The City of Palm Coast today announced the start of Phase 2 for the Imagine 2050 comprehensive plan update, marking a significant milestone in shaping the city’s future.
A comprehensive plan is essentially a roadmap that guides the future growth and development of a community. It’s like a big-picture plan that outlines where new homes, businesses, parks, roads, and other essential city components should go and how they should all fit together. Think of it as a blueprint for building a better Palm Coast that meets the needs and desires of its residents, now and for generations to come.
During Phase 1, which was the community outreach phase, the city engaged with residents, stakeholders, and community leaders from October through February to gather valuable insights and perspectives. It did so in dedicated forums, at city-sponsored and other public events and festivals, and online. Based on this collaborative effort and the input from residents, the city developed a draft Vision Statement and Guiding Principles that reflect the aspirations and priorities of the diverse community.
Those results were presented in detail to the City Council on March 12 (two days before the latest Census Bureau figures showed Flagler County’s population to have reached an estimated 131,500, after a 14 percent increase in three years, most of it in Palm Coast.) Residents are chiefly concerned with the city’s pace of growth and overcrowding, preserving the city’s green canopy, fostering more business activity and more art and cultural choices, and improving transportation nodes.
Now, as the Comprehensive Plan rewrite moves into Phase 2, the city is eager to hear from residents once again. That feedback, the city says, is crucial in refining and finalizing the Vision Statement and Guiding Principles that will guide the development of our city for years to come.
The draft Vision Statement and Guiding Principles are now available for review and feedback on the City of Palm Coast’s interactive website at PalmCoast.gov/imagine2050. The city invites residents to visit the website and share thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. Residents’ identities are not revealed–in other words, residents may share their thoughts anonymously.
“This is an exciting time for Palm Coast as we continue to work together to shape our future,” said Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin. “The Imagine 2050 Comprehensive Plan Update is a community-driven initiative, and your input is essential in ensuring that it accurately reflects the values and aspirations of our residents.”
The vision statement is to be finalized at a workshop on May 14 and through a community conversation on May 15.
While the city has gone to great lengths to solicit and include residents’ participation, the plan so far remains very unclear on enforcement mechanism. In other words, while it is certain that a Comprehensive Plan will be in place by October, when the plan is formally adopted, neither the city administration nor the council have yet explained how the plan will be more than a document on a shelf that, as its predecessor, may be amended at will–how its vision and blueprint would hold against subsequent councils’ desires to change it, or to ignore it: two of the council’s seats will turn over in November, and possibly three.
To provide your feedback on the draft Vision Statement and Guiding Principles, please visit PalmCoast.gov/imagine2050 and utilize the interactive project website. The feedback period will be open for several weeks.
Joe D says
All this future planning and citizen involvement is great. As a Flagler Beach taxpayer. I’m not DIRECTLY affected by what Palm Coast decides.
That being said, I HOPE that along with the WISH list that comes out of these planning sessions, that there is planning (and ways to PAY FOR) the expanded need for INFRASTRUCTURE (roads, water treatment, storm water management, sewer system, police, fire, and emergency services), to manage that SIGNIFICANT INCREASE in population.
THOSE services DO affect me in Flagler Beach, because many of those INFRASTRUCTURE issues are FLAGLER COUNTY supplied.
It’s wonderful to make all these future project plans. as long as there is the plan on how to PAY for it all! No one wants higher taxes (or cut backs in services) but, unless the entirety of Flagler County comes up for a way to draw more business, and tax paying commercial development (not keep rezoning the limited commercial land to higher priced housing developments). There is little choice but to raise Property taxes…AGAIN!
Flagler County simply can’t survive with MOST of the expenses falling on the PROPERTY TAXES…people simply won’t be able to afford to REMAIN Flagler County residents…
TR says
Planning that far ahead is ridicules. The council will no longer be in office and who’s to say the next council or the one after that wants the same things. Besides for example, lets say that they want to build a major skate board park. The kids of today may like it and they are teenagers. But by the time 2050 comes along, those kids will be to old to even stand on a skate board and the teenagers in 2050 will be interested in something else. Another perfect example is look at the future plan that ITT had for Palm Coast, how did that work out, It didn’t.
The Sour Kraut says
This is a “feel good” project that the politicians will point to when campaigning then promptly ignore once elected. The ONLY tool we residents have is the power of the vote. I implore fellow residents use that power to make real change during this next election.
Charles says
First and foremost we need a new Mayor for starters. And then second we need a committee in the city that listens to what the taxpayers are telling them.
Stop with the housing developments and start bringing in more industry. Do something about the traffic jams everywhere.
Start painting lines in the road, you can see many of them anymore.
This is just some of things, and I am sure I will come up with more.
Deborah Coffey says
Well, let’s seat two new members and a new mayor on the City Council…people that actually care about public input and not just soliciting it for show.
Shark says
There is no future for Palm Coast the way it’s going !!!
Ron says
If you are planing to allow vacation rental operations in this plan you need to make sure they are completely separated from homes being used for permanent occupancy by one family. This is how local property zoning is supposed to work. These uses are incompatible.
MITCH says
Planning is good if it is adhered too. The 2035 Comprehensive Plan has been ignored for years and has harmed the Quality of Life of many residential neighborhoods. Zoning and Planning ignores – “does not adversely impact existing residential areas”. Honestly I do not see that changing.
City of Palm Coast – 2035 Comprehensive Plan – Goals, Objectives, and Policies
Objective 3.3.5 – Protect Residential Areas from Inappropriate Land Uses
Protect predominantly residential areas from the intrusion of incompatible or more intensive land uses.
Policy 3.3.5.1 – The City shall amend the LDC to include development standards that provide greater setback and buffering requirements between established residential areas and other uses to ensure compatibility between uses.
