Craig Flagler Palms Funeral Home, Memorial Gardens & Crematory hosts the 20th annual Candlelight Service of Remembrance on Sunday, December 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Garden of Memory Mausoleum. The event is held to help those that have lost loved ones cope with the loss during the holiday season.
Local Business
Developer of Disputed 204-Boat Storage Facility on Scenic A1A Must Apply for Special Exception, County Rules
The Flagler County Commission Monday evening rejected a settlement agreement recommended by its own attorney to end the four-year-old dispute with a developer who wants to build a restaurant and 204-boat dry-storage facility in the Scenic A1A corridor. What would be called Hammock Harbor is a planned dry-storage marina, or warehouse, as the developer himself had described it in an early building plan, and as its opponents still describe it. A lawsuit by the developer is likely.
Pilot Faces Eviction from County Airport After Emergency Landing Infringed on Director’s ‘Authority’
Roy Sieger, director of Flagler County Executive Airport, is allegedly threatening to evict a pilot from the hangar he’s leasing there after the pilot made an emergency landing during Hurricane Milton, when the airport was closed. The pilot, who cites federal regulation in his defense, said he worried that Sieger’s anger would devolve into a physical altercation when Sieger confronted him soon after he landed.
Palm Coast Developers Will Pay Public Arts Fee on Projects Above $1 Million, But Spending Is Unclear
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved imposing a 0.5 percent fee on all commercial projects in the city with a value of $1 million or more. The city will use parts of the money to fund its long-standing cultural arts grants, but it’s unclear how else it will use the money. It would largely be the purview of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, with a more specific policy to come to set out spending and installation criteria.
Palm Coast Walmart Will Build 10-Pump Gas Station in Its Store Parking Lot Off Cypress Point Parkway
Palm Coast’s Walmart in the heart of the city has submitted a site plan to build a 10-pump gas station and convenience store that will take up a substantial portion of the parking lot at that store. The 10-pump station will be located in the northwest corner of the parking lot, toward the corner of the property along Cypress Point Parkway and Cypress Edge Drive.
Judge Declares Old Dixie Motel Owners in Contempt Over Continued Snubs, $1,000-a-Day Fines Loom
After warning them that he would do so if they did not comply with his previous orders, Circuit Judge Chris France last week declared the owners of the Old Dixie Motel in contempt of court and warned of $1,000-a-dy fines starting on Nov. 15 if they do not comply with a pair of orders.
Chick-Fil-A Will Open Second Palm Coast Restaurant in BJ’s Wholesale Shopping Center
Chick-fil-A, the popular restaurant chain that drew a small tent city of eager customers before it opened its first franchise in Palm Coast eight years ago, will be opening its second restaurant in the city in the BJ’s Wholesale shopping center, according to construction plans recently submitted to the city. City Manager Lauren Johnston dropped a hint about the restaurant in a presentation at a local chamber event earlier this week.
At Chamber’s Future of Flagler Forum, Rousing Cheer for Years Ahead from City, County and School Leaders
The Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce gave a crowd of over 100 people the chance to hear the state of Flagler County’s cities, county and school board in less than 60 minutes, presented in rapid, compelling, and at times rousing succession by men and women more knowledgeable, less vapid and generally more intelligent than the elected officials who hire them: city and county managers and the school superintendent.
Company Building Data Center in Palm Coast Clears Undersea Cables’ Final Hurdle in Flagler Beach
Flagler Beach’s South 6th Street will soon be the landing point for up to six of the 600-some transatlantic data cables that form the backbone of the internet. The cables will then snake underground, across State Road 100 and into Town center, where DX Blox, the Atlanta-based company, will build a “cable landing station,” or a data center, near the intersection of Town Center Boulevard and Royal Palms Parkway.
Cajun Beach Restaurant in Flagler Beach, In Rare City Rebuke Over Noise, Is Denied Music Permit
In a rare rebuke that reflects a history of complaints about the business, the Flagler Beach City Commission denied an outdoor entertainment permit to Cajun Beach Boil and Sushi, the restaurant on State Road A1A at South 12th Street, after the business flouted a city ordinance.
