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Local Business

Attorney Appeals Decision Rejecting Site Plan for 28-Unit Affordable Housing Complex in Bunnell, Citing Arbitrariness

April 18, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

The Phoenix Crossings apartment complex proposed for Bunnell is designed by Flagler Beach architect Joseph Pozzuoli, who also designed Bunnell's city hall and police station due to open later this year. (JPA)

Two weeks after the Bunnell planning board rejected the site plan for Phoenix Crossings, the 28-unit apartment complex for low-income tenants, the attorney representing the development filed an appeal to the City Commission. The appeal, filed by Dennis Bayer, the Flagler Beach attorney who specializes in land use and environmental law, argues that “there is a lack of competent substantial evidence to support the denial based upon concerns raised by third parties about the stormwater related to this project.” Put another way: the board’s decision was arbitrary and capricious. 

‘Enough Is Enough’: An Open Letter to Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris

April 12, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 33 Comments

Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris is misjudging the gavel's power, and purpose. (© FlaglerLive)

Aghast at Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris’s paranoid and accusatory performance at the State of the City Address this week, a resident asks the mayor for a reckoning with himself–whether he is truly up to the job of serving the community to the best of his ability, to do so within the requirements of the city charter, and to bear the title of mayor honorably and responsibly.

Flagler Beach May Sell Ocean Palm Golf Course, Where Owner Plans Building the Size of Palm Coast City Hall

April 11, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

The clubhouse at Ocean Palms Golf Club, shadowed by a high rise to the east. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler Beach government is considering selling the 40-acre, nine-hole Ocean Palm Golf Course at the south end of town to Jeff Ryan’s KTS Holdings, the current leaseholder of the property. Ryan would sign a deed restriction that would ensure the grounds remain a golf course in perpetuity. But Ryan is proposing to build a two-story, 30,000-square foot clubhouse and restaurant (the footprint would be 15,000 square feet, the building height 30 feet). The existing clubhouse is a one-story 1,560 square foot building built in 1961. 

County Buys Into $110 Million Speculative Sports Complex Palm Coast Voters Rejected in November

April 8, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 49 Comments

Jason Boudrie, owner of Synergy Sports Global, is selling Flagler County on the concept of a $110 million sports complex financed through a largely untested public-private partnership. The same proposal was at the root of Palm Coast voters' rejection of a referendum last November. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission signaled it was happily turning to an untested and financially risky public-private partnership with a company that would build a $110 million sports complex (in Palm Coast) in exchange for $6 million a year “lease payments” from the county. It is the same complex and concept that was behind Palm Coast voters’ rejection of a referendum last November.

Proposed Fuel Farm Off U.S. 1 Draws More Fire as Public Urges County to Reject Palm Coast Location

April 7, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Vicky Haley, in a shirt illustrating her opposition, was one of many residents who addressed the Flagler County Commission today against a proposed fuel farm off U.S. 1. (© FlaglerLive via county's YouTube)

Already bruised by mounting opposition since it was announced almost two weeks ago, Palm Coast and Flagler County governments’ proposal to buy 78 acres for a 12.6-million gallon fuel farm off U.S. 1 took more fire today, this time at the County Commission, even though the county last week pulled the proposal from today’s agenda. Numerous residents, all opposed to the fuel farm at the U.S. 1 location, addressed the commission, but commissioners themselves raised sharp questions about the plan, adding to its uncertain future. 

Palm Coast Approves Final Step for 489 New Houses, 147 of Them Near Proposed Fuel Depot

April 4, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

The Somerset subdivision is adjacent to industrial land in line for a proposed fuel depot. (Palm Coast)

The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved final plats for three residential subdivisions at three of the four cardinal points of the city (north, west, south) totaling 489 single-family houses. Of these house, 147 are to be built on land adjacent to an industrial tract slated for a massive fuel depot. 

