Two of the community’s most cherished holiday traditions are returning: the Starlight Parade on Saturday, December 6, and the Holiday Boat Parade on Saturday, December 13. Both events are free for spectators and participants, and registration is now open for those wishing to join the fun with a float or decorated boat. “Palm Coast shines […]
Palm Coast
The Root Cause of Palm Coast’s Infrastructure Problems Is Beneath Your Feet
ITT built Palm Coast with a water and sewer piping infrastructure designed to serve 225,000. The city has half that population, leaving rate-payers saddled with the cost of upkeep of the aging infrastructure. Lacking population growth, utility budgets will continue to be strained, chasing too few taxpayers and ratepayers, as the system ages.
Re-Appointed Vice Mayor, Theresa Pontieri Rebuffs Mayor’s Attempt to Take Back Committee Roles He’d Abandoned
The Palm Coast City Council re-elected Theresa Pontieri as its vice mayor in a 4-1 vote Tuesday. The dissent was from Mayor Mike Norris. Norris wanted to be the council representative to the Flagler County Tourist Development Council and the Cultural Council. Pontieri rebuffed him on both counts, saying he’d “abdicated” those roles, whereas she was now elbow-deep in them, and was not prepared to relinquish them. A miffed Norris stuck to minimal committee assignments.
Palm Coast Council’s Theresa Pontieri Calls for Stronger Controls on City Utility to Protect Against Privatization
As more than a dozen states, including Florida, are encouraging the privatization of utilities, Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri wants new guardrails protecting the city’s water and sewer utility from being bought by a private company. Palm Coast bought the water and sewer utility in 2003 for $82.3 million. The utility is not for sale. Council members are not interested in a sale. No company has proposed buying the utility. But Pontieri is proposing that if the utility were to be considered for a sale, a non-binding referendum would be required first, as well as a supermajority of the five-member council before approval is ratified.
A Brief History of Palm Coast’s Water and Sewer Utility
Palm Coast’s first utility department was established in 1970 by ITT, the developer, when Palm Coast was the size of a small subdivision. ITT sold the utility to Florida Water Services in 1999, the year Palm Coast incorporated. Palm Coast bought the utility for $82.3 million in 2003.
16-Year-Old Arrested for Armed Robbery and Pistol-Whipping in Palm Coast’s P-Section
Dakoda Nodelman, a 16-year-old Palm Coast resident of Pitt Lane, is facing three felony charges, including armed robbery, following an incident at his home shortly after midnight on Nov. 16. He fired during the incident. No one was injured from the gunshot, but another individual sustained injuries from being pistol-whipped.
Commercial Vehicle Parking Allowance in Palm Coast’s Residential Driveways Is Now Law, Within Limits
The Palm Coast City Council voted 3-2 today to approve on second reading the ordinance that now makes it legal to park certain commercial vehicles–or vehicles with large advertising or other markings on their exterior–in residential driveways without covering them with tarps. The allowance extends to typical work trucks and pick-up trucks up to 20 feet long and 9 feet high.
Palm Coast Council Chooses Michael McGlothlin to Be 7th City Manager, Ending 20-Month Interim
The Palm Coast City Council this morning appointed Michael McGlothlin, a former city manager in Florida, North Carolina and Oregon who also spent a decade as a police chief, its next city manager. McGlothlin outlasted David Fraser, a candidate who built his career in the West. The formal vote was 5-0, following a 3-2 vote by ballot, when Mayor Norris, Council members Charles Gambaro and Theresa Pontieri were in the majority, with Ty Miller and Dave Sullivan in the minority. Both dissenters had no objections to joining the majority for the formal vote to ensure unanimity.
No Wrong Choice: Between Fraser and McGlothlin, Palm Coast Council Faces Difficult, Welcome Decision on City Manager
When the Palm Coast City Council meets Tuesday morning, it will almost certainly vote on a new city manager. It’ll be either David Fraser or Michael McGlothlin. neither of whom appears to have an inside track, both of whom seem to have an equal chance by the time the council votes. It’ll be among the more difficult council votes, a difficulty the council welcomes. At least three council members think there’s no wrong choice, whoever is picked.
