By Brad West
For over two decades, I’ve called Palm Coast home. My family and I moved here in 2004, drawn by the promise of a well-planned community with a quality of life that was hard to beat. In the nearly 21 years since, I’ve watched this city evolve, mature, and grow. More recently, I’ve heard the steady drumbeat of a narrative that, while perhaps well-intentioned, is simply not true: the idea that Palm Coast’s infrastructure is crumbling under the weight of growth, and that nothing has been done to address it since our incorporation in 1999.
No one disputes that Palm Coast has grown significantly and faster than most communities in the country. When we moved here, the population was roughly 40,000. Today, it’s nearing 100,000. That kind of growth naturally brings challenges, and anyone who suggests otherwise is being disingenuous. Traffic, for instance, is undoubtedly heavier on some thoroughfares than it used to be. But to claim that our infrastructure is incapable of supporting this growth, or worse, that the city has been sitting idly by, is to ignore a mountain of evidence.
I remember when Belle Terre was a two-lane road. The widening and improvements of this and other roads significantly impact our local traffic flow and have been crucial upgrades that the city planned and carried out without taking on debt. Locally, think about the improvements to and widening of Palm Coast Parkway, the opening of Matanzas Woods Parkway as an overpass and interchange (a county project partially funded with Palm Coast transportation impact fee revenue), the addition of lanes and lights, the redesigned intersections. These were deliberate projects, years in the making, designed to alleviate congestion and improve connectivity. Let’s not forget the continuous work on local collector roads and neighborhood streets. While perhaps less flashy than a major highway project, the ongoing maintenance and upgrades to our internal road network are constant, if more limited by budget constraints.
It’s not just about roads. Consider our water and sewer system. For a city partly built on a network of canals, a robust and modern utility system is paramount. The city’s investment in upgrading and expanding our water treatment facilities and wastewater infrastructure has been ongoing. You might not see it, but it’s there, silently ensuring that when you turn on your tap, clean water flows, and when you flush, waste is properly managed. These are not small, inexpensive projects. They require significant capital investment such as the addition of water treatment plant #3 in 2005 and wastewater treatment plant #2 in 2018. They also require long-term planning, and they have been a consistent focus.
What about our parks and recreational facilities? Palm Coast has consistently invested in expanding and enhancing these amenities, from Central Park to the development of new neighborhood parks such as Waterfront Park, Seminole Woods Park and Ralph Carter Park. Not to mention the major renovations of the Community Center and the addition of the Southern Recreation Center. These are vital components of infrastructure that support a growing population and enhance quality of life. The city’s commitment to our extensive trail system, which provides alternative transportation options and recreational opportunities, is another testament to this ongoing investment.
I understand the frustration that comes with growth. Construction can be disruptive, and new developments can sometimes feel overwhelming. But that frustration should not morph into a false narrative that undermines the very real and significant efforts made by our city government to manage and facilitate this growth. To say “nothing has been done” since 1999–or since 2009 or 2019–is to disregard two and a half decades of strategic planning, capital improvements, and ongoing maintenance.
Palm Coast is not a static place. It is a dynamic, evolving community. And like any growing community, it will continue to face infrastructure challenges. The key is to address these challenges with facts, with constructive dialogue, and with a shared understanding of the investments already made and those still needed. As a long-term resident, I’ve seen firsthand the dedication to ensuring that our city’s infrastructure keeps pace with growth. Let’s acknowledge the progress, support continued efforts, and work together to ensure Palm Coast remains a vibrant and well-planned community for generations.
Brad West is a Palm Coast resident.
irked says
Wow. This guy isn’t very bright, is he?
Joseph says
Thanks for the article which shows how the City of PC and Council is letting the taxpayers of this community down and it is time we get answers to why the city is going NOTHING about any of this??????????
It is time we vote these do nothings out of office and get people in there that know how to run a city correctly.
don miller says
all you can really say is Palm Coast is trying. That have failed to keep up unless you work from home, play video games for sports ,have your groceries delivered and live on top of a hill so you never get caught by the traffic back ups, too short turn lanes and flooding with virtually no beach access and a toll bridge still.
