A decisive 4-1 majority of the Palm Coast City Council is opposed to selling the Palm Harbor Golf Club, but not to seeking to outsource its management next year if it doesn’t break even under city management. In essence, city staff at Palm Harbor faces an ultimatum. The council’s history was not as clear-eyed. The course was under the private management of Kemper Sports from its opening in 2009 until 2017. It was an unhappy history.
Palm Coast City Council
Would You Favor a Half-Cent Sales Tax Referendum for Beach Protection? Local Governments Consider It.
Representatives of Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Bunnell and the county agreed at a joint meeting of local governments to consider the possibility of adding a referendum to the November 2026 ballot to raise the sales tax by half a cent and use some of the revenue to pay for beach protection.
Deputy Development Director Ray Tyner Leaving Palm Coast After 23 Years to Lead Volusia’s Growth Department
Palm Coast government’s Ray Tyner, the deputy development director and one of the city’s most knowledgeable and experienced planners, is resigning in September to become Volusia County’s growth management director in place of Clay Ervin. The Volusia County Council confirmed his appointment at its Aug. 19 meeting.
Flagler Home Builders Association Will Sue Palm Coast Over Parks, Fire and Road Impact Fee Increases
The Flagler Home Builders Association is preparing to sue Palm Coast government over the City Council’s approval in June of sharply higher development impact fees for fire, parks and roads. The new fees don’t apply until Oct. 1. The suit would be filed on behalf of HBA, five construction companies and two private city residents. The pending action argues that the city’s new schedule violated the law by raising fees too sharply and too quickly, without a substantiated showing of “extraordinary circumstances” that would justify the sharper increase, among other alleged violations.
Palm Coast City Council’s Theresa Pontieri Will Run for Greg Hansen’s County Commission Seat
First-term Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri will be running for the County Commission seat Greg Hansen is vacating in 15 months. Pontieri had planned to announce the run this weeek, but U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, who’s not known for his political or rhetorical propriety, upstaged her announcement in her presence, on her own turf, at a press conference today.
YMCA Proposed Managing Frieda Zamba Pool, But for $450,000 a Year on Top of $3 Million Ask. Palm Coast Declined.
As part of its plan to open a facility in Town Center, the Volusia-Flagler YMCA organization proposed to Palm Coast to take over the city’s aquatics center, formerly Frieda Zamba pool, on Oct. 1. The City Council today declined the offer, opting instead to partner with the YMCA to bring additional programs to the city’s pool and possibly split the revenue.
In a Surprise, Committee Plans Full Rewrite of Palm Coast Charter, Not Just Amendments. Council May Differ.
Palm Coast’s Charter Review Committee in an inaugural meeting Monday at City Hall appointed former County Commissioner Donald O’Brien its chair, heard a briefing on open records and the Sunshine law from its emphatic moderator, and outlined its work plan for the coming months. There were surprises, both in the tightly controlled approach of the moderator and in the committee’s expected final product: it won’t be a set of amendments to the existing charter. It’ll one document–a whole new charter, making the process not so much a “review,” as billed by the council and the charter itself, but a rewrite.
Palm Coast Charter Review Committee’s 1st Meeting Set for Monday
The City of Palm Coast’s newly-established Charter Review Committee is set to hold its inaugural meeting on Monday, August 25 at 6 p.m., at the Jon Netts Community Wing at Palm Coast City Hall, 160 Lake Ave. The committee, which consists of five Palm Coast residents selected by the City Council last month, was designated to collectively review the current city charter and propose potential amendments to the charter. The five members are Patrick Miller, Ramon Marrero, Perry Mitrano, Michael Martin and Donald O’Brien.
House Rep. Sam Greco Sets Eyes on Palm Coast’s Needy Utility Infrastructure and Other Coming Asks
Florida House Rep. Sam Grego’s visit to Palm Coast’s Waste Water Treatment Plant 1 in the Woodlands this morning had two purposes. The junior House member who replaced Paul Renner got a chance to see where some of the $5 million appropriation he helped secure in the last session will go. And he was taken on a tour of other locations that are part of the city’s asks for the coming session, including the congestion-prone intersection of Town Center Boulevard and Old Kings Road, and drainage and capacity improvements for stormwater in the flood-prone Woodlands.
