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 City Council
Palm Coast Announces New Short-Term Rental Registration Requirements
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.
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.
Palm Coast Council Contends with 7th Resignation in 9 Years as Application Window Opens for Ray Stevens Replacement
The Palm Coast City Council has had seven resignations since 2016: Bill McGuire. Steven Nobile. Jack Howell. Victor Barbosa. Milissa Holland. Cathy Heighter. And now Ray Stevens. Over the same time-span, the council has had four mayors (Jon Netts, Holland, David Alfin and now Mike Norris) and 22 council members, a turn-over rate unmatched on any other local government board. The volatility of the council. is likely scaring off some of the better candidates for city manager as the council seeks to fill a post that has not lacked for its own precariousness.
Palm Coast Council Approves 36% Water and Sewer Rate Increase by 2027 to Finance $455 Million Infrastructure Loan
The Palm Coast City Council Tuesday approved a controversial plan to raise water and sewer rates 36 percent by October 2027 and borrow $455 million to expand the city’s sewer and freshwater capacity, comply with a state consent order forcing the city’s hand on capital improvements, and assure bond-holders that the city can soundly make good on its financial obligations. Combining water and sewer costs, a household using 4,000 gallons of water per month would see its water and sewer bill go from $90.73 today to $123.46 in October 2027, a difference of $32.73, or $393 per year.
4 County Commissioners Endorse Petito Plan to Save Beaches and Launch Public Campaign for Sales Tax Increase
Four county commissioners–Andy Dance, the chair, Greg Hansen, Pam Richardson and Kim Carney–gave their blessing today to Flagler County Administrator Heidi Petito’s resolute financial plan to make county government responsible for rebuilding and maintaining all 18 miles of beaches. The commissioners gave Petito their consensus that she may now develop a public campaign to win support. Palm Coast’s support will be crucial. Without it, the plan dies.
Ray Stevens, In Critical Condition, Resigns His Palm Coast City Council Seat Two Months After Swearing-In
Elected to the Palm Coast City Council last November after surviving a historically close primary race, Ray Stevens tendered his resignation today, citing ill health. He had missed three successive meetings and attended last Tuesday’s meeting remotely, saying he’d be back in person next week, only to have a grave relapse.
Flagler Beach’s Days Are Numbered. That’s No Reason for Palm Coast to Assist Its Suicide.
Flagler Beach’s days are numbered. A beach-protection plan is essential. The county has produced one that spares the cities any tax increase and ensures the renourishment and management of all 18 miles of the county’s beaches. Sending the question to referendum ensures its death, and with it the eventual death of our beaches. Flagler Beach and Palm Coast should not be so fatalistic.
Ahead of Rate Increases, Palm Coast Launches Explanatory Utility System Web Page
The City of Palm Coast has launched a new webpage dedicated to providing residents with clear and transparent information about the city’s utility system, challenges, and the strategic plan to maintain reliable water and sewer services. The webpage, available at PalmCoast.gov/utility-strategic-plan, explains key infrastructure projects, why improvements are needed, and how the city is planning for the future.
Ralph Carter Park Rears Its Dusky Lights Again as Councilman Clamors for Dimmers Just Months After City Upgrades
A year after Palm Coast staff installed shields on the flood lights at Ralph Carter Park in the R Section, to recalibrate park hours in line with residents’ demands, and to hold a community meeting to outline it all, City Council member Charles Gambaro is asking to lay it all back on the table as he sees the same problems recurring there.
Flagler Humane Society Takes a Lashing from Palm Coast Council as Accountability and Transparency Are Questioned
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.
Palm Coast Throws Cold, Brackish Water on County Beach Tax and Management Plan, Calling for Referendum
The Palm Coast City Council today was not receptive to County Administrator Heidi Petito’s comprehensive but expensive financing plan for a long-term solution to saving the county’s 18 miles of beaches. At least three council members favor sending the proposal to the ballot for a referendum, which would almost certainly fail and delay the enactment of an already lagging beach-management plan to 2027, after the next general election.