County Pulls Massive US1 Fuel Depot from Consideration for Now as ‘Pause’ Gives Palm Coast Time to Study Options

April 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 30 Comments

The land at the end of Peavy Grade, where Palm Coast and Flagler County were preparing to locate a fuel farm. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission was set next Monday to approve a $10 million state grant to buy a 78-acre parcel off U.S. 1 in Palm Coast for a planned fuel depot and rail head. The county administration pulled the item from the agenda after the Palm Coast City Council opted to look for a different location in response to mounting public opposition to the plan. The pause is also a reflection of deepening skepticism among elected officials about a plan that was barely vetted before it was sprung on them just weeks ago.

‘Ritz Carlton Residences’ Will Add 128 Condo Units in Two Towers At Hammock Dunes (not Palm Coast)

April 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

A rendering of the two towers forming the Ritz Carlton Residences at Hammock Dunes. (BH Group)

Two condominium towers of 64 condos each will rise at Hammock Dunes, to be called the Ritz-Carlton residences, the belated culmination of a project initially approved by the Flagler County Commission in 2006 and still awaiting its final plat. The development will add to half a dozen existing and similar condominium towers at Hammock Dunes. But contrary to a report in the News-Journal, Palm Coast is not involved.

Palm Coast Council Seeks Analysis to Move Proposed Fuel Farm Off U.S. 1 as Opposition Builds Fast

April 2, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 36 Comments

Residents of Sawmill Creek, the new subdivision just north of a proposed 12.6-million gallon fuel depot, are among those voicing opposition to the project at that location. (© FlaglerLive)

The proposed 12.6 million-gallon gas and diesel depot on U.S. 1 has quickly gone from an economic development triumph, as Palm Coast and county officials described it last week, to a political liability fueled by public opposition spreading at the speed of a wildfire. On Tuesday, the Palm Coast City Council agreed to seek an analysis to determine whether there’s an alternative location better suited to the depot, a planned $75 million facility to be built by a start-up, Belvedere Terminals, with no track record in the industry. 

Owners Demolish Old Dixie Hotel a Few Weeks from Deadline, Ending Years of Litigation

March 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

It's actually happening: the demolition of the Old Dixie motel today. (Jane Gentile-Youd)

The Old Dixie motel is coming down. What used to be the Country Hearth Inn, what rapidly became an eyesore after it closed in 2008, then a battleground between Flagler County government and two sets of owners, was being demolished today, making one legal case moot and all but ending the second. The attorney for the property owners says something will be built there, but it’s not yet clear what.

Company Will Build Massive Fuel Depot and Distribution Plant at Rail Spur Off Peavy Grade in Palm Coast

March 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 68 Comments

The Florida East Coast rail line where Peavy Grade dead-ends, and where a spur will be built into a 78-acre fuel depot and distribution facility. (© FlaglerLive)

Belvedere Terminals, a start-up company developing a new gas and diesel distribution network by rail, will build a fuel depot and distribution plant on a 78-acre site on Palm Coast’s Peavy Grade, next to the city’s Water Treatment Plant 3 off U.S. 1. The company intends to start operations in late 2026 at a plant with half dozen fuel tanks with a total capacity of 300,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel storage, or 12.6 million gallons–the equivalent of 17 water towers like Palm Coast’s off I-95.

2-Hour Parking Limit Downtown Flagler Beach? ‘Great Idea,’ Planning Board Says, Urging City to Act

March 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 32 Comments

Construction of the Margaritaville hotel has intensified parking problems downtown Flagler Beah. The hotel's opening is not likely to improve matters. City businesses are proposing a solution. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler Beach Planning Board embraced an idea proposed by downtown business owners to impose two-hour parking limits in a small area downtown that is typically overrun by people parking for hours at a time, sometimes all day, preventing the sort of turnover traffic that helps businesses thrive. The board is forwarding the proposal to the City Commission and urging it to consider it.

AdventHealth Palm Coast Earns National Recognition for Senior-Friendly ER

March 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

The hospital earned the Age-Friendly Emergency Department designation from the American College of Emergency Physicians

AdventHealth Palm Coast is making emergency care safer and more effective for older adults. The hospital earned the Age-Friendly Emergency Department designation from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), recognizing its commitment to meeting the unique needs of seniors.

Board Approves New Tattoo Parlor for Palm Coast’s St. Joe Business Center

March 21, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Some of the images Ryan Sherwood included in his application for a special exception to open a tattoo parlor off Palm Coast Parkway.