In a Reversal, Palm Coast Council Unanimously Rejects Hargrove Lane Rezoning That Would Have Allowed Concrete Plant
Reversing a vote two weeks ago, the Palm Coast City Council today unanimously rejected the rezoning of 37 acres on Hargrove Lane from light industrial to heavy industrial, requested by a concrete batch plant company. Council members did not want to set that precedent, or to jeopardize the thriving commercial businesses along Hargrove Grade and Hargrove Lane, which they said would far outnumber in jobs whatever jobs a concrete batch plant might bring.
Flagler Cares CEO Carrie Baird To Be Honored with News Service of Florida’s 2025 Above & Beyond Award
Carrie Baird, chief executive officer of Flagler Cares, is among this year’s honorees of the News Service of Florida Above & Beyond Award. The awards honor the “most influential and thought-provoking women in Florida who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in their field, combined with having made significant contributions to society.” Flagler Cares, a Palm Coast-based non-profit that just marked its 10th anniversary, connects people to benefits, direct services or resources through a “no-wrong-door” approach.
Palm Coast Mayor Norris Files Dismissal Notice of His Lawsuit Against the City, Scrapping Rehearing or Appeal
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris today filed notice in Circuit Court through his attorney that he was voluntarily dismissing his lawsuit against the city he represents and Council member Charles Gambaro, without prejudice–meaning that it cannot be refiled. Mt. Dora attorney Anthony Sabatini filed the notice early this afternoon, soon after being served a letter by the city’s attorney, warning that the city would pursue financial sanctions against Norris if the lawsuit remained active.
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine Tells Palm Coast During Sewer Plant Visit: Utility Infrastructure Is Primarily Your Responsibility
U.S. Rep Randy Fine, on a whirlwind tour of Flagler County that included an ATV trip along its battered beaches and an afternoon meet-and-greet at the Chamber of Commerce, this morning visited what has become a necessary stop in Palm Coast’s infrastructure calvary: the sloshing tanks and purifying basins of Waste Water Treatment 1. Costly as the expansion and modernization of the plant is to Palm Coast, he said utility infrastructure is primarily the city’s responsibility, not the federal government’s.
Jeani Duarte, a Council Candidate, Says Palm Coast’s Utility Plants Will Make Cannibals of Residents
Jeani Duarte, a candidate for the Palm Coast City Council in the 2026 election, on Tuesday evening accused the city of planning a sewer infrastructure that will turn residents into cannibals. Duarte often addresses the council at its workshops and meetings, often several times a meeting, often to make statements that are either inaccurate or “nonsensical,” as Circuit Judge Chris France twice termed a civil action she attempted against the city, before France tossed it.
With Cuts at Palm Coast Branch, County Pledges to Revisit Library Budget 3 Months After Bunnell Branch Opens
With Palm Coast officials worried that a planned 23 percent cut in library hours and a significant cut in staffing at the Palm Coast branch will hurt patrons and programming once the Bunnell branch opens in December, Flagler County officials are pledging that staffing will be adjusted next spring should usage figures show a need.
County and Palm Coast ‘Task Force’ Will Explore Cost of Animal Shelter Separate from Flagler Humane Society
Even as they compulsively speak of “DOGE”-dictated government efficiency and stress over limited budgets, Flagler County and Palm Coast’s governments are setting up a joint task force to study the possibility of building or operating a multi-million animal shelter separate from the Flagler Humane Society, which since 1982 been the only full-service animal shelter in the county.
Flagler County Government Favors Merging Animal Control with Palm Coast, Ending Humane Society Contract
Flagler County government is working toward consolidating animal control services with those of Palm Coast. That would sever the county’s $300,000 contract with the Flagler Humane Society, which currently provides those services to the county. The Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council in a joint meeting on Wednesday did not make a decision to that end, but agreed by consensus to draft a joint agreement (or ILA, an interlocal agreement) that would define the scope and cost of the services Palm Coast would provide.