On Second Thought, Palm Coast Council Expands City Manager Shortlist to 11, With Gimlet Eyes on Kandahar
After getting a small and unimpressive batch of candidates from a four-week job posting in December, the Palm Coast City Council’s head-hunter for a new city manager did a desperate thing, marking the want ad as “open until filled.” That drew nine more candidates, and two who re-applied from the first batch. This time, there were two stand-outs, perhaps three, in the council’s view.
Flagler County’s $114 Million Beach Management Plan Depends on Raising Sales Tax and Winning Cities’ Buy-In
Flagler County government’s proposed $114 million plan to rebuild, maintain and protect 18 miles of shoreline over the next six years depends on raising the local sales tax by half a penny, imposing a $160-a-year tax on each barrier island property, including Flagler Beach, doubling spending on the beach from the county’s tourism-tax revenue, and temporarily using some general fund revenue toward the effort.
Paving Contractor Will Seal Cracks on 33 Palm Coast Streets Before Micro-Surfacing
Beginning Monday (Feb. 24) the City of Palm Coast’s micro-surfacing contractor, Asphalt Paving Systems, will begin crack sealing on multiple roadways as part of an upcoming pavement preservation project. This is a temporary step in the process, not the final road surface.
Palm Coast’s Waterfront Park Wins State Planning Association’s Great Places in Florida Award
The American Planning Association’s Florida Chapter named Waterfront Park the winner of the Great Places in Florida People’s Choice Award for 2024, taking 60 percent of the vote in a statewide competition driven by community boosting. Waterfront Park, Palm Coast’s 20-acre treasure on the Intracoastal, opened in 2010 as the 12th of the city’s parks, quickly becoming a favorite among local residents and a draw to visitors.
New Big-Box Store and Shops Slated Near BJ’s Wholesale, But Palm Coast Is ‘Leery’ of 255-Apartment Allowance
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.
I Confess: I Like Palm Coast
On WNZF’s annual year in review show with local media in January host David Ayres asked me if I liked Palm Coast. I replied with a mix of sarcasm and sourness. It was more of a show-offy attempt to sound clever than an honest reflection of how I felt. For all its many flaws, there are good reasons to appreciate Palm Coast down to its irradiating redness, even for a Bolshevik like me.
Palm Coast Council Journeys from Dubious ‘Forensic Audit’ to Mystifying Citywide ‘Risk Assessment’ as It Approves RFP
More than a year and a half after it first entertained then backtracked from conducting a “forensic audit” on its own government in response to a handful of residents’ undocumented claims that the administration was corrupt, the Palm Coast City Council late Tuesday night agreed to issue a request for proposal for a “risk assessment,” something quite different from what would have been a prohibitively expensive forensic audit.
Palm Coast Plans to Sharply Raise Water-Sewer Rates and Borrow $456 Million to Finance Needs, Dwarfing Previous Debt
The Palm Coast City Council is moving toward a plan to raise water and sewer rates 28 percent over the next four years and borrow $456 million over the next two to finance some of the $700 million in water and sewer infrastructure under strain from too much growth. The bond issues would dwarf all previous city bond issues and its existing total debt, which stands at $134 million. The rate increases would, for a household using 4,000 gallons of water a month, result in bill increases of $40 a month by October 1, 2028, or an annual increase of nearly $500–more for households consuming more water.
33 Palm Coast Streets Are Getting “Micro-Surfaced,” a Granular Sealant and Life-Extender Cheaper Than Regular Paving
More than 30 residential streets in Palm Coast–23 lane miles, or 11.5 miles of roadway out of the city’s network of 542 miles of roads–are getting a life extension with a coating of micro-surfacing, a form of asphalt treatment for roads in relatively good condition that can prevent decay and delay by five to seven years the need to mill and resurface the road with traditional paving methods.