‘Significant Reservations’ About Approving 2,735 Homes at Veranda Bay as Development Advances on 4-1 Vote
The Flagler Beach City Commission is slowly moving toward approval of annexing Veranda Bay, the 900-acre development along that could potentially double the population of the city, change its character as a small town and upend its political center of gravity. But commissioners are pushing back against the number of homes, which could be a deal-breaker. The developer has made several concessions and is continuing to negotiate, but the total number of homes has so far been a hard line.
AI-Driven Technology Changing Heart Care at AdventHealth Palm Coast
The new tool, called CathWorks, is enhancing the way doctors at AdventHealth Palm Coast and AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway detect and treat heart blockages, making procedures safer and more precise for patients. CathWorks uses advanced computer-based software to help cardiologists accurately pinpoint areas of concern within the heart’s arteries.
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.
AdventHealth Offering Free Video Consults Through Centra Care Wednesday and Thursday
AdventHealth is deploying its extensive safety preparations as Hurricane Milton approaches the region. The health system has stockpiled thousands of gallons of water and generators are standing by to run the hospital on emergency power if necessary. Sandbags are prepared should they be needed to secure doors and windows.
Stand-Alone AdventHealth ER Once Planned for Matanzas Woods Parkway Will Be Built a Few Miles North
AdventHealth has announced the first phase of plans for 10.75 acres in St. Johns County. The health care system will build a 12-bed off-site emergency department (OSED) to expand services in the rapidly growing area. Located east of I-95, near the intersection of State Road 207 and Wildwood Drive, construction is anticipated to begin in 2025 and be completed by early 2026. The location is roughly 23 miles from the center of Palm Coast, and a shorter drive for north and northwest Palm Coast, where development has been brisk.
Senator Who Sponsored Vacation Rental Bill Deregulating Local Control Says He Won’t Do So in Next Session
Florida lawmakers may once again attempt to pass legislation tightening regulation of short-term vacation rentals next year but, if they do, the state senator who has sponsored those bills during the past two sessions won’t be the one carrying it.
Annexation Into Flagler Beach of 2,700-Home Development Crosses Key 1st Hurdles, With Some Public Opposition
The Flagler Beach City Commission Tuesday night substantially moved forward with the annexation of Veranda Bay, a 2,700-home development along John Anderson Highway that will double the city’s population, hugely increase its tax revenue but also likely change its identity, its politics and its center of gravity as well as the character of its unincorporated surroundings by the time it’s built out near the middle of the century.
Greg Blose’s Sudden Exit from Chamber Was Preceded by Bitter Letter to Board About ‘Toxic and Unethical Behavior’
In a lengthy and detailed letter days before his sudden exit as leader of the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greg Blose described what he perceived as serious problems in the organization, including “toxic and unethical behavior” among the chamber leadership and an attempt to undermine him with his staff. Blose’s tenure ended this week after four years.
County Approves Old Dixie Motel’s Plan for ‘Hotel Henry’ Even as Harsh Disputes in Court Continue
Flagler County government still doesn’t think the owners of the ruin known as the Old Dixie motel are admirable people by any stretch. But the Flagler County Planning Board on Tuesday finally approved on a 6-1 vote the owners’ site plan for a refurbished “Henry Hotel.” The vote does not end the county’s three-year-old legal dispute with the owners nor does it scrap the county’s pending order to demolish the motel–unless construction begins swiftly and proceeds earnestly.
BJ’s Wholesale Club Opens Palm Coast Store on Sept. 20 as State Road 100 Girds for Crush
BJ’s Wholesale, a 103,000 square foot store, anchors the Cornerstone at Seminole Woods shopping center on State Road 100, with an archipelago of gas pumps that opened earlier this month, Miller’s Ale House that opened last month, a LongHorn Steakhouse and a Chase bank opening soon, and a yet-unnamed chicken restaurant slated for the near future.