Against Sharp Opposition from Hargrove Grade Businesses, Council Approves Heavy Industry Rezoning for Concrete Plant in 3-2 Vote
Facing down sharp opposition, especially from business owners on Hargrove Grade, the Palm Coast City Council in a 3-2 vote Tuesday approved on first reading the rezoning of 37 acres at the western edge of Hargrove from light industrial to heavy industrial ahead of the construction of a concrete mixing plant there. The city’s planning board rejected the rezoning in June, citing pollution that could affect businesses on Hargrove, and the negative effects the plant could have on acreage along Hargrove owned by AdventHealth: the board did not want to discourage the hospital company from building a medical park there.
Back from the Brink, Ray Stevens Is Running Again for the Palm Coast City Council Seat He Resigned
The former Palm Coast City Council member is going to run in the 2026 election to reclaim the seat he resigned when he took severely ill just weeks into his term, after winning the District 3 seat runoff with 58 percent of the vote (and making past the primary by two votes). Stevens resigned in late February, when he was in the hospital, in critical condition, and told to get his affairs in order. He plans to run to complete the two years that would remain in his term, then not run again in 2028.
Palm Coast Fire Department’s David Faust Appointed Battalion Chief of Training
The Palm Coast Fire Department today announced the appointment of David Faust as Battalion Chief of Training. In his new role, Faust will lead the department’s efforts to recruit, train, and develop both current and future members of the organization.
Palm Coast Relieves Itself 3 Years Late as Much-Needed $31 Million Sewer Plant Expansion Doubles Capacity
Almost three years late and 55 percent over the original budget, Palm Coast’s expansion of its Waste Water Treatment Plant Number 2 is now operational but for a punch-list, doubling the plant’s capacity to 4 million gallons per day and relieving the city’s older, overburdened WWTP1 in the Woodlands, which is getting its own expansion. When presented to the City Council in January 2020, the expansion was scheduled for completion by November 2022, for $20 million. Not including design, the project’s construction cost rose to $30.9 million.
Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Announces Congressional Run Against ‘Outrageous’ Randy Fine
Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro late Thursday announced he will challenge U.S. Rep. Randy Fine in the 2026 primary for the 6th Congressional District seat Fine won in a special election last April. With Council member Dave Sullivan’s plan not to run in the 2026 election, Gambaro’s decision creates the second open seat on the council–an opening that gives the embattled mayor a chance to make a play for a majority aligned with him.
Hires of Palm Coast Utility and Development Directors Termed Capstones of Mark Strobridge’s Brief Tenure
Flagler County Sheriff’s Chief Mark Strobridge considers the long-needed appointments of directors to two of Palm Coast government’s most important departments–utilities and growth management–as the capstone to his unusual tenure as an assistant city manager on loan to Interim City Manager Lauren Johnston. The city on Wednesday announced the appointments of Brian Roche as director of the Utility Department, and John Zobler as Community Development Director, a position vacant since Jason DeLorenzo was named chief of staff in September 2022. DeLorenzo left the city earlier this month.
As Mayor Norris Misrepresents Ethics Complaint Dismissal, Council Focuses on Charter and Governor Action
The Florida Commission on Ethics tossed out a complaint filed by four Palm Coast City Council members against Mayor Mike Norris, citing “legal insufficiency.” Norris had said as much in a social media posting last Friday and at a town hall meeting Monday, misinterpreting the order as a victory. To the council members, the ethics commission’s decision is one more reason to revise the city charter to add disciplinary clauses that would enable a council majority–or a supermajority–to deal with a rogue or derelict member.