2 Wounded in Shooting at Palm Coast’s Beach Village Apartments, Both Claim Stand Your Ground
A 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old juvenile injured in a shooting Sunday night at Beach Village Apartments in Palm Coast both claim Stand Your Ground, according to Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. The shooting stemmed from an earlier confrontation between the 22-year-old and his girlfriend. Both the man and the juvenile suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the shooting. Two firearms were recovered. It is not yet clear whether both firearms were discharged, or whether the wounds resulted from a single gun.
Palm Coast Fire Department Lands $26,000 Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Grant
The Palm Coast Fire Department was awarded a $26,000 Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Grant from the Florida Department of Financial Services.
Chick-Fil-A Opening 2nd Palm Coast Location Next Tuesday Near BJ’s, But No More ‘First 100’ Giveaway
Ten years after the fanatically popular brand’s first local restaurant opened off Palm Coast Parkway, Chick-fil-A is set to open its second restaurant next Tuesday–Veterans Day, curiously, but at half past the sixth, rather than the 11th, hour–off State Road 100, in the BJ’s Wholesale shopping center. Glenn Efford, an old hand with the company who opened the previous Palm Coast Chick-fil-A (and has been opening restaurants for two decades), is the owner-operator of the new one as well.
Home Builders Association’s Lawsuit Over Impact Fees is ‘Legally Insufficient,’ Palm Coast Argues in Response
Palm Coast government has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit the Flagler Home Builders Association filed against the city in October, arguing that the lawsuit is legally insufficient. The association is challenging the city’s new schedule of steeply higher development impact fees. Motions to dismiss are often filed as a first step in response to a civil action. Barring terribly flawed arguments and legal grounding by the party filing the suit, motions to dismiss are just as often denied. But they block out the grounds where the battle will be fought. and signal where a settlement may take shape.
Not Just Yet: Palm Coast Tables Ordinance Relaxing Commercial Vehicles Allowance in Driveways for Further Tweaks
The proposed change allows for pickup trucks and vehicles like the typical work van to park for more than work calls or for lunch in residential driveways even if the vehicles have commercial markings and advertising. The hang-up this time is the length and height of vehicles. The proposed ordinance would allow vehicles of up to 18 feet in length and 10 feet in height to park in driveways, which Mayor Norris coonsiders too short and too high.
Serenity Falls: 18-Hole Mini Golf Course Coming to Palm Coast’s Town Center Opposite Epic Theatres
Serenity Falls Mini Golf, owned by Roland Delbois of Palm Coast, is to be located on 2 rectangular acres at 1208 Central Avenue, almost directly opposite Epic Theatres, closer to Brookhaven Way. Delbois’ Serenity Falls corporation, established in January, bought the parcel from Palm Coast Holdings/Allete in mid-April for $523,000. The 18-golf course’s design will have a tropical look, will serve beer and wine, and will have a party pavilion.
Town Center Developer Sues Palm Coast, Accusing City of Breaking Promise on Water and Sewer Capacity
The developer of Palm Coast’s Town Center is suing the city for breach of contract, alleging that Palm Coast government has failed to guarantee water and sewer service for Town Center holdings it was planning to sell. Palm Coast Holdings, the successor to Florida Landmark Communities and a subsidiary of Duluth, Minn.-based Allete Corp., sued Palm Coast in Circuit Court in Bunnell on Oct. 23. They are asking a judge to enforce the city’s promise of providing water and sewer service to Town Center, or require it to pay unspecified damages.
Palm Coast Charter Review So Far: A Preamble, a Bill of Rights, Penalties for Misbehaving Council Members
No health benefits for Palm Coast City Council members, no pay increases beyond inflation, fines and penalties for misbehaving members (mayor included), prohibitions on meddling with city staff: those, along with a proposed preamble and a Bill of Rights are among the proposals the Palm Coast Charter Review Committee members appointed by the City Council have been discussing.