Proposal Would Raise Palm Coast Water Rates 36% and Sewer Rates 30.5% Over Span of 30 Months
A consultant is recommending that Palm Coast government raise water rates 36 percent and sewer rates 30.5 percent over a mere 30 months–from April this year to Oct. 1, 2027–if the city’s utility infrastructure is to keep up with demand, expand and upgrade existing facilities, and keep up with debt obligations. If enacted, it would be the steepest rate increase in the shortest time span in the city’s history, a reflection of the strains Palm Coast’s water and sewer infrastructure is operating under.
Eroding Management Plan, Cities Bluntly Tell Flagler County: Not One Extra Dime for Beach Protection
Palm Coast, Beverly Beach and Bunnell officials told Flagler County in blunt, at times almost belligerent terms Wednesday evening that their constituents will not accept any new tax or fee to pay for beach management, whether it’s renourishing beaches or maintaining them. The tone of the discussion during a joint meeting of local governments Wednesday left county officials reeling.
Sen. Rick Scott Aide Tours Palm Coast’s Troubled Wastewater Plant, Raising Hopes for Help with $240 Million Upgrade
The first-ever visit by an aide to Sen. Rick Scott–or by any senator or his aides–to Palm Coast’s troubled Waste Water Treatment Plant #1 today left City Council member Charles Gambaro, who arranged the visit, thinking “it’s a 50-50 chance” that the city may get financial help to lessen a projected $240 million bill to upgrade and expand the sewer plant.
Rallying Behind Pontieri, a 5-0 Council Defies Developer’s Threat to Sue Over Limiting Seminole Woods’ Cascades to 416 Houses
Defying the threat of a lawsuit by a developer, the Palm Coast City Council late Tuesday evening voted 5-0 to stand by its decision last year to limit the Cascades development in Seminole Woods to 416 single-family houses. The council had in 2023 approved a limit of 850 dwellings, then reversed course in the face of staunch opposition. The additional housing units would have been apartments–always a volatile subject in Palm Coast, where prejudices against apartment complexes persist despite a shortage. But a city infrastructure under strain also factored into opposition to the higher density.
Deadline Looming, Palm Coast Council Prepares Response to Lawsuit Threat by Developer of Cascades in Seminole Woods
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.
Selling Palm Harbor Golf Course Draws Strong Opposition as Council Meanders Over Purpose of City ‘Amenities’
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.
Unhappy with Choices, Palm Coast Reopens City Manager Search for ‘Unicorn’ Even as It Culls Second-Best Shortlist
It’s not exactly what the short-listed candidates want to hear: you’re OK, but we’d rather not settle for you. We’re still looking. That was, putting it kindly, the message the Palm Coast City Council sent the six candidates it short-listed, out of a shallow pool of 37, as it seeks to hire a permanent city manager. The more precise message is that a majority of council members aren’t happy with the candidate pool it got, and that it’s re-opening the search for at least a month.
Panel Recommends Renaming City Hall’s Community Wing for Late Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts
Two months after the Palm Coast City Council rejected naming the city’s flagship community center for Jon Netts, the late mayor and councilman, an advisory committee voted unanimously to recommend renaming City Hall’s Community Wing, where meetings and workshops are held, for Netts. The city’s Beautification and Environmental Advisory Committee, where all renaming proposals are vetted, also recommended renaming the new show tennis court at the Southern Recreation Center for the Friends of Tennis–what will be called the Friends Stadium Court.
Palm Harbor Golf Course Lost $3.4 Million in Operating Costs Alone, Far More in Capital Since Palm Coast Took Ownership
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.
Palm Coast Connect, City’s Customer Service Portal, Adds New Features Allowing Residents to Manage Cases
The City of Palm Coast has enhanced its customer service portal, Palm Coast Connect, by introducing new features designed to deliver a more streamlined and efficient user experience. The system, utilized by nearly 32,000 residents, aims to improve creating and managing cases.
Palm Coast Council Approves 182-House Development’s Final Step Near Airport in Seminole Woods, With a Disclaimer
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved the final plat for the 182-home subdivision known as the Enclave at Seminole Palms, on 70 acres north of the Citation Boulevard extension, between Belle Terre Boulevard and Seminole Woods Boulevard, and just south of the county airport property. Platting is a legally required final regulatory step in a development, mapping out individual property boundaries, easements, roads and other infrastructure features.