At Mike Norris ‘Mayoral Town Hall,’ an Impressive Crowd Starring Cast of Familiar Faces, Fictions and Grievances
Palm Coast Mayor Norris’s self-vaunted, well-attended and uneventful “Mayoral Town Hall” at the VFW hall on Old Kings Road Monday evening was almost identical to a grousing public comment segment at a City Council meeting, but stretched to two hours, and with a larger audience primed by pizza, beer and wine on the mayor’s personal generosity. The two-hour event drew 154 people, based on a head count just before the halfway mark.
Mayor Norris Files for Rehearing in Lawsuit He Lost Over Gambaro Appointment and Distorts Ethics Decision
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris through his attorney filed a motion for rehearing of his lawsuit against the city and Council member Charles Gambaro, who Norris still claims was illegally appointed despite a court order to the contrary. Separately, Norris, in a truculent social media posting replete with errors and mischaracterizations late Friday, claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics “has officially dismissed” the complaint the City Council filed against him, and did so “due to insufficient legal standing.”
100 Cats Rescued from R-Section Home in Palm Coast Will Have Their Own Adoption Event
In a powerful show of compassion and teamwork, almost 100 cats were rescued this week from a single home in Palm Coast, thanks to a coordinated effort by city employees, local organizations, and dedicated animal lovers.
4 Council Members Ask DeSantis to Suspend Mayor for ‘Malfeasance, Misfeasance, Neglect of Duty, and Incompetence’
Twice charging Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris with “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence,” the rest of the Palm Coast City Council today issued a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking him to suspend Norris from office and appoint an acting mayor in his place.
Palm Coast’s Policing Budget Set to Increase 24%, with 9 New Deputies; Sheriff Proposes Strict E-Bike Ordinance
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly submitted a policing budget for Palm Coast that would increase the number of deputies patrolling the city from 57 to 66 and increase the city’s policing budget 24 percent, from $9 million to $11.18 million. In 2022, the budget was $5.74 million. Also, responding to what he says is increasing complaints from pedestrians and people on regular bikes and others who’ve had close calls with electric bikes, Staly is proposing an ordinance to regulate e-bikes in Palm Coast.
Any Hope of Stricter Development Regulations in Palm Coast, Bunnell or Flagler County ‘Dead in the Water’ Until 2027
Forget a building moratorium of any kind. A For the next three years, something closer to a moratorium on regulations is in effect in Flagler County, its cities and across Florida, thanks to a provision in a new state law–what emerged from the Legislature as Senate Bill 180–that local governments are only now beginning to understand. The law ties the hands of local land use regulators, prohibiting any “burdensome” restrictions on developers, while giving anyone the right to sue a local government that appears to violate the law.
Palm Coast Council Again Reverts on Allowing All Exterior House Colors, to Now Keep 5 on Ban List
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday agreed to rescind its two-week-old decision to end all restrictions on houses’ exterior paint colors. It will instead allow almost all colors while preserving a ban on five: neon, fuchsia, magenta, orange and purple. The proposed change would still result in the least restrictive color rules since ITT founded Palm Coast in the late 1960s as a deed-restricted community. The upshot for now is that the famously, handsomely dark blue house in the F Section that’s been at the center of the controversy for months can keep its royal color.
Palm Coast Council, with 2nd Censure Vote, Will Ask Governor to Remove ‘Toxic’ Mayor Norris
The Palm Coast City Council in a 4-1 vote today censured Mayor Mike Norris for the second time in three months and agreed to send a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to unseat the mayor. Both acts were extraordinary for this or any city but for controversies Norris has been provoking since his election last November, making a routine of the extraordinary.
Palm Coast Council’s Five Charter Review Picks Reflect Politics and Experience, Not Diversity
The Palm Coast City Council today appointed five residents–five men, four white, one Hispanic–to the Charter Review Committee, along with five alternate members, out of 27 applicants. The council’s choices reflect some appointments with an eye to politics and some to experience. The appointments include former two-term County Commissioner Donald O’Brien and current East Mosquito Control District board member Michael Martin. O’Brien especially has deep familiarity both with governance and parliamentary procedures, as well as the difference between charters and ordinances.