Brad the Strawman says
Brad, this entire article is a strawman argument. No one would say “nothing’s been done” or that no infrastructure improvements have been made. And no one would deny that water treatment projects are big and expensive. What people are saying is that development is outpacing infrastructure improvements. In fact, city officials admit this. In a post on this same blog, city chief of staff Jason DeLorenzo answered “No, sir,” when asked if the city’s utility infrastructure would support the 19,000 housing units already permitted but not built. The context for that article was city council talk of a building moratorium. Whether one thinks we need a moratorium or not, clearly we have some catching up to do. I see a bright future for Palm Coast, but we need to slow down the development and speed up the infrastructure.
Deborah Coffey says
Nice try, Brad. We’ve lived here since 2000 when the population was 33,000. We always realized you can’t stop growth, especially in Florida but, during the past ten years, that growth has certainly spun out of control, with all favor given to developers at residents’ expense. What year was Old Kings Road South supposed to be widened…15 years ago?
Critical Eye says
Thanks Brad. Such a wonderful and refreshing article. You speak the truth. Living here with our family for more than 25 years we have also witnessed the growth. There is nothing nefarious going on within our city government.
They are keenly aware of our city’s history and future needs. There seems to be some new people who have moved into our city that are selfish and Palm Coast just isn’t the right place for them to live. They don’t understand the complexities of a growing city and population. They talk about draining the swamp when actually they are the swamp that needs to be drained. Their idiocy leads them to regurgitate cliches they hear on TV. They’re brain dead and can only think about restaurants and feeding their fat bellies. They run around looking like slobs like they just crawled out of the swap themselves. They have no ambition and complain and criticize others to somehow comfort their own inadequacies.
That’s not including everyone. Many of us have higher standards of living and we will rise to the occasion and face the challenges head on. We love Palm Coast and we will see our city thrive against the odds of those who have chosen to bring Palm Coast growth and prosperity to a halt.
JimboXYZ says
Not a false narrative ? +/-Noon on Memorial Day, traffic backed up for gridlock on southbound Belle Terre from Eastwood light to the Easthampton light. Nobody ever said it was that 24 hours a day, wrong time of the day & it’s gridlock. Middle of the night, everyone is asleep, of course Belle Terre can handle that. I don’t make left turns onto Belle Terre without a protected traffic light at certain hours simply because traffic is that backed up in either direction. Trust me, you’ll sit at the corner waiting for 1-2 cars that insist on a left turn to get north & southbound Belle Terre traffic to be clear enough to safely make that left turn. Palm Coast will grow even more and those roads will congest worse. We all saw the shoplifters that were chased on SR-100 from Target to I-95, that was gridlock from the airport to I-95. Who knows how bad traffic was on the east side of I-95. These are the only roads pretty much for traffic. Seminole Woods Parkway, the approved residentials have not been built, sold & occupied. That will become worse gridlock just the same because those motorists are on their way to US-1 or SR-100. Comment on this news piece of an editorial after being at Seminole Woods Parkway from 3:30-6:30 PM every normal work day ? I’ve sat in that traffic, it’s not a false narrative, it’s real live traffic conditions. And tell me how close to the posted speed limit sign that traffic got past 0-10 mph there during those hours of peak commute. The gaslight is downplaying the gridlock and accepting, becoming accustomed to the new normal of a lower quality of life. There’s the disingenuous of the Vision/Imagine of 2050. Long forgotten is the 72 year old woman that was t-boned on Royal Palms Parkway West, & the 17 year old on a bicycle that was dragged by a dump truck that was turning out of Pine Lakes residential, both were traffic fatalities from the increased traffic growth.
Let’s talk about the swales, 2019-present, the only maintenance to the swale on my street by anyone, beyond my lawnmower or shovel, was the same crew that wiped out the water mains on successive days on SR-100. They got the water main on my street too for disruption of service. They’re 3 for 3 in that regard to implement high speed fiber optic internet. When the more affordable plans Metronet offers = same speeds Spectrum offers, what is the advantage ? Perhaps it’s being limited & throttled by the technology of the hardware & software of one’s own computer equipment or the internet provider’s servers ?
