Palm Coast Will Provide Free Dirt to Help Homeowners’ Drainage Problems, With Limiting Caveats

Palm Coast government will be distributing free dirt to property owners who have experienced drainage issues on their property in old “infill” lots, and who may use the dirt to improve drainage in their yards. Residents will be limited to 5 cubic yards of free dirt.

The city’s Residential Drainage Advisory Committee, formed earlier this year to tackle standing water concerns in Palm Coast neighborhoods, presented the innovative and collaborative solution to assist homeowners to the City Council Tuesday for approval. The council approved in a 5-0 vote.

The committee, comprised of community volunteers who’ve met eight times so far, recommended that the city offer the surplus dirt free of charge to residents. The city council approved the recommendation.

This dirt can be used by homeowners to improve drainage on their properties, a vital step in addressing standing water issues.

Program Details:

• Surplus Dirt Availability: A maximum of 5 cubic yards of dirt will be available per household.
• Pickup Location: Dirt can be collected from the city’s dirt screening operation on North Old Kings Road.
• Pickup Schedule: Residents will be responsible to pick up the dirt at their expense and with their means. The city will announce the time soon.
• Eligibility: The dirt would be available to proven city residents who can then use the dirt to make improvements on their private properties. The residents must spread their own dirt at their own means.
• No resale. Residents will be barred from reselling the free sand. “Straight to jail,” Council member Nick Klufas joked about violators.

Drainage fixes are not one-size-fits-all. Each property has unique needs, and some projects may require additional steps. If machinery is used to spread the dirt on the premises, homeowners will need to obtain a grading permit issued by the city. The permit ensures compliance with local regulations and helps maintain proper drainage functionality.

Jeremy Davis, a P-Section resident whose property has experienced yard flooding, was not impressed. “Five cubic yards. You’ve been to my home. You know that’s not going to help me. It’s hilarious again,” he told the council. “Thank you for trying. Yeah, man. You know this a waste of my time. Y’all have wasted nothing but my time, because we all know the damn problem.” He blamed the problem on the new house next door, built on what he described as a 4-foot foundation, though city officials have disputed those conclusions. He also found it necessary to cast aspersions on the committee.

“The dirt, by the way, is dirt that the stormwater department has has obtained by regrading the swales,” said Lynn Stevens, the stormwater department’s deputy director. “So when we regrade the swales, we take that dirt by dump truck, we take it to our dirt site location, which is off of old Kings Road, and we then screen that dirt, and it becomes clean soil. And it would be that soil that we would make available for this program.”

In addition to the dirt donation program, local survey company owner Dan Wilcox donated his expertise to support this effort. Wilcox conducted 29 property surveys—valued at $1,500 each—free of charge. His generosity has provided critical data to help residents identify areas in need of improvement and develop tailored drainage solutions.

“This partnership is a great example of our community coming together to address challenges,” said Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston. “From the volunteers on the committee to the businesses like Stephenson, Wilcox & Associates, everyone is contributing to solutions that improve our city.”

The City of Palm Coast cannot use public funds for private benefit. By declaring its dirt surplus, it is no longer city property with a dollar value, thus repurposing it–or recycling it, if you prefer–from existing city operations, but within specified parameters. The program supports drainage improvements while ensuring public resources are used responsibly.

The council appointed the Residential Drainage Advisory Committee in February to address concerns about standing water in neighborhoods across the older portion of Palm Coast, outside of newer subdivisions, as new construction on formerly platted ITT lots appeared to create drainage problems for existing lots. The city’s analysis indicated that the newer construction was not at fault so much as the various alterations done over the years on existing, built-up lots–alterations that affected drainage, which would flow into vacant lots until the lots were built up. Once the lots were built up, the altered drainage was no longer operable, and the water pooled on existing lots–where it originated. The city found that it was a misconception among residents that water from the newly built lots, even if higher, was flowing down to older lots.

Nevertheless, the city changed its building rules to ensure that new house foundations could not be built more than 10 inches higher than the house next door, among other changes–an implicit admission that house height is not irrelevant to communal drainage.

“Public education has been another big point of the committee,” Stevens said. “They’ve been very active and becoming educated themselves and how the system works and the impacts, and what the what the issues are with these properties.”

Council member Ed Danko said he was hoping that the new council, which will not include him starting next week, working with the drainage committee, will “can come up with some really major sort of steps forward to fix those problems permanently, because it’s people’s homes, it’s where they live.” He added: “Some of these homes are going to require a much bigger fix, an expensive fix, probably, but we just can’t let people hang out there, you know, and turn our backs.”

The committee also examined alternative financial aid solutions for residents. Residents–not just those who have experienced flooding issues, but other issues as well–could possibly qualify for community block grants, for example, though it is, in fact, a loan program, with sums of up to $50,000 available. Income restrictions apply.

“I would like to give a great deal of credit to Lynn Stevens,” Dana Stancel, who chairs the drainage committee, said. “She has been the the center of our ability to bring people into the committee. And she deserves a great deal of thanks for this.”

The drainage committee was term-limited to a year’s service, unless the council opts to lengthen its term in February.