Cell Tower Planned to Improve Coverage for Developments Along U.S. 1 and B Section in Northwest Palm Coast
Bronx House Pizza Parking Lot Approved Over Objections as Owner and Planning Board Member Attacks Resident
Though stand-alone parking zones are not allowed in the Hammock, the Flagler County Planning Board Tuesday evening voted unanimously to approve a special exception allowing Bronx House Pizza to operate a valet parking lot south of 17th Road to alleviate overflow parking. Planning Board member Mike Goodman abstained from the vote, since he co-owns Bronx House Pizza. He did not abstain from a personal and–in the words of attorney Dennis Bayer–a “highly inappropriate” tirade against Dennis Clark, a Hammock resident and the chair of the Scenic A1A committee that opposed the parking lot plan.
Astor Defence, a British Manufacturer of Military Packaging, Is Opening Plant in Palm Coast with 30 Jobs
Astor Defence, an England-based military contractor that makes ammunition containers, bomb pallets, mortar packs and other military packaging, will open a manufacturing facility at 15 Hargrove Grade in Palm Coast, where it is expected to be operational by January with 30 mostly local jobs. It’ll be the company’s first American site. The company will not be getting any tax benefits or incentives.
Bronx House Pizza in Hammock Sees Valet Parking Lot as Solution to Overflow, Scenic A1A Sees Hazards
Almost since it opened several years ago, Bronx House Pizza in the Hammock has been the victim of its success: its popularity has grown in proportion to neighborhood parking headaches as rights-of-way became de-facto parking zones. On Tuesday, Bronx House Pizza goes before Flagler County’s Planning Board, seeking approval of an overflow parking lot it would build south of the restaurant, but not contiguous to it, on four lots totaling 20,000 square feet south of 17th Road. It’s facing opposition.
Low Wage Work Hurts Employees–And Customers
A business that’s focused on exploiting employees to make those at the top even richer isn’t just bad for workers, but for customers as well. And anyone who’s worked for one of these low-wage companies can tell you those businesses are hardly unique. If we want a strong economy, we need to do more to make sure all workers can make a decent living and feel safe and respected in their workplace.
How Illegal Short-Term Rentals Hide in Plain Sight on Booking Sites
In the midst of an ongoing housing emergency, the city of Los Angeles has struggled to keep rent-controlled housing, which includes some of the city’s most affordable dwelling units, from turning into short-term rentals. Even though a 2018 law prohibits such conversions, enforcement has been lax.
Fewer Problems at Bulow RV Park, But Evictions and Code Violations Loom as Deadline Approaches
The conflict between residents of the Bulow RV Park off Old Kings Road is not as intense as it was last year. Numerous issues have been resolved. But some problems persist, with more than a dozen residents still out of compliance with county and park rules, and with water pressure and water cleanliness issues now coming to the fore. The county continues to attempt to mediate a solution, with limited success. In the assistant county attorney’s characterization, the matter can be “intractable.”
Palm Coast Tries to Police Short-Term Rentals, Balancing Property Rights Against Residents’ Aggravations
Responding to a surge of vacation rentals in certain parts of the city, especially the C-Section, and complaints from permanent residents around the rentals, the Palm Coast City Council will soon adopt regulations limiting occupancy, setting registration fees and restricting the parking of recreational trailers or boats. But the city continues to face competing tensions from permanent residents aggravated by the disruptions of vacation rentals and operators of the same rentals, who say the city is jeopardizing their livelihood.
Palm Coast Council’s Pontieri’s ‘Warning Shot’: Why Are Taxpayers Paying for Infrastructure Benefiting Landowner?
Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri said the $105 million the city received in state appropriations for road construction west of U.S. 1 is money subsidizing “the current multi-billion dollar landowner,” a reference to Rayonier, the timber and land management company that owns most of the land in the expansion area. She cited development documents that require the developer to build a sports complex and road extensions that the city is currently scrambling to pay for.
Six Joe Mullins Properties Ordered Into Receivership in Georgia; 2 Local Properties’ Delinquent Taxes on Installment Plan
A court has ordered Joe Mullins, the former Flagler County commissioner and a delegate to the recent Republican National Convention, to surrender into receivership three apartment buildings and three residential buildings in Georgia owned by Mullins Properties after Mullins’s lender accused him of breach of contract. In Flagler County, 2023 taxes owed on two Mullins properties were delinquent until an installment plan began in June.