And back to justifying the STF’s for the $ 1/2 => 3/4 billion that we’re paying for over the next 5 years ? That’s going to amount to a 36% increase, and until the approved homes have built, sold & occupied is that going to be adequate. Bunnell is slated to add 8,000 new residentials. What is the time table on that ? How much of the Alfin era approvals remain. The only reason(s) the STF’s were approved was for the growth, the fine(s) & lawsuit(s) the State was going to pursue. Don’t gaslight us for the existing taxbase to bear 85-100+ %/percent of any project on the state grant list that was grossly underfunded to being outright unfunded as an improvement to the quality of life in Palm Coast/Flagler County. I say 100+ %/percent because some of those projects have yet to be addressed by the local governments and with inflation the costs of those will surely go up & cost more than what the ask was for in 2024. Where does the capacity of the STF get us ? Will that be adequate for the approvals for residential Bunnell, Flagler Beach & Palm Coast ? Are we facing further expansion again at some point over the next 4-5 years. April, there was a water restriction for drought conditions ? That’s fresh water that not a single township of Flagler county has any control over. Simply put, it is the water supply of this county that is at capacity for a worst case scenario for a population. That water rationing/shortage, where does the author of this article think that the entirety of Flagler County is going to find more fresh water that doesn’t exist ? Is Nestle or any other bottled water seller going to magically replenish the water supply, plastic water bottle by plastic water bottle ? Is that water coming from the FL springs & some pipeline going to distribute that to cover the growth ? Those Springs areas will grow just the same for human pollution. Nobody wants to be gaslighted into believing that the water supply hasn’t been compromised. Ormond Beach didn’t want a fuel depot there, Bunnell didn’t want one either, yet they tried to put a fuel depot there and that was downplayed for not being that close to one of the STF’s that we’re sinking $ 1/2-3/4 billion in total into.
The gaslight is Flagler County can handle more population, then try to figure out solutions for problems that inevitably result in higher prices & taxation for no better service & quality of life than we were ever getting. I’ll be real about it, Garbage Collection days before growth, I had no problems with litter in my yard. Reality is the garbage collection fee has gone up 150% from those days with the growth. And there isn’t a garbage collection day that I’m not out in my yard picking up the neighbor’s trash for receipts, fast food containers & any clutter the neighbors cleared out as accumulated garbage. How do I know it’s their garbage ? The receipt prints their names on it. Some days I outright catch the litter bug tossing out the trash as they drive by in their motor vehicles. That’s not an upgrade in quality of life. Go sell that level of crazy to someone else. I ensure my garbage doesn’t blow around the neighborhood. I doubt a single piece of trash from my residence has ever done anything more than blow out of the back of the garbage truck, my garbage certainly isn’t a stinking pile of loose trash at the end of the driveway at the street. I don’t eat at McDonald’s so why is that in my yard ? Thank you very much growth & new neighbors, my quality of life has never been better for having to pick that up. Candidly I have better things to do than pick it up. I feel like I’m cleaning up the trash on the beach as the uncompensated volunteer. Go back to Volusia County or wherever it was that you came from and pollute the environment there ? I don’t appreciate cleaning up your mess/after you that blows into my yard twice a week.
Callmeishmael says
I want what Brad’s smoking. . . as soon as the chlorine burns in my mouth heal.
nbr says
Thanks Brad, your thoughts and comments, can be enlightening. We came here in Jan 2020, from Tucson, prior to that was working for Uncle Sam in 1st 2nd and 3rd world countries, we finally found “the place” to kick back and chill, small town feel, no traffic (compared to the places we’ve lived in). Yes the city is growing, but as I see some problems it how it is managed. I will not get into the polictics of the crap show going on, but would like to address one small {maybe not so small} part of the management. Our utility bill was $117 for the first couple of years, then is slowly started to jump up monthly, little by little. I saw bad management on the trash/recycle “new deal” same service more $$$, that hurts a lot of folks with fixed incomes, the the last hurricane, don’t flush unless necessary, we were already doing that as water conservation, still rates go up, we are now at $195 per month, I had to cut back on my monthly cigar budget. But you get the picture. Just venting
Eric says
False narrative that infrastructure is not keeping up with the growth????!!!!!Whose narrative? What’s a narrative? … Flagler County residents never needed a narrative. We just need to drive from point A to point B. We do. Conclusion; infrastructure has not kept up with population. Don’t YOU leave your house? What’s YOUR experience driving, walking, biking around here? Leave “narratives” out. That word has been used entirely too much. It’s old and tired. Again: don’t tell us; “narratives “.. tell us about your transportation experiences.