Judge France Signs Order Against Palm Coast Mayor Norris, Ending Attempt to Unseat Gambaro
Circuit Judge Chris France on Thursday signed the judgment against Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris, who had filed suit to have the court remove fellow Council member Charles Gambaro and order a special election. France ruled on the matter at the end of a 50-minute hearing last July 3 with Norris in attendance. The written judgment spells out the ruling and closes the case, unless Norris appeals.
Data Center Planned for 2028 in Palm Coast Cloaked in More Secrecy and Undocumented Boasts than Answers
Following up on an announcement Wednesday by Google that it would be building a transatlantic cable and land it in Flagler Beach, Palm Coast and Flagler County for the first time this week disclosed what has been reported since last August–that a company would build a large data center in Palm Coast’s Town Center. But the two governments’ releases provided more boasts than information.
Don’t Paint Your House Purple Just Yet: Palm Coast May Reconsider Stricter Color Regulations or Referendum
A week after a unanimous Palm Coast City Council vote to move toward revoking all outside paint-color restrictions, Council member Theresa Pontieri said on Tuesday she’ll request a reconsideration, pausing the process. She will seek either a “more reasonable change to the code” or possibly put the matter to voters in a referendum. At least two other council members are willing to think about a referendum.
Dodging and Defiant After Losing Lawsuit, Palm Coast Mayor Norris Says He Doesn’t Care If He ‘Cost the City $1 Million’
A defiant Mike Norris Tuesday evening said he didn’t care if he “cost the city a million dollars.” He was not repaying a dime of the $30,000 the lawsuit he just lost cost taxpayers. He gave no indication that he accepted the court’s ruling. He blamed his colleagues for not taking his advice in December to protect the city against the lawsuit he ended up filing. He warned his colleagues on the Palm Coast City Council that he would be seeking reimbursement of his legal fees over the pending ethics complaint they filed against him. And he renewed conspiratorial claims about city staff and “what’s going on in this city.”
In Stinging Defeat for Mayor Norris, Judge Rules on All Counts in Favor of City’s Gambaro Appointment
Circuit Judge Chris France today handed Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris a stinging defeat in his lawsuit against his own city, challenging the legality of the council’s appointment of Charles Gambaro to a vacated seat last summer. In a hearing lasting less than an hour, and in a courtroom with more than two dozen Norris supporters filling the gallery, France ruled against Norris both on standing–he had none–and on the merits.
In Historic Shift, Palm Coast Council Votes Unanimously to End All Color Restrictions on Exterior House Paint
Palm Coast’s decades-old discrimination against colored houses may be over. In a remarkable vote on Tuesday, the Palm Coast City Council unanimously agreed to repeal almost all restrictions on exterior house colors in place since before Palm Coast was a city. The requirement of only two base colors and some accent-color allowances will remain. The repeal is nowhere near final. It requires a rewrite of the ordinance, a hearing before the planning board, and two more hearings before the council. The vote was a victory for Mayor Mike Norris, who pushed hardest for the repeal.
Mayor Mike Norris Snubs July 4 Parade and Reading of Declaration of Independence with Colleagues
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris is snubbing both the July 4 parade and the traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence alongside 15 elected officials, including all four of his council colleagues Friday as he continues to abdicate many of his office’s public responsibilities outside of council meetings.
No More Undocumented Chickens: Palm Coast Launches Pilot Backyard Program for Up to 4 Hens Per Coop
The city today launched a pilot program that will permit 50 residents to have up to four chickens per backyard coop. The $100 permit, valid for two years (or $50 a year), will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. The program is available to residents of homesteaded, single-family houses only. That means residents of areas controlled by homeowner associations are not eligible. Nor are residents in apartments or duplexes. Nor are renters. Nor are roosters.
Palm Coast Administration Issues Budget Plan Scaling Back Some Spending Ahead of July 8 Discussion
With budget season in full swing, the City of Palm Coast is presenting the Fiscal Year 2026 General Fund budget at the City Council workshop meeting on Tuesday, July 8, at 6 p.m. The City Council’s priorities remain at the heart of this budget, with a focus on maintaining a healthy fund balance or reserve while investing in public safety, infrastructure, and long-term efficiencies.