Flagler Humane Society Critics Urged to ‘Stop Accusations’ as County and City Seek Oversight and Expansion Plans
Officials at a joint meeting of the Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council on Wednesday agreed to place representation from either government on the board of the Flagler Humane Society, which has faced significant criticism from current and former volunteers. while the 20-year-old shelter on U.S. 1 is old, overcrowded and growing more so, and the society’s director says it’s been outgrown, the Humane Society has neither capital plan nor savings either to build larger shelter or move to one, though it would be prohibitively expensive to do so. Local officials want that plan.
BJ’s Wholesale Club and Traffic Nightmares on SR100: County Says Pain Will Ease With Coming Turn Lanes
With BJ’s Wholesale’s impending opening and traffic congestion already exacerbated by road construction, Flagler County and Palm Coast officials sought to allay public anxieties with assurances of a pair of turning lanes off of State Road 100, near BJ’s, that should relieve some of the bottlenecks. That construction is possibly slated for November. But larger concerns about traffic backups in the area are still looking for solutions, even as some transportation impact fee revenue is available to facilitate them.
As Advocates Protest at Anastasia State Park, DeSantis Calls Golf Courses and Hotel Plan ‘Half Baked’
Trying to quell a bipartisan uproar, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that “half-baked” plans to bring golf courses, resort-style lodges and pickleball courts to state parks will be revamped. DeSantis said the Department of Environmental Protection will gather more public input before it could move forward with what is dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative.”
Forbidding a Margaritaville Hotel Rooftop Spike Repeat, Flagler Beach Limits All Building Heights to 35 Feet
A rewritten ordinance will forbid rooftop bars, dance floors, lounges, or any other public uses on 35-foot-high buildings in Flagler Beach, with the notable exception of the Margaritaville Hotel’s rooftop lounge, whose height city officials permitted by mistake even though it exceeds limits set out in the city charter. The Flagler Beach City Commission last week sharply rejected a recommendation by its own Planning and Architectural Review Board to approve an ordinance that would have allowed some features on buildings to go as high as 49 feet.
Flagler Beach Agrees to $600,000 Deal with Data Company for Undersea Cable Landings, with Potential for $750,000 More
Ending a four-month tangle of negotiations, and to Palm Coast’s immense relief, the Flagler Beach City Commission on Thursday approved a deal with an Atlanta-based DC Blox, a data-service company, that will allow it to use city rights-of-way to land undersea internet cables for $600,000, with a potential for up to an additional $750,000. There would be no subsequent payments. DC Blox is planning a data center in Palm Coast’s Town Center. But that plan, to be subsidized with tax incentives, was contingent on a successful deal in Flagler Beach.
Flagler Cares Adds Sunshine Psychiatric Care to Village
Flagler Cares, a one-stop health and social care organization, welcomed Sunshine Psychiatric Care to the Flagler County Village in Palm Coast, on August 1 as a community partner.
Big Shopping Mall Plans for Hunter’s Ridge Approved With Some Questions About Access and Landscaping
With pointed questions about the project’s sidewalks and green spaces, the Flagler County Commission on Monday unanimously approved a key step toward construction of the first large-scale shopping center in Hunter’s Ridge, the sprawling, so far largely residential development at the south end of the county and across the border into Ormond Beach. Primrose at Hunter’s Ridge is to be in the northwest corner of the intersection of Hunter’s Ridge and Airport Road.
Orlando’s A-1 Block Corporation Planning Concrete Block Manufacturing Plant Next to Flagler County Fairgrounds
A-1 Block Corporation of Orlando will build and open a 55,000-square-foot concrete-block manufacturing plant on 25 acres just north of the Flagler County Fairgrounds off Sawgrass Road. The Flagler County Planning Board approved the project’s site plan last week. The site was formerly residential and used to board horses. It is currently categorized as pastureland. It was rezoned. It is bordered by industrial land to the north. There are no residential parcels on Sawgrass anymore.
