Yet another hurdle may be rising in the way of the annexations into Flagler Beach of Summertown and Veranda Bay, the sister developments totaling 756 acres on the east and west sides of John Anderson Highway: Flagler County government is signaling that it may sue Flagler Beach over those annexations absent a successful round of conflict resolution.
The combined developments would result in about 2,200 housing units at buildout in a couple of decades, unless the county acquires some of the Summertown acreage. If it does–the county plans a 153-acre purchase, placing that land in conservation–the number of units would fall proportionately to the acres sold.
The last time Flagler Beach faced the threat of a lawsuit, when it was poised to annex both developments as one in late 2024, it put the whole process on pause, delaying it for a year.
County Commissioners Kim Carney and Leann Pennington appear to be pushing the litigation approach. Commissioners during a workshop Monday had a long, unrelated discussion about developing more formal processes between local governments when annexations and other major land use changes are in play, prompting Commissioner Greg Hansen to say that “the elephant in the room is Veranda Bay and Summertown.” He thought both were still unincorporated, when only Veranda Bay is, then said: “We have little that we can do. A train may have left the station on that, but there’s an opportunity to try to save something that’s really valuable, and I don’t know that we can or not. It may be too late.”
“I think that’s going to come back to us under other comments for discussion today,” Carney said. “There is a plan.”
“We’ll bring it up under the comments. We can talk,” Pennington said, referring to the segment at the end of the meeting when commissioners bring up matters not on the agenda (the way Carney would the attempted firing of County Administrator Heidi Petito late that evening.) The commission then broke for lunch.
Clearly, Carney and Pennington were aware of behind-the-scenes groundwork about the potential litigation, as Hansen was not. Pennington said she had not discussed it with the attorney but had heard concerns from John Tanner, the attorney representing Preserve Flagler Beach and Bulow Creek, the nonprofit that’s often opposed the developments. (Individual commissioners are free to talk privately with the county administrator or the county attorney, even propose initiatives or ask them to bring up topics for discussion. The commissioners are not supposed to orchestrate those initiatives behind the scenes.)
The Flagler Beach City Commission last week approved on final reading the annexation of the 545 acres on the west side of John Anderson that would form the future Summertown development, including an 840,000-square foot commercial hub with upscale shops, restaurants and a hotel.
The city commission is preparing to annex the 211-acre Veranda Bay, on the east side of John Anderson, where more than 160 houses have already been built and many of them have been occupied by new owners. First reading of the annexation ordinance is on Jan. 22, second reading on Feb. 5.
Flagler County is not contesting the Summertown annexation. It is contesting the new land use designation of that acreage, now that it is within the city limits. The county considers the new land use designation incompatible with the city’s own comprehensive plan for various reasons, among them floodplain issues, preservation and other matters still being drafted. The incompatibility, the county would argue, would create adverse effects on neighboring county land.
That litigation would be administrative. In other words, the county would file an action through the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings known as DOAH, where an administrative judge would hear the case. As far as the public–and the outcome–is concerned, it’s not materially different than an action in court.
Regarding Veranda Bay, the county would contest the annexation itself. Under state law, a voluntary annexation of that kind requires all the property owners living within the area to be annexed to sign petitions approving the annexation. The developer says those petitions are signed and in hand, according to a city commissioner. The county has requested the annexation application but has not confirmed that all petitions have been signed. If that confirmation isn’t forthcoming, litigation would follow.
Both legal actions would pose problems for the city and the developer, SunBelt Land Management, represented locally by Ken Belshe and his attorney, Michael Chiumento, though both have become used to, if not inured to, obstacles at almost every step of the regulatory process since Veranda Bay reemerged in 2019 from what had once been a Bobby Ginn plan a decade and a half earlier.
The county has scheduled a Jan. 28 workshop and meeting where it may formalize legal action against Flagler Beach. The first step would be to initiate the conflict resolution process required by state law when two local governments have a dispute. It’s similar to the one that resolved the conflict between the county and Ormond Beach in May 2024, over a shared road across the county line.
“Probably the best way to have this matter resolved is to have both collegial bodies in one room discussing the matter and coming to a resolution,” County Attorney Michael Rodriguez told the commissioners on Monday. “That’s the intent of the statute, in order to have it be done prior to litigation.” That kind of joint meeting is what resolved the matter between the county and Ormond Beach.
On Jan 28, the county commissioners will work on a resolution summing up the county’s contentions regarding both issues of concern. The filing with DOAH is due Feb. 8.
“We can present our arguments at the second reading, and still be fine on the record for any challenge after that,” Rodriguez said of Flagler Beach’s second reading of the annexation ordinance in February. “If we were to file a challenge, I would then consolidate that case and bring it into the dispute resolution as well, so that it can all be decided under one universal settlement.” The second case being the challenge of the Summertown land designation’s incompatibility with the city’s comprehensive plan.
Either way, the city will not take the challenge kindly, though the issues don’t appear to be beyond the scope of a conflict-resolution joint meeting.
Deborah Coffey says
Right…more Republican governance, lawsuits and chaos.
Sickened says
Be sure the “developers”, aka Land Rapers, mow down every tree, and living thing, kill every gopher turtle and every other animal while building yet another bunch of pigeon coop houses, crammed next to each other. We need more concrete. We need less trees, foliage and wildlife. We need more storage units and strip malls. We don’t have enough. Flagler Beach is already destroyed with over “development”. Now it’s time to finish off the whole county. Disgusting
Pig Farmer says
When I read that first sentence, I misread it as “the sinister developments totaling 756 acres”. I think it is better that way anyway.
m thompson says
Happy to see the county still wanting to fight against the destruction of that land and to Bulow Creek.
Anyone that does not know the history & the lay of that land on both sides of John Anderson Hwy are not educated as to how detrimental it is to build on it. Yes, a development project was approved there 20 years ago when people didn’t realize what future damage building causes AND that any vacant land, let alone historical land, is no longer in abundance. Over time, surrounding development WILL cause change to long ago visions. Any present development has to be adjusted to meet today’s reality.
It happens says
Flagler is so overdeveloped we are currently being fined by the state for pumping raw sewage into the woods because the sewage plants can’t keep up with all the new development. But sure, let’s build more houses