Palm Coast Invites Residents to Take an Economic Development Survey the Council Did Not Review
Palm Coast government is inviting residents to play a role in shaping the city’s economic future by participating in “Prosperity 2035,” a community-driven vision plan developed in partnership with the Northeast Florida Regional Council (NEFRC). But the city did not develop the survey. Nor did the City Council review it or discuss it at a meeting.
Palm Coast Woman Who Let Mom Die in ‘Concentration Camp’ Conditions Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison
Kim Zaheer, the now-68-year-old woman accused of letting her mother die of such neglect that neither the medical examiner nor the funeral home personnel who handled the body said they’d seen anything so abject in their careers, was sentenced to six years in prison this afternoon. Frances Hildegard King, 88, was found dead on Dec. 5, 2018, at the house she owned at 20 Rocket Lane in Palm Coast since 2008. With time served and time off for good behavior, Zaheer may be out of prison in a year and two months.
Free the Food Trucks: Palm Coast Will End Strict Regulations on Popular Roving, Popup Businesses
Palm Coast is ready to make it easier for food trucks to sell in the city–at public parks, in commercial parking lots, on private property–with basic permitting. Council members don’t yet agree on the details. But they all agree that regulations must be loosened, that food trucks be more accessible on public and private grounds, that the city control them with a much lighter hand, and that local food trucks be given preference.
‘There Will be Some Changes’ to SB180, Sen. Tom Leek Says of Law Favoring Developers At Home Rule’s Expense
State legislators are discussing the possibility of revising a new law that has drawn legal challenges because it blocks cities and counties from approving “more restrictive or burdensome” changes to growth plans. Senate Majority Leader Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, said Monday during a Manatee County legislative delegation meeting that he has talked with sponsors of the 2025 legislation and that “tweaks” are being discussed.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s Osvaldo Sene Is Kiwanis Club’s Firefighter of the Year
The Flagler-Palm Coast Kiwanis Club has named Palm Coast Firefighter Paramedic Osvaldo “Ozzy” Sene its 2025 Firefighter of the Year. Firefighter Paramedic Sene joined the Palm Coast Fire Department two years ago and has quickly become a standout member of the team through his dedication to professional development, community service, and mentorship.
Palm Coast Will Not Join 25 Local Governments in Lawsuit Against SB180, Which Disables Development Regulation
The Palm Coast City Council today said it is declining to join a lawsuit by 25 other local governments against a new state law, known as SB180, that has sharply restricted governments’ regulatory authority on local development. Bunnell, Flagler Beach and county government have also declined. Council member Theresa Pontieri pushed back against Mayor Mike Norris’s suggestion to join the lawsuit, saying the city should not risk its political capital by alienating lawmakers whose help and appropriations it needs, at a time when lobbyists are near certain that the law will be amended by next March.
Concrete Company Looking to Open Batch Plant on Hargrove Lane in Palm Coast Gets Approved for One in Bunnell
In January a split Bunnell City Commission rejected a request by Hard Rock Materials to rezone 1.4 acres at the end of Hibiscus Avenue for a concrete batch plant. Neighborhood residents had objected, fearing noise and raising safety concerns. On Monday, the commission unanimously reversed itself, saying the conditions Hard Rock is willing to abide by are sufficient to warrant a change of heart.
Palm Coast Council’s Ty Miller Appointed to Transportation Planning Board’s Executive Committee
Following a nomination by Flagler Beach City Commissioner Rick Belhumeur, Palm Coast Council Member Ty Miller was appointed by unanimous vote of the Volusia-Flagler Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) board to serve on the TPO’s Executive Committee. In addition to this leadership role, Miller also serves as a TPO Board Member, with Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri serving as an alternate on the Board.