Policy 3.3.5.2 – The City shall develop neighborhood compatibility criteria which shall be utilized by the City to review applications for Future Land Use Map amendments, rezonings, and special exceptions to ensure that proposed land uses and development do not adversely impact existing residential areas.
Lee says
City can’t make amendments or new laws for the problems going on today all over Palm Coast with the property destruction due to over building, higher elevation, Duplex’s to large for small lot leading to poor drainage & property damages & they are asking for ideas, for years from now? Hahaha
This just shows more how the city is a mismanaged, you don’t build more when you can’t maintain the infrastructure you have now!
Where’s the city Planners & Maintenance worker bees?
Jaime says
Muchas problemas, muchas preguntas… pocas respuestas buenas.
Solo es mi opinion.
Vivian Garcia says
We need water bills and HOAs to go down. Safety will become an issue, a Pedestrian walkway bridge that connects to Royal Palms, Belle Terre, Leigh trail is necessary to keep bikers, school kids and traffic moving smoothly.
We need an influx of PCPs family practices that accept other health insurances. Otherwise, Daytona and St. Aug get our revenues. We are in need of larger James Holland like public park or water lagoon park near US 1 and 100. James Holland. James Holland is simply too overcrowded.
2 zip line, rock climbing adventure park is necessary for older kids.
More restaurants on 100. A large modern scale library like the one in Gainesville.
Celia Pugliese says
We need a line item in our budget ” funds for street resurfacing and traffic calming items” like median speed calming islands” in collector roads and speed humps in residential roads for our current and future vision. We need a much smaller city personnel positions specially the ones paying six figures for so many departmental chiefs assistants of the assistant, while paying hundreds of thousands to consultants every time we have a need of a new project. Then why we have employed professionals in architecture, engineers, traffic, finances etc. at six figure salaries? Maybe saving couple of millions a year in less staff we will have more funds for our roads. Contracts like 9 millions plus to dig a retention pond and clearing of overgrowth and silt in an existing Lee Way canal in norther Palm Coast looks very inflated to us, ,as many other city failing and taking forever projects like the one in Belle Terre walkway near the school. Buying fleets of new vehicles or very costly public works industrial equipment not having enough workers employed to used them in the services we need, is not a good vision. We see in our city huge administration positions and not enough public works employees to do the work we need done for the services we pay in our taxes. This has to change. Our city ordinances have to be enforced across the board no matter who is inspected and not overlooked when it comes to new construction, to avoid disasters like the flooding of existing homes yards and lanais, as happened lately. Let stop blaming ITT that had an excellent plant if would have not been for up “density rezoning ” all around us overwhelming our aging infrastructure and insufficient services (traffic enforcement and public works). Our largest budget item in our city should not be our Fire Department (with due all respect) “because their work is risky”, but our public works, storm water (as we seat in a former swamp) and utilities whether enterprise fund or not funded. This is comparing some very well developed cities outside FL where their largest budget items are public works and utilities. Now and in the future we need to not take away what ITT gave us and deeded for our use in the early 90’s and before to attract us to buy in Palm Coast, but instead at least to preserve it if can’t expand it! Is a real public shame that a city with a budget 2023-24 of 357 millions and a Flagler county school budget of 325 millions and a county budget of 228 millions of tax payers funds allows a SB vote majority to close the vital needed use of its Belle Terre pool to 1078 paying $225 a year members use and over a deficit of $50,000 to $80,000 as reported, depending which bell rings. To hear that even our former Frida Zamba pool is almost un affordable to our city at current cost of chemicals is very hard to digest too when we provide a budget of 357 millions. We are loosing our confidence in our administrators whether county or city currently. We feel greatly fleeced at this point questioning were really our taxes are spent. Well we can see 5 millions to an airport terminal for flights to nowhere, as we can’t buy at tkt to fly at FIN Flagler is just for the executive jets maybe, but for sure for the flight schools to bring yet more to practice and drop lead over us. 2.5 millions for a round about in south OKR to make it more appealing to developers? 80 millions total to expand PC out west in vacant lands to fund the 2050 vision. Meanwhile Old Kings Road continues unfinished at 20 years behind schedule, when its completion would have redirected the traffic away from our crowded residential roads. What happened with our prior comprehensive plans Mr. Tyner? This is our discontent when we plead in our city or county boards public 3 minutes, is not just us ,as we represent thousands within the over 104,000 Palmcoasters. A future vision is difficult to achieve while the current vision was not materialize for the residents.
BLINDSPOTTING says
It’s all BS folks we need a new direction NOW, it’s the look at the
shiny coin distraction, most of the residents will have either have
moved out or have passed on by then, we were at this meeting
and all they spoke about was how most of all the land is bought
up and will be developed into one big cement jungle. The meeting
is a waste of time we need to think about the coming election
city/county, don’t vote Danko/Klufas on the county they are all
in with the developers and realitors that’s why the big shots
want to see them there, vote Alfin OUT, vote for Mike Norris
for Mayor, Ray Stevens for city council seat and Jeffrey Sieb
for the other city council seat, Austrino is a realitor and that we
don’t need in a city counsel seat.
starryid says
WE. NEED. A. NEW. MAYOR.
Celia Pugliese says
This is what our 2035 Comprehensive Plan read. Then my question is why we needed to spend in a 2050 one when the 2035 was not observed? 2035 City Comprehensive Plan and Vision Statement
Discourage the proliferation of urban sprawl. Protect vital natural resources, such as environmentally sensitive lands and aquifer recharge areas. Enhance community character through architectural and design standards. Very clearly what has nit been observed in the 2035 Comprehensive Plan: https://copc-strapi-production.s3.amazonaws.com/chapter_1_future_land_use_element_2035_gops_with_remedial_amendments_47a97f1fe1.pdf