Embattled Old Dixie Motel Submits Makeover as ‘Hotel Henry,’ But a Suspicious Flagler Planning Board Balks
For three years, the cryptic owners of the decrepit Old Dixie motel have been promising county officials that they’re getting ready to submit renovation plans and end the building’s history as an eyesore to nearby residents and a legal ordeal for the county. On Tuesday, the county’s Planning Board finally got to review that plan. But it couldn’t bring itself to approve it as board members fear the motel owners are “trying to pull the wool over eyes,” while the owners had yet to secure key steps for development.
Flagler County’s 4.6% Unemployment Is Highest in Three Years; Florida’s Rate Stays at 3.3% for 4th Month
Flagler County’s unemployment rate of 46 percent in July was the highest since August 2021, when it was 4.9 percent and rapidly falling from its Covid-era high of 11.1 percent the year before. he labor force had also been gaining steadily until last August, when it peaked at 52,293, a record. It has fallen since. In July, it was 51,739, about where it stood in January. That suggests the county’s influx of new residents, especially working-age families, has slowed.
With Some Reservations and $635,000 in Renovations, School District Prepares to Rent Old Courthouse
The Flagler County School Board and the Flagler County Commission are preparing to sign a joint agreement that will lease the old courthouse in Bunnell to the district for just two years, with two options to renew for five years each, and an option to buy. Some school board members have reservations about the building’s quality, but will not stand in the way of approving the lease.
Flagler Humane Society Director Defends Shelter’s Euthanasia Record and Rejects Criticism as Inaccurate
Amy Carotenuto, director of Flagler Humane Society, describes the society’s procedures, including euthanasia when necessary, and defends the society’s record in the face of recent criticism by current and former volunteers who spoke to the Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council.
Behind Flagler Tax Services Owner Newsholme’s $300,000 in Fraud: Mounting Debts and Ponzi-Like Scheme
Robert Newsholme, the former owner of Flagler Tax Services, a three-year Flagler County Sheriff’s investigation found, had essentially been running what amounted to his own Ponzi scheme, taking money from clients who thought they were paying their IRS taxes, using that money to pay debts from lending companies, then borrowing more money from different lending companies to pay previous lending companies while putting off his clients who wanted their money back, plying them with promises and bad checks.
Palm Coast Council Clears Final Plats for 119 Housing Units in Town Center and Seminole Woods
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved a pair of final plats clearing the way for construction of 61 single family homes and 58 town homes, one in Town Center, one in Seminole Woods.
Flagler Humane Society Blasted for Lax Standards and Euthanasias as Commissioner Raises Prospect of County Take-Over
Appearing before the Flagler County Commission on Monday, numerous current and former volunteers at the Flagler Humane Society, including a former board member, spoke critically, sometimes bitterly, of an organization beyond its capacity to care for a growing number of animals, a governing structure too lax with policies and procedures, unaudited books, unjustified euthanasias, and a climate of retribution that led to the discharge of three volunteers who spoke out about the recent euthanizing of Guapo, a pit bull mix.
AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway Serves 29,000 People in Its First Year
One year ago today, AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway officially opened its doors to patients. With Flagler County’s population continuing to grow, AdventHealth invested $167 million to build the new hospital and grow alongside the community. The new hospital served 29,000 people in its first year.
Flagler County Escalates Disclosure Pressure as Old Dixie Motel Owners Brazenly Defy Court Order to Pay Bond
As the old Country Hearth Inn on Old Dixie Highway continues to rot amid neighbors’ ire, the owners of the property are now in brazen defiance of a court order to put up a $250,000 bond in compliance with their contract with the county. County government has filed two motions that turn up the pressure for financial disclosures and accountability on the owners, even though it does not expect them to comply anymore than they have complied with all other contractual or court-ordered obligations so far.
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.
Palm Coast Residents Will Pay 3.75% More in Garbage Fees as Hauler Adjusts for Inflation
Palm Coast residents’ monthly garbage cost will go from $32.32 to $33.53, a monthly increase of $1.21, an annual increase of $14.52. Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin said he was “troubled” by the increase but acknowledged there was nothing the city could do about it, since it is contractual.