Tattoo artist and business owner Ryan Sherwood had a much easier time than a self-storage facility when he requested a special exception from the Palm Coast Planning Board to open a new tattoo parlor and art gallery in Unit Seven of the St. Joe Business Center, off Palm Coast Parkway. The board voted unanimously to grant the exception.

New But Familiar Attorney Files for Re-Hearing in Latest Old Dixie Motel Case Twist

March 21, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

Dennis Bayer in court last year. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler Beach attorney Dennis Bayer is now representing the owners of the dilapidated Old Dixe motel, which Flagler County government has been seeking to have either rehabilitated or demolished. The county was very close to winning an order that would have pushed the building into foreclosure when Bayer stepped in and asked for a re-hearing.

In Rare Rebuke, Palm Coast Planning Board Denies Application for Self-Storage Business on Pine Lakes Parkway

March 21, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

A rendering of Hillpointe Way Storage, planned for Pine Lakes Parkway.

The Palm Coast Planning Board in a 4-2 vote denied an application for an 850-unit, 100,000 square foot self-storage facility on Pine Lakes Parkway, halfway between Belle Terre and Palm Coast Parkway. The facility would have 26 outdoor recreational vehicle and boat storage spaces. The decision is not final, and may not have been reached within the legally permissible parameters of the Planning Board’s responsibilities.

Palm Coast Mayor’s Motion for Construction Moratorium Fails in Face of Builders’ Bulky Show of Force

March 18, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 30 Comments

The Flagler County Home Builders Association had mobilized its troops outside City Hall this morning, to ward off the third attempted building moratorium in 14 months. The show of force worked. (© FlaglerLive)

Mayor Mike Norris’s motion for a residential building moratorium this morning, made after nearly an hour of zealous speeches for or against, but mostly for, quickly failed for lack of a second, and applause resounded across the standing-room-only chamber. Some of it was consolation for Norris by his supporters. Most of it was from builders and their supporters.

Ellianos Coffee Finally Opens Palm Coast Drive-Thru on SR100

March 17, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

The new Ellianos coffee in the Flagler Plaza shopping center off State Road 100. (Ellianos)

Ellianos Coffee, the Italian-styled drive-through that seemed to be forever under construction in Flagler Plaza on State Road 100 (between Flagler Dental and Suterra Wellness, the medical pot shop) is finally open. The Southeast-spreading brand announced the opening today in a release. The drive-through serve coffee, energy drinks and a quick-service menu.

Foreclosure Ahead: Judge Orfinger Maps Way for Flagler County Against Old Dixie Motel Owners

March 11, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Judge Rick Orfinger, the retired Fifth District Circuit of Appeal judge, was sitting in for Circuit Court Judge Chris France at this afternoon's hearing. (© FlaglerLive)

Senior Judge Rick Orfinger today directed the attorney representing Flagler County to draft an order that would grant the county’s motion for a final judgment in its favor nearly four years after an obscure partnership bought the property, made a string of empty promises to rebuild it, flouted a court order to put up a bond and ran up $115,000 in contempt fines.

AdventHealth’s Creation Life Program Helps Palm Coast Pastor Lose 100 Pounds and Find a New Mission

March 8, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

John Huff of Palm Coast. (AdventHealth) creative life

The Creation Life program at AdventHealth Palm Coast is a faith-based wellness plan emphasizes eight core principles: choice, rest, environment, activity, trust in God, interpersonal relationships, outlook, and nutrition.

Palm Coast Mayor Norris Calls for Indefinite Building Moratorium Or He’ll Vote No on $614 Million Utility Plan

March 7, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 55 Comments

Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris. (© FlaglerLive)

In a stunning reversal, Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris today told his colleagues that he will vote against the utility rate increase and borrowing plan he supported just three days ago  unless the city imposes an indefinite building moratorium on residential housing, or “no more approval of any more residential housing, to date uncertain,” as he put it. The revelation drew sharp resistance from Council members Charles Gambaro and Ty Miller, and guarded support–and an alternative path–from Theresa Pontieri, who twice before had called for a moratorium.

