The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved final plats for three residential subdivisions at three of the four cardinal points of the city (north, west, south) totaling 489 single-family houses. Of these house, 147 are to be built on land adjacent to an industrial tract slated for a massive fuel depot.
Final platting is among the most routine, uncontroversial steps in developments’ regulatory process. It is also the final step in a development process that one council may inherit from another, as was the case for the three final plats on Tuesday: the regulatory steps and approvals of the developments go back a few years.
It’s still left to the council to ratify the map that draws the specific boundaries between property lots, assigns addresses and street names for recording at the clerk’s office, and clears the way for building permits for house construction. Irony is not usually in the cards.
It was on Tuesday.
The final plat for the 147 KB Home houses on 45 acres in the Somerset subdivision is part of the Palm Coast Park master planned development (formerly development of regional impact, or DRI), just south of Peavy Grade on U.S. 1.
The acreage immediately to the west of the new subdivision is part of the planned location of a 12.6-million gallon fuel depot on 78 acres, to be run by Belvedere Terminals, a start-up with no experience in the field. Belvedere, county and city officials unveiled the plan last week, only to trigger immediate opposition from city residents, especially from residents of the Sawmill Creek subdivision immediately north of the project zone.
The council heard much of that opposition at the same Tuesday meeting where it approved the three final plats–and called for alternative sites for the Belvedere project. The county has since paused further steps that would have locked in the 78-acre site for the fuel facility.
The Somerset subdivision’s first phase is already built. The newer phase’s preliminary plat was approved in January 2023. Infrastructure construction began the following month. The DRI was approved in 2004. The residential entitlements date back to 2020.
Mayor Mike Norris asked Planner Estelle Lens a question he would most likely not have asked had the Belvedere controversy not cast a pall over the discussion: “When was the zoning on this tract changed?”
Until 2020, the land allowed for industrial, commercial and residential uses, Lens said. Then it was rezoned exclusively for residential. Norris’s claim is that the city under previous councils unwisely converted industrial and commercial tracts to residential zoning, thus creating the situation today where the Belvedere plan, in an island of industrial zoning, is butting up against residential subdivisions and making the project difficult for residents to stomach there.
“I hear you. I don’t disagree,” Council member Theresa Pontieri told the mayor. “I fought against a lot of conversions just in the last two years.”
“We’re on the same page with that,” Council member Ty Miller.
Pontieri asked city staff for the meeting minutes and video of the 2020 council meeting that changed the land use of what is today