Only Two Residents Unaffiliated with Charter Review Show Up at Latest Community Workshop
Only two residents unaffiliated with the charter-review process showed up at Thursday evening’s community workshop designed to solicit ideas and input from residents about the ongoing rewrite of the Palm Coast City Charter. It was the second of four such scheduled workshops. Another is scheduled for tonight at 6 at the Palm Coast Community Center. The first, on Sept. 29 at the Southern Recreation Center, drew barely a dozen people, though they were engaged and proposed several changes. Not so on Thursday.
County Completes $1.88 Million Buy of Marlow Property on Intracoastal for Linear Park Extension
County Attorney Michael Rodriguez on Monday said the county just closed on the purchase of a 5.2-acre parcel on the Intracoastal Waterway for perpetual preservation under the county’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands program, and as an extension of Palm Coast’s popular linear Park.
With Grave Concerns About Traffic, Palm Coast Approves Shopping Rezoning That’ll Add 1,000s of Cars to SR100
With grave concerns about its traffic impacts on already-congested State Road 100, the Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved on first reading the rezoning to commercial uses of a 39-acre parcel just west of the BJ’s Wholesale shopping center. The rezoning is ahead of the development of that tract into a companion shopping center called Flagler Landing, with a “170,000 square foot big-box discount superstore,” in the description of the developer’s attorney–that is, very likely Walmart–and a half dozen satellite businesses.
You May Soon Park Your Commercial Vehicle in Residential Driveways as Palm Coast Votes to Relax Restrictions
For the first time since the founding of the city a quarter century ago, commercial vehicles are on the verge of being allowed to park in Palm Coast’s residential driveways for more than a lunch hour, or to make service calls. A divided Palm Coast City Council voted 3-2 to approve on first reading the change to what had been one of the more vexing restrictions for trades workers and for the council, which has wrestled with the restriction on several occasions since 2010, always stopping short of altering it–until now.
At ‘No Kings’ Protests in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, Cheer, Energy and Defiance in Throngs, But Effects Elusive
What there was more than anything at today’s trio of “No Kings” demonstrations in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, where many hundreds gathered and protested as millions did across the country, was cheer and charm as much as challenge and conviction, making you wonder where all that energy was as Trump’s opponents floundered in gloomy defeat a mere 11 months ago. It made you wonder where all that energy is even now, especially now, as his political opposition continues to grope for relevance.
2 Months After One Was Rejected, Another Concrete Plant Proposed on Hargrove Grade Runs Into Familiar Objections
It was a grind of déjà vu at the Palm Coast Planning Board Wednesday evening as yet another company seeking to rezone land and build a concrete batch plant on Hargrove Grade ran into a crush of public opposition and questions from the board, which proved unwilling to make a decision just yet.
Military Guy and ‘Defiant’ Candidate Out as Council Narrows City Manager Choices to 2 Experienced Administrators
Passing over military brass or heavy hands, the Palm Coast City Council last night narrowed its choices for city manager to two middle-of-the-road candidates steeped in local government experience: J. David Fraser, who’s managed several cities in the West, and Michael McGlothlin, a former law enforcement investigator and police chief in city management since 2019, most recently in Reddington Shores on the Gulf of Mexico. The two candidates will be interviewed in person at City Hall on Nov. 13 for a job that may earn them up to $250,000 a year. Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston’s current salary is $190,000.
If AI Were Picking Palm Coast’s Next City Manager: Carl Geffken, Thomas Thomas, David Fraser, In That Order
A Google Gemini evaluation of the six finalists for Palm Coast city manager resulted in a ranking of Carl Geffken, Thomas Thomas and David Fraser, in that order. The evaluations were based on the city’s recruitment brochure, their resumes, and their plans for Year One, which the city asked them to present in a short paper. Thomas jumped to second place after his Year One paper was evaluated. He’d have been in third without it.
Palm Coast’s Message to Flagler Humane Society: Help Us Help You
After a year of wrangles with the non-profit and a few pending questions ahead, the Palm Coast City Council has approved its annual contract with the Flagler Humane Society, increasing it to $125,000, from $90,000. But the city is pressing the society to be more forthcoming with its data and future plans for potential expansion.
The Palm Coast City Manager Candidates In Their Own Words: Videos and Vision Papers
The Palm Coast City Council at its evening workshop on Tuesday will further narrow its list of finalists for city manager to the handful it will interview in person. It will do so based on the last two tasks the council asked the remaining candidates to fulfill: a video response based on a set of questions submitted by the council, and a short paper outlining the candidate’s vision for his first year. (There are no women candidates remaining in the pool.) Here, in their own words, are each candidate’s videos and vision papers in full.
Palm Coast’s Ebike Ordinance in Effect: Limits Speeds, Restricts Riders’ Age to 11 and Up and Requires Photo ID
Palm Coast’s ebike ordinance is now in effect following the Palm Coast City Council’s approval Tuesday of a measure that sets speed limits at between 20 and 28 mph, depending on the bike, restricts riders to age 11 and up, and requires riders to carry government-issued identification at all times.
Palm Coast Government Invites Community Input on Land Development Code
The City of Palm Coast is beginning the process of reviewing and updating its Land Development Code (LDC) and is inviting the community to participate in this important effort. A series of public workshops will be held during the Planning and Land Development Regulation Board (PLDRB) meetings and City Council meetings, all of which are open to the public. The first workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. at Palm Coast City Hall.
Fact-Check: How Flagler County Misuses Numbers in Pitch of $110 Million Sports Complex
In a pitch to the Flagler County Commission on Monday, the county’s tourism bureau and its consultant backed up an analysis of a proposed $110 million sports complex with numbers that, while accurate in themselves, were entirely without context and, on close inspection, had little to do with Palm Coast, and in some regards contradicted the county’s rosy claims.
More Skepticism and Vagueness than Hard Data to Support Mammoth $110 Million Sports Complex in Palm Coast
A company pitching a proposed $110 million sports complex for west Palm Coast claims it could attract up to 400,000 a year even though the county as a whole doesn’t attract more than 100,000 total visitors a year, including those who flock to its beaches. Yet the Flagler County Commission, with some strong skepticism from one member and questions from others, continues to encourage its tourism office to further explore the possibility of just such a complex, which would require a $6 million a year “rent” payment from taxpayers.
Keith Johansen, Serving Life for Murdering His Wife, Now Claims Stand Your Ground Would Have Exonerated Him
Former Palm Coast resident Keith Johansen, 43, who shot and killed his wife Brandi Celenza at their F-Section home in 2018, now claims a Stand Your Ground motion would have exonerated him and made trial unnecessary. Four years ago this month a jury found Johansen guilty of murdering Brandi, 25, in their home on Felter Lane while Brandi’s young son was in another room, waiting to go to the county fair.
Every Flagler/Palm Coast Development Past, Present and Future Now Mapped Out and Accessible Thanks to Toby Tobin
Imagine an interactive site where every housing development in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell and Flagler County, past, present, and future, is mapped out and available at a click. Every development’s details–number of homes, apartment units, commercial or industrial square footage–is listed, often with illustrations and links. Developers are listed. So are construction dates or projected buildouts. That map is now public and free to use, if not quite as free to its creator, who’s paying for it.
FC3, Flagler’s Cultural Council, Marks 3rd Year With Grant Showcase and Hopes Still Brighter Than Achievements
The Flagler County Cultural Council, the volunteer organization known as FC3 and designated local arts agency, marked its third year since that designation at its annual meeting Wednesday evening at the Palm Coast Community Center by featuring grant recipients, selecting winners of a high school photo contest and installing a new slate of officers. The fledgling council is still finding its footing, its “pillars” lifting more aspirations than achievements for now.