DeSantis Signs $115 billion Budget, Vetoes $567 million; Palm Coast’s Modest Appropriations Survive
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a long-awaited state budget Monday just hours before it would take effect, vetoing $567 million. Palm Coast’s pair of appropriations, $2.5 million for an “equalization tank” and $2.5 million to help modernize Waste Water Treatment Plant 1 in the Woodlands, the city’s biggest and oldest, survived vetoes.
Yummy: Palm Coast Residents Get Behind-the-Scenes Look at Water and Sewer Plants
Palm Coast residents gained an in-depth understanding of the city’s vital water and wastewater treatment processes during a guided tour of the city’s Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant. Not to worry: the two are not co-located.
Palm Coast Council Will Seek At Least a Small Reduction in Property Tax Rate, Leaving Open Possibility of More
The Palm Coast City Council will seek at least a modest decrease in next year’s property tax rate when it adopts its budget in September, continuing a trend begun in 2021. It is not ruling out a full rollback in the tax rate, something the council has done only once in the city’s history, in 2023, at heavy cost to the city’s operations. The council resisted rolback last year.
Palm Coast Council Deadlocks Over Selling Palm Harbor Golf Club; It May Raise Rates Again and Beg Loopers for a Cut
The Palm Coast City Council deadlocked over the future of the Palm Harbor Golf Club today, split between council members who want to sell it and those who don’t. Other proposals include sharply raising rates, bringing in new management, reconfiguring overhead costs, and even asking Loopers, the successful restaurant at the golf club, to renegotiate its lease for a little profit sharing that would benefit the club’s bottom line. Previous councils have tried most of these tactics for years, almost going back to the city’s acquisition of the 141-acre property in 2008.
Still on Warpath, Palm Coast Mayor Files Records Requests Targeting City Manager’s Communications
In an unprecedented inquisition into the city’s top staff by its own mayor, Norris filed a public record request, seeking to know every communication Acting Palm Coast City Manager Lauren Johnston has had with Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo, local developers, county and sheriff’s officials, local media and others, from the day of his election–Nov. 6–to the present. It is unusual that an elected official would seek with such sweep what amounts to an interrogative of his own city manager’s administrative paper trail, especially in light of his recent censure.
Jason DeLorenzo, Palm Coast’s Chief of Staff and Target Mayor’s Attacks, Leaving to Be Assistant City Manager in Palm Bay
Jason DeLorenzo, Palm Coast government’s community development director and chief of staff for the last six years, previously a city council member for five years, and one of the administration’s most institutionally versed and versatile executives, will be leaving City Hall July 11 to be the assistant city manager in Palm Bay in Brevard County. The move up for DeLorenzo is a huge loss for the city administration, and a portend of a brain drain exacted by Mayor Mike Norris’s continued scorched-earth assaults on the city administration.
Palm Coast Planning Board Rejects Rezoning That Would Allow Concrete Mixing Plant on Hargrove Grade, Citing Pollution
The Palm Coast Planning Board rejected a request to rezone 37 acres on Hargrove Grade on the west side of U.S. 1 to heavy industrial so a national could build a concrete mixing plant there. The land includes 10 acres of wetlands, overlaps within the protection zone of two public well sites that furnish water to the city, and would not be far from acreage zoned for a hospital or a medical building. The batch plant would be the only one in Palm Coast. Those factors, along with traffic, noise and pollution, played into the reasoning of board members and members of the public who opposed the rezoning.
Double-Edged Resolution Calling on Mayor Norris To Do Better Falls Short at Flagler GOP After Sharp Debate
In a remarkable display of the polarizing effect Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris is having within his own party–and the party’s own internal strains– the Flagler County Republican Party could not agree on a double-edged resolution about Norris at its monthly meeting last week. The voice vote was not a failure of support for Norris, exactly. It spoke more about the party, its fractured membership and its complicated relationship with Norris.