Yacht Club Gives Up Palm Coast Boat Parade After 41 Years, Citing Costs and City’s Obstacles; Mayor Pledges Takeover
The Palm Coast Yacht Club is giving up on the Holiday Boat Parade, a local fixture for 41 years. The Yacht Club cited burdensome costs and too many obstacles and expectations from the city, all of which have taken the fun out of running it, its organizer says. The Palm Coast City Council today signaled its willingness to take it over and run it as a special event. But it would have to be approved through the coming budget process.
Palm Coast’s Planning Board Approves $12 Million Construction Plan for New Public Works and Utility Facility Off U.S. 1
The Palm Coast Planning Board on Wednesday unanimously approved the construction plan for phase one of the city’s own Maintenance Operations Center on U.S. 1, a project a decade in the works that will consolidate public works, stormwater and the Utility Department’s administrative offices on the same grounds i what, over the next half century, will prove to be the new center of the city as it expands west. It’s not as if the board was in a position to object.
Despite Extension, City Manager Opening Draws Just 38 Applicants; Only 1 Managed a City of Palm Coast’s Size
Only 38 candidates have applied to be Palm Coast’s next city manager. The general quality of applicants is not stellar: top-flight candidates are not beating down the city’s door. Less than half the applicants (17) have previous city manager experience. Only a handful of those have managed a city with more than 50,000 people. Among the three, only one has managed a city with a population close to Palm Coast’s 107,000 (the current city manager of Edison, N.J.)
It’s Not Your Imagination: Palm Coast Homes Used as Vacation Rentals Increase by 70% in 2 Years, to Over 500
It’s not your imagination. The number of single-family homes used as short-term vacation rentals has increased by 60 percent in two years across Flagler County, while the number of vacation rentals in Palm Coast alone, where most of the growth is concentrated, has surged by 70 percent, with the overwhelming share of those in single-family homes, condos or town houses.
The Paints They Are A-Changin’: Palm Coast May Lift Most Restrictions on House Colors
The Palm Coast City Council appears on the verge of repealing most restrictions on house colors. As a consequence, homeowners would be allowed to paint houses in darker, less light-reflecting colors than allowed in the city’s 25-year history. But the move occurs in opposition to environmental trends that are encouraging lighter, whiter urban colors as a tool of fighting climate change, as darker colors absorb heat rather than reflect light and require homes to spend more energy on cooling.
USTA and Palm Coast Play to New Courts, New Tournament and Possible Doubles Partnership
Less than an hour before qualifiers were to start for the inaugural Women’s USTA Pro Circuit tournament at the Southern Recreation Center this morning, Palm Coast officials, representatives of the USTA and players gathered at the newest court-side in town to cut the ribbon on four new clay courts.
Palm Coast Government Wins Regional Council Award for Its Imaginative Comprehensive Plan
The City of Palm Coast has been honored with a prestigious Regional Award for Excellence for Planning and Growth Management from the Northeast Florida Regional Council for its visionary work on the “Imagine 2050: City on the Rise” Comprehensive Plan Update. This recognition highlights the City’s commitment to proactive planning, innovative community engagement, and strategic initiatives to shape Palm Coast’s future.
Palm Coast Council Signals Willingness to Relax Commercial Vehicle Parking in Residential Driveways
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday signaled its willingness to reconsider the city’s ban on the overnight parking of commercial vehicles in residential driveways without the vehicles’ signage being covered. The City Council considered repealing or amending the ban on commercial vehicles twice before, in 2010 and 2021, falling short each time.
New Rules: Palm Coast Council Restores Extra Workshop Among Changes Reflective of New Crew and Law
The shiniest-new Palm Coast City Council since the city’s founding voted to restore a second monthly workshop to go along with the two monthly meetings it’s held nearly since the city’s creation in 1999. It’ll need it: the council, with just one member barely exceeding two years’ service and everyone else a rookie or close to it, collectively is the least experienced in the city’s history. The decision is part of a relatively modest rewriting of council procedures prompted by its members’ wish to be more accessible to the public.
Palm Coast Enacts Vacation Rental Regulations as 10-Guest Limit Survives, But Milestone May Be Sort-Termed
Ending a half-year slog, the Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved the city’s first-ever short-term vacation rental regulations, with registration and inspection fees and penalties for violators. There are well over 200 such rentals in the city. The 10-guest cap per rental survived after a last-ditch attempt by two council members to raise it, but children exempt from counting against the cap may now be up to 3 years old. The previous exemption applied for children up to 1 year old.
Fired Palm Coast Utility Director’s ‘Whistleblower’ Action Details Grave Issues and Conflicts But No Smoking Gun
Former Palm Coast Utility Director Amanda Rees in a nine-page “whistleblower” letter to the City Council detailed dysfunction, personality clashes, discordant expectations, leadership issues and poor diplomacy, along with fearful or preemptive politicking among an administrative leadership clearly jarred by what had been an unpredictable and at times rash City Council. But anyone looking for corruption, malice, or a smoking gun in the letter would not find it. The city rejected its whistleblower claim.
Flagler’s New Legislative Delegation, Meager in Money and Seniority, Tells Locals: Don’t Expect Much
The much-diminished Flagler County Legislative Delegation took its seats this afternoon in Bunnell, cautioning local government and organization representatives seeking state aid for numerous projects that it’s a new, poorer day in Tallahassee, where federal Covid aid and legislative seniority are gone. Sen. Tom Leek and Rep. Sam Greco are each in his first term, though Leek brings eight years of service in the House, where he rose to the appropriations committee chairmanship before he was term-limited.
Palm Coast Government’s Website Launches ADA Functions to Improve Access for All
The City of Palm Coast has implemented a new ADA (Americans with Disabilities) Widget on its official website, palmcoast.gov, designed to improve accessibility and inclusivity for all users. This feature provides a variety of tools to enhance the online experience for individuals with different accessibility needs.
Palm Coast Senior Planner Phong T. Nguyen Earns Professional Transportation Planner Distinction
The City of Palm Coast announced Monday that Phong T. Nguyen, Senior Planner in the Community Development Department, has received the prestigious Professional Transportation Planner (PTP) certification. This recognition highlights his exceptional expertise in transportation planning and his commitment to fostering innovative and sustainable solutions that enhance the quality of life for our community.
USTA Interested in Managing Southern Rec Center, But Locals Worry About Messing With a Good Thing
After granting Palm Coast $700,000 to build five additional tennis court at the Southern Recreation Center, the USTA is interested in a management partnership with the city there. But tennis and pickleball players at the center are raising cautions about such an arrangement, worrying either that pickleball would get cheated or that other amenities would be run differently, though the potential arrangement also has some notable support.
Palm Coast’s Vacation-Rental Rules Ready for Prime Time as Council Refines Them, But They Could Be Short-Lived
Palm Coast’s debut short-term rental ordinance is heading for approval over the next few weeks as the City Council today, inheriting a draft in the works for months under a largely different council, signed off on it with minor adjustments. The council will vote on the proposal on Dec. 17 and Jan. 7, when the public may yet address it.
Palm Coast’s Push for Evening-Only Meetings Relies on Unproven and Problematic Assumptions
The Palm Coast City Council is considering moving all its meetings to evening sessions. The possibility is prompted by some council members’ assumption, disproved by the record and other local governments’ experience, that evening meetings would increase attendance and participation.
3.5-Mile Graham Swamp Trail Link to Lehigh and Bulow Finally In Design Thanks to Federal Money
As Palm Coast continues to broaden its crown-jewel-like trail system, the city has finally secured federal aid money to design the long-planned segment from Graham Swamp to Lehigh Trail–a plan 15 years in the works. But construction money remains elusive, so it may be a while yet before hikers are able to trek the entire distance from the Woodlands to Bulow Park several miles south, where another trail is under design.