Flagler County Home Builders Sue Palm Coast Over Impact Fees, Seeking Immediate Invalidation of Sharp Increases
The Flagler County Home Builders Association (HBA), five local builders and an individual jointly filed the 69-page, four-count suit in Flagler County Circuit Court late Wednesday afternoon. The suit challenges the City Council’s unanimous adoption last June of sharply higher impact fees for fire services, parks and transportation. The lawsuit is not seeking damages, monetary or otherwise. It is seeking the immediate and permanent invalidation of the ordinances that enacted the higher impact fees. It is an extraordinary challenge. It is neither unprecedented nor unheeded, though with extreme rarity.
Open-Carry Leaves Flagler County’s Government Attorneys Grappling with Ruling’s Application to Public Spaces
A Sept. 10 appeals court ruling that made it legal to openly carrying guns in Florida has created some confusion for Flagler County’s local government attorneys on the law’s applicability in certain public places such as government buildings and parks in light of a loophole in law that appears to leave long guns unregulated, and the permissibility of carrying guns in certain public spaces unclear.
A Safe Haven Baby Box Is Blessed at Palm Coast Fire Station 25 as Door to Hope, Mercy and Second Chance
Some 90 people stood in diluvian rain outside of Palm Coast’s Fire Station 25 this afternoon for the blessing of the city’s first Safe Haven Baby Box, a $41,000 gift to the city from the local Knights of Columbus, the Palm Coast Kiwanis Club and others who worked nearly two years toward the installation of the box. “It’s a tangible reminder that in moments of crisis, that there is hope,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill said. The founder Monica Kelsey, was also among the speakers.
At 1st Public Input Session on Palm Coast Charter Review, a Small But Engaged Crowd Makes Half a Dozen Suggestions
The first of four workshops designed to let Palm Coast residents describe how they want to see the city’s charter changed drew just 17 people Monday evening, 13 if you didn’t count four of the five members of the Charter Review Committee who attended, and a few less if you didn’t count the alternates picked for the committee. But the two-hour discussion was generally thoughtful and informed, engaged, varied, and–with occasional exceptions–free of the strident polemics and mistrust that routinely fill public-comment segments before the City Council.
Routine Palm Coast Meeting Turns Into Tense Clash Over Tax Rate as Gambaro Seeks ‘Rollback’ at 11th Hour
Sounding like former Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko, Charles Gambaro in the final budget hearing Wednesday asked his colleagues to adopt the so-called rolled-back property tax rate rather than the rate proposed, which was already lower than this year’s. Gambaro’s proposal would have equated to a saving of $13 for the homesteaded owner of a $200,000 house, but would have required an immediate $1 million cut in the general fund. That led to a clash with Council member Theresa Pontieri, and the rest of the council held to the original proposal in a 4-1 vote.
Palm Coast Appears Ready to Loosen Some Prohibitions on Commercial Vehicles in Residential Driveways
Palm Coast government is moving toward relaxing prohibitions on commercial vehicles parked in residential driveways while still maintaining relatively strict regulations. In sum, small work trucks and vans typically used for services such as air conditioning, painting, pest control, plumbing and the like will be allowed to park in driveways, uncovered. So will trucks with racks, as long as the racks are modest and part of the truck’s tools. Only one truck would be allowed in a driveway.
Palm Coast Council Rejects Call to Cancel City’s Advertising Contract with FlaglerLive Over Charlie Kirk Articles
The Palm Coast City Council today rejected a call by a former council candidate to cancel the city’s long-standing advertising contract with FlaglerLive in retaliation for a news article published soon after the shooting, and a subsequent opinion column that denounced activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but also many of his views. A majority of council members cited the site’s vast readership, its advertising reach for the city and its ROI, or return on a relatively modest investment to reject the call to cancel–at least not before an update on the numbers.
Nothing To See Here, Risk-Assessment Analysts Tell Palm Coast Council as ‘Forensic Audit’ Delirium Fizzles
A top-to-bottom “entity-wide risk assessment” of Palm Coast government, including its utility department, conducted in response to two-year-old calls for a “forensic audit,” yielded nothing more than a few issues commonly faced by most, if not all, municipalities. The assessment cost $50,000.