Palm Coast Announces New Short-Term Rental Registration Requirements

March 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

short-term-rental rules

Property owners operating short-term rentals within the city must register their properties annually with both the City of Palm Coast and Flagler County and comply with all applicable regulations. Failure to register may result in a notice of violation and a code board hearing.

Palm Coast Is Not a Business. It’s Not an Army Base. We Need a City Manager, Not a CEO in Fatigues.

March 6, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

palm coast city manager search

The fetish of government as a business has a stranglehold on politicians. The mayor likes to call the city “Palm Coast Inc.” and wants a “CEO” to manage it. The fetish for a manager plucked out of the military is just as brawny. It’s a mistake. It will compound Palm Coast’s problems, which for the most part were not created by management. The city administration, because of its professionalism and deeply credentialed staff, has for years been the last thing standing between chaos and civility, between governing and fiscal, populist irresponsibility. The problem has been misguided policy by undisciplined councils.

Black Hawk Helicopter Repair Company Gets 30-Year Lease in Plant It’ll Build at Flagler Airport

March 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 49 Comments

A Black Hawk helicopter at Flagler County airport in 2011, when it was one of three sent there with the Florida National Guard to help fight wildfires. (© FlaglerLive)

Get ready to see a lot more Black Hawk helicopters flying around Flagler County’s airport in the heart of Palm Coast as a new company moves in, bringing with it almost three dozen jobs. The Flagler County Commission on Monday in a 3-1 vote approved a 30-year lease with Van Damme Helicopters, a company that repairs and repurposes for civilian uses Black Hawks that are no longer used by the military. Commissioner Kim Carney dissented and expressed some reservations.

Man Holding ‘God Bless Homeless Vets’ Sign on Public Sidewalk Outside Funky Pelican Arrested on Armed Trespassing Charge

March 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 89 Comments

The Funky Pelican, in business since 2010, features large, public blackboards on its walls fronting State Road A1A, where members of the public are invited to express themselves, albeit courteously and congenially.

Jeffrey Marcus Gray, a 55-year-old resident of Forest Court in St. Augustine, was arrested on a felony charge of armed trespassing Sunday morning after he refused to leave the immediate vicinity of the Funky Pelican, the restaurant at the Flagler Beach pier. The pier is public property, as is the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. The restaurant itself leases its space from city government in Flagler Beach. But individuals may be trespassed from public sidewalks or parks or other public property, if not without raising potential legal issues.

Ex-Embry Riddle Athletic Director John Phillips, Preacher of ‘Patience,’ Appointed President of Palm Coast-Flagler Chamber

February 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

John Phillips in a screen shot from a YouTube interview on the Educational AD Podcast (2024).

The Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce appointed John Phillips, the former athletic director at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (and the broadcast voice of some of its teams) its new president after a five-month search and the untidy ouster of former President Greg Blose. Chamber Board Chair Michael Chiumento III announced the appointment in an email this afternoon.

Flagler Humane Society Takes a Lashing from Palm Coast Council as Accountability and Transparency Are Questioned

February 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

Flagler Humane Society Director Amy Carotenuto addressing the Palm Coast City Council Tuesday. (© FlaglerLive via YouTube)

Palm Coast City Hall’s maintenance crews might still this morning have been cleaning up the bloodbath Amy Carotenuto and the Flagler Humane Society she leads endured Tuesday at the hands of City Council members and numerous residents who spoke, some of them former volunteers at the society. Some of the criticism was unfair and undocumented, but some of it was self-inflicted by a society that lacks transparency and a sense of accountability.

GOP Lawmaker Wants Working Caps and Mandatory Breaks for Minors Ended

February 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Another day, another heat record. (© FlaglerLive)

Republican Sen. Jay Collins of Hillsborough County has filed a bill allowing employers to schedule minors to work at any time and for more than 30 hours per week.

Marineland Dolphin Adventure Parent Files for Bankruptcy and GM Resigns, Raising Concerns for Town’s Future Finances

February 21, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

Skies have darkened over Marineland Dolphin Adventure. (© FlaglerLive)

Marineland Mayor Gary Inks says the Dolphin Company, parent of Marineland Dolphin Adventure, filing for bankruptcy is creating uncertainty about the attraction’s future: the general manager at Marineland Dolphin has resigned after months of going unpaid, the hours have been reduced to just 15 a week, and the company is behind on paying its property tax installments to Marineland, Flagler County and other local governments.