Using Common Sense says
As usual, I completely disagree with Brad West. Why is he even allowed to contribute his false narrative here? We know that Palm Coast has been sold out to developers and land owners and back door deals have lead to the overdevelopment of residential homes, incompatible apartment complexes, too many storage facilities with few jobs, a lower quality of life due to excessive nuisance noise, threats to our safety, health, and welfare, destruction of precious wetland and fragile ecosystems, and the refusal to protect the environment and residents from the known risks of toxic lead emissions from excessive single piston aircraft training operations by flight school mills from all across Florida. Urban sprawl, rezoning of needed office, industrial, and commercial properties to allow even more residential developments, lack of adequate infrastructure, tremendous flooding concerns, and failure to follow the protections for local residents outlined in the comprehensive plan have destroyed the beauty and vision of Palm Coast. Traffic, flooding, poor water quality, lack of wastewater capacity, toxic emissions and excessive nuisance noise over our homes now define the city. We need our ELECTED officials to take a stand FOR WE the PEOPLE and protect our rights, preserve our environment, and promote Smart Growth in our city and JUST SAY NO to anything that does not enhance our community and may potentially have negative impacts on our safety, health, and welfare.
T says
No it’s being ruined growth and no opportunities and roads are terrible
Some guy says
Listen bud, we were all here the last big storm. And I remember getting texts telling me to limit my water usage because ” the pep tank system pumps to this one water treatment plant and it’s at capacity” I’ve broken down my water bill to my actual usage costs as other fees and I can tell you right now, I pay too much money to this city’s water dept to have to hear some nonsense like that. I know the city’s working on it. They have to. But not 2 weeks ago, I saw in the paper another development ready to start filling houses. And you can say the infrastructure for that place is put in, but can the city’s treatment plants take that extra water? I know they’re updating plant 2. I read about it. But is it ready? Cause the new people moving here aren’t waiting for it. I like the city too. Lived here a while. I don’t want to see it go to shit in the name of expansion before it’s foundations are in order. Do you know what I’m saying.
Tadpole says
Well said. When people look at the positive instead of the negative, as you put it there is hope. We need to work together as a community to make everybody’s vision possible. This is more than a 20 year process. This is a 50 year process. There will be mistakes, but we must work together to solve the problems..
Frank Adams says
Your points are well taken. One of the things that I disagree with is Palm Coast’s use of glyphosate to control the aquatic weeds in the canals- even the small ones in neighborhoods. This kills fish and flows into the waterways where we fish and swim. As a carcinogen, this should be curtailed and other things, such as wheat straw extract, should be used to control aquatic weeds.
Doug says
I remember when “Palm Coast” was a swamp. In a sense, it still is.
Greg says
Laugh my ass off
Dakota (with eyes on future) says
This is the only place I’ve lived where developers aren’t expected to pay their way. Everywhere else, it’s part of doing business. Maybe Florida’s developers missed that day in Business 101—right after ‘How Roads and Toilets Work.’
BoloMKXXVIII says
Very nicely stated, and total B.S. Residents can see with their own eyes how many roads are crumbling. We can feel it as we drive on our roads too. Water treatment plants may have been upgraded, but Palm Coast is definitely NOT keeping up with demand. Just ask the state. Did you forget we are under state mandate to fix our water deficit issue? Water runoff problems have grown with the increasing population. We don’t have enough cell towers to support all the new residents. Should I continue? I love Palm Coast, warts and all, but you try to tell us the problems don’t exist or are greatly exaggerated is disingenuous at least.
MITCH says
It all depends about what you mean by keeping up with growth. Have all the road infrastructures been upgraded where needed? Are all the residential roads maintained properly (“C” & “F” Sections to name a few). Are all the road infrastructures updated to keep excessive traffic out of residential neighborhoods? Truth in government is hard to find / define! Picking and choosing what one determines as belonging to the infrastructure for example. However, news media, picks and chooses which articles best represents what they determine as “total” truth, intentionally misleading the public. So, truth says, “not all” the city infrastructures are keeping up with growth!
Tired of it says
So, you are saying that there is money to fix the crumbling roads in my neighborhood? The strategic plan will do something about the tumbleweeds rolling through the town center? There is money and a plan to address the increasing traffic congestion? Was it part of the plan to allow businesses to operate from residential neighborhoods? Is it part of the plan to further deteriorate our residential neighborhoods by allowing commercial vehicles to park in residential driveways? We did our diligence before purchasing a home here and I can assure you that none of this was covered in the “plan”.
Just wow says
The guy who wrote this is unsurprisingly in real estate.
David Meeks says
You sir have NO IDEA WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT!