipe for failure, deservedly so: the county is taking the public and its sister governments for granted, if not punting to the cities to do the heavy lifting.
Sprawling Vacation Rentals Becoming a Nuisance to Palm Coast Residents. City’s Answer: ‘Our Hands Are Tied.’
As resident after resident complained about short-term renters next door–the noise, the partying, the traffic, the garbage, the unexpected–the Palm Coast City Council chambers Tuesday evening sounded more like a scene transplanted from the County Commission a decade ago, or legislative committees in Tallahassee every year since. But the legislature just passed a new law that forbids cities like Palm Coast from imposing stricter regulations on vacation rentals than they would on permanent residents.
‘Crows and Ravens’ Workshop and Book Signing by FlaglerLive’s Rick de Yampert June 22 at Vedic Moons
Rick de Yampert will talk about that feisty raven and other crazy corvids when he presents his workshop “Crows and Ravens: Birds of Myth and Magic” from 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday June 22 at Vedic Moons – Ayurvedic Wellness, Metaphysical Shop & Herbal Apothecary, 4984 Palm Coast Pkwy NW, Unit 4-6, Palm Coast.
Flagler Seeks New Countywide Tax of Homes and Businesses for Beach Protection, But Cities’ Support Is Key
In a “dramatic change for the county,” the County Commission on Monday agreed unanimously to seek a new levy on residents and businesses to pay for $7 million in annual beach reconstruction and protection–for ever. It is the county’s surrender to an unavoidable reality: to preserve the beaches, considered to be Flagler County’s greatest asset, residents across the county will have to shoulder a share of the cost in the same way that they pay for garbage services and stormwater protection.
Developer of Proposed 204-Boat Storage Facility in Hammock on Collision Course with County and Residents
Flagler County government, the Hammock Community Association and Hammock Barbour, the proposed development of a 204-boat storage facility and restaurant on A1A in the Hammock, are heading for another likely collision in court. A nearly four-hour mediation session that started this morning and stretched into afternoon, involving the three parties, failed.
Palm Coast Planning for YMCA on Central Avenue in Town Center, Raising Questions About Arts’ Place
Palm Coast government is getting ready to build a 30,000 square foot YMCA on a 12-acre city-owned parcel on Central Avenue in Town Center, next to what used to be the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s stage and a 5-acre parcel that had been dedicated to arts and culture. Plans at the moment do not include a pool. A director of United We Art, the organization overseeing arts development in Town center, fears picking that location for the Y may crowd out the city’s pledge for an arts center there.
1st Three Months of 2024 Drew Record Number of Tourists to Florida
An estimated 40.6 million people traveled to Florida during the first three months of the year, a 1.2 percent increase from the same period in 2023. The state also issued revisions that increased totals for all of 2023.
Flagler Pride Fest Cancelled Amid Turmoil as Organization’s Founder Resigns, Board Frays and Wagons Circle
To the dismay of a following that had grown substantially over the years, what was to be the fifth annual Flagler Pride Fest at Palm Coast’s Central Park in a month was abruptly cancelled last week through a cryptic, short-lived Facebook post that was scarcely cleared up when what remained of the organization’s officials posted a not-entirely accurate statement attempting to explain the decision on Tuesday, and betraying infighting.
Flagler County’s Tourism Revenue Dips 6.4% in Last 6 Months as Covid-Era Surge of Visitors Dissipates
Tourism tax revenue in Flagler County is down 6.4 percent in the first six months of the fiscal year–October through March–as vacation rentals and leisure-room occupancy in local hotels has fallen after what Tourism Director Amy Lukasik describes as the “record-breaking years of Covid, when Florida remained an open destination as other states and countries took safer and saner protections for their residents.
No July 4 Fireworks in Flagler Beach Until 2027, But City Intends to Reconquer the Day, and the Skies, That Year
Flagler Beach hasn’t had July 4 fireworks since 2019. It will not have them again until 2027, by which time the pier, the boardwalk and the beach will have been rebuilt, assuming hurricanes, which have a malicious mind of their own, don’t interfere. But the city is intent on staking its place as the home of July 4 fireworks in that future when it is able to host the blasts again, restoring that old tradition.
Pressure Mounts on DeSantis to Veto Vacation Rental Bill as Flagler County’s Exception Draws Sneers
A growing list of opponents have been inundating Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office with emails and phone calls to veto the vacation-rental bill that, after 10 years’ tries, succeeded in scaling back local regulation of the short-term rental industry–except in Flagler County, which got the favor of an exception thanks to Paul Renner, the house speaker and Palm Coast representative.
Sea Turtle Nesting Season Is Here: Tips to Be Caring
Sea turtles are starting to nest on our beaches. Residents and visitors can play a big part in helping to protect vulnerable nesting sea turtles this spring and summer while visiting Florida’s coastal habitats.
Flagler Beach Commission Authorizes Up to $22 Million in Loans for Pier Demolition and Reconstruction
The Flagler Beach City Commission Thursday unanimously approved a measure authorizing the city administration to temporarily borrow money internally for pier demolition, design and reconstruction costs now estimated to be $18 million. The debt would be repaid by a tax-exempt financing note, itself to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency dollars.