Florida Turns Anti-LGBTQ Enmity on Target Corp., Blaming Stock Drop on Pride Campaign

February 20, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 27 Comments

In May 2023, Target stores like Palm Coast's, above, relegated their LGBTQ Pride displays to isolated parts of the floor, rather than up-front displays. (© FlaglerLive)

Three days into his job, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Thursday announced a class-action lawsuit that alleges Target Corp. did not properly disclose to investors the risks of a 2023 LGBTQ Pride campaign that drew a consumer backlash and caused a drop in the retailer’s stock price.

At Tiger Bay, a Smart-Urbanism Expert Gives a Nice Slide Show of Great Cities, But Local Relevance Is a Puzzle

February 20, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

Sandra Baer of Personal Cities did not likely tell a sold-out Tiger Bay Club audience anything it did not know. (© FlaglerLive)

Addressing Flagler Tiger Bay Club today, Sandra Baer, founder and CEO of Personal Cities, spoke a lot of buzzy concepts about “smart cities” no one would dispute and illustrated her talk with slides of some of the world’s greatest cities, but the talk was short on substantive insights relating to local challenges.

New Big-Box Store and Shops Slated Near BJ’s Wholesale, But Palm Coast Is ‘Leery’ of 255-Apartment Allowance

February 18, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 43 Comments

Less than 10 years ago, Palm Coast government was begging for developers to give its State Road 100 corridor a chance. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast City Council approved on first reading the annexation from the county of a 39-acre parcel on State Road 100, adjacent to the BJ’s Wholesale Club property just east of Bulldog Drive. The property is slated for a development similar to the BJ’s shopping center. But the council did so with an informal condition: that a portion of the land zoned for apartments, entitling a developer to build 255 units there, be converted exclusively to commercial zoning. No apartments.

Climate-Fueled Hurricanes Do to Florida What Politicians Won’t: Slow Down Rampant Growth

February 16, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

Hurricane Nicole's calling card along State Road A1A in Flagler Beach in 2022. (© FlaglerLive)

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that “Residents moving to Florida drop to levels of those who are leaving.” Climate-fueled hurricanes and subsequent increases in insurance rates had done what everyone believed impossible: Make Florida seem unattractive. The end of runaway growth should solve so many of Florida’s serious problems, argues Craig Pittman.

County Crafting New Airport Rules Regulating Surrounding Land, But Noise and Touch-and-Go Foes Shouldn’t Get Excited

February 11, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 33 Comments

A jet on a runway at Flagler County airport. The county is crafting a new ordinance regulating airport overlays. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission is moving toward adopting a long-required ordinance regulating the county airport’s flight-zones approaches. The ordinance applies to land use around the airport, restricting or prohibiting certain structures or vegetation, to minimize risks to and enhance the safe operation of planes. Some residents surrounding the airport who have been objecting to the seemingly perpetual touch-and-go flights of a flight school at the airport, and complaining about the noise, will be disappointed. The ordinance does nothing to address flights or airport use.

Deadline Looming, Palm Coast Council Prepares Response to Lawsuit Threat by Developer of Cascades in Seminole Woods

February 3, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

The byrndog property--the future Cascades development--facing northeast of Seminole Woods Boulevard. (Byrndog)

The Palm Coast City Council is almost certain to discuss, for the first time, the threat of a lawsuit by the developer of Cascades, a 375-acre planned development in Seminole Woods, who was denied more than half the 850 housing units he was seeking when the council approved the development in November 2023. Public anger at the higher density caused the council to reverse course from an initial approval. The developer last November filed what’s called a Bert-Harris claim. If it goes to court, the developer will seek $12.2 million in damages from the city. The council will decide Tuesday how to respond.

In Rare Vote Against Business, Bunnell Sides with Residents and Rejects Rezoning That’d Have Allowed Concrete Plant

January 31, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

Hard Rock's plant in Elkton. The company is seeking to open a similar plant in Bunnell, at the end of Hibiscus Avenue. (Google)

In a rare rejection of a land-use change that would have opened the way for a new company and new jobs in the city, the Bunnell City Commission voted 3-2 to turn down the rezoning of 1.4 acres at the end of Hibiscus Avenue from residential to light industrial. The vote closed the way for Hard Rock Materials Inc., a concrete manufacturing company, to build a batch plant there and on a much larger parcel attached to it. A batch plant mixes cement to produce concrete for delivery. It can be noisy, affect air quality and significantly increase traffic on Hibiscus Avenue with concrete trucks.

Want To Be a Health Influencer? Join 2025 MedNexus Innovation Challenge

January 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

A team of high school students presenting their innovation to the judges at last year's MedNexus Challenge. (Palm Coast)

The University of North Florida (UNF), in partnership with the City of Palm Coast and Flagler Schools and sponsored by AdventHealth, has announced the 2025 MedNexus Innovation Challenge. This exciting competition offers regional high school students the opportunity to pitch innovative solutions to Florida’s evolving healthcare needs while competing for scholarship prizes. This year’s theme, “Becoming a Health Influencer,” challenges teams of four high school students to develop strategies leveraging social media to positively influence adolescent health.

Bunnell Rubber-Stamping Development Agreement for 8,000-Home Haw Creek Reserve, Residents Complain

January 29, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

The Bunnell City Commission has not publicly analyzed the development agreement controlling the 8,000-home Reserve at Haw Creek. Residents want the commission to do that work. (© FlaglerLive)

The Bunnell City Commission devoted just 60 minutes to a workshop its own planning board had requested to review the 65-page development agreement with the Reserve at Haw Creek, the 8,000-home development west and south of the city that will change the complexion of Bunnell. Residents complained that 60 minutes wasn’t enough, and raised numerous issues that have been raised over the past few months, to a non-reactive commission. But the commission subsequently agreed to set a future workshop.

Selling Palm Harbor Golf Course Draws Strong Opposition as Council Meanders Over Purpose of City ‘Amenities’

January 28, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 27 Comments

For nearly a decade Palm Coast government has considered its Palm Harbor golf course as a city amenity that does not necessarily have to make money. Several council members now disagree. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast City Council found little support for any suggestion of selling the city-owned Palm Harbor golf course even as council members agreed it could not keep bleeding losses. At the same time, council members differed over the meaning of city amenities like parks and the golf course, which a different council agreed several years ago are not intended to, or expected to, make money. Council member Charles Gambaro wants a fuller analysis of all amenities profit and loss statements, raising questions about the meaning and purpose of city functions.

Palm Harbor Golf Course Lost $3.4 Million in Operating Costs Alone, Far More in Capital Since Palm Coast Took Ownership

January 27, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 41 Comments

The Palm Harbor golf course has been in the bunker since its earliest days. (© FlaglerLive)

Since it opened in 2009 as a city-owned facility, and with one meager exception in 2022, Palm Coast’s Palm Harbor golf course has been a drain on city coffers. The course has run combined losses of $3.44 million in the last 16 years, or an average of $215,000 a year. The figure increases sharply when depreciation and capital losses are included. Taxpayers have been subsidizing the golf course all those years. Palm Coast City Council members are tiring of the losses.

Pioneered in Palm Coast: A Decade of Robotics at AdventHealth

January 26, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Dr. Gary Allen and the AdventHealth Waterman team members trained extensively to support state-of-the-art robotic-assisted cardiac surgery. Pictured left to right: David Morales, Barb Short, “Terry” Donald Caskey, David Ellingson, PA, Dr. Gary Allen, Eric Soto, Xiaoya Liu, Perla Ruiz, and Teresa Haire. (AdventHealth)

A decade ago, AdventHealth introduced the area’s first surgical robot in Palm Coast. Today, this program has grown to include a fleet of 17 robotic surgery devices across the AdventHealth East Florida Division, offering patients robotic surgical procedures in multiple specialties.

Tuscan Reserve Apartments Handyman Accused of Using His Access to Units to Steal Thousands in Jewelry

January 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Joshua Powell.

Joshua Raymond Powell, a 44-year-old resident of Satsuma employed as a handyman at Tuscan Reserve, the apartment complex in Palm Coast’s Town Center, was arrested last week on nine felony charges of burglary, fraud and dealing in stolen property following a Flagler County Sheriff’s investigation that determined that Powell allegedly entered homes where he was needed for repairs, only to steal the residents’ jewelry and other valuables.

Flagler Unemployment Falls Slightly to 3.8% but Labor Force Continues to Decline; Home Sales Rebound a Little

January 24, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

flagler florida unemployment

Flagler County’s unemployment rate edged back below 4 percent for the first time in six months, at 3.8 percent, as a couple hundred people gained jobs and the number of unemployed residents fell by 300. But Flagler County’s labor force again shrank, as it has most months for more than a year, to 50,849. The labor force is at its lowest level since February 2023, when it was 50,773 and rising.

Old Dixie Motel Owners Have 5 Months To Secure Building Permits or Face Demolition by County’s Order

January 23, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

Special Magistrate Sean McDermott. (© FlaglerLive)

A special magistrate gave the owners of the neglected Old Dixie hotel five months to secure four permits from Flagler County or face demolition of the property. The decision by the magistrate, Sean McDermott, amounts to a further life extension for the hotel property, yet again frustrating the county’s attempts since last March to demolish a building it considers to be a nuisance and a danger to public health.

AdventHealth CEO Audrey Gregory Cautions Employers of Labor Crunch Ahead, and to Prize Workers Accordingly

January 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Audrey Gregory in an earlier phase of her career, as a nurse, and with her family, in a slide she showed the audience at a Tiger Bay lunch talk today. (© FlaglerLive)

A labor crunch is tightening the job market all over America from IT to education to retail, but more especially in restaurants, hotels, construction and healthcare, AdventHealth East Region Executive Vice President and CEO Audrey Gregory told a sold-out audience at today’s Flagler Tiger Bay Club monthly lunch. The way to manage through it is primarily to nurture and value existing employees, to further their education at the company’s expense, to move them up, and to pay them better.

Vincent’s Clubhouse Spurs Opportunities for People with Disabilities, Bridging Needs Beyond School District

January 22, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Vincent Cona, for whom Vincent's Clubhouse is named, embracing his mother and Vincent's Founder Erica Flores, with her husband, Hector Flores, left, at Tuesday's ribbon-cutting. (© FlaglerLive)

Vincent’s Clubhouse Enrichment Center at Palm Coast’s European Village is an evidence-based program focused on vocational and life skills training, personal development, hygiene, financial skills, marketplace skills, and literacy for adults and younger people. But it was not until late last year, after years of evolution and growth, that Vincent’s Clubhouse’s nomadic years ended with the opening of its permanent home, a 1,600-square-foot facility–what would otherwise be a shopfront–at European Village, with a faculty of five and 20 adult “members” enrolled.

Freytag Cancer Center at AdventHealth Palm Coast Opens

January 17, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

freytag ribbon-cutting

The Freytag Cancer Center at AdventHealth Palm Coast officially opened on Jan. 16, revolutionizing cancer care in Flagler County. This facility, made possible by many donors, including Peter and Sue Freytag of Palm Coast, offers advanced medical treatments and compassionate care closer to home.

It’s Not Your Imagination: Palm Coast Homes Used as Vacation Rentals Increase by 70% in 2 Years, to Over 500

January 15, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 20 Comments

Many single-family homes in Palm Coast are being built expressly to capitalize on the short-term vacation rental market. (© FlaglerLive)

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.

Ag Commissioner Sees No Harm to Florida Farms from Migrants’ Deportations

January 14, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

A potato field in West Flagler. (© FlaglerLive)

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson advocated for a more simplified agriculture working visa program Tuesday, but played down prospects that mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration would harm Florida farms.

Vincent’s Clubhouse Enrichment Center Sets Grand Opening at European Village

January 13, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Vincent's Clubhouse at European Village. (Palm Coast)

The Vincent’s Clubhouse Enrichment Center will host the Grand Opening of its new location at 101 Palm Harbor Parkway, Unit B120, in European Village. The celebration will take place on Jan 21, from 4 to 7 p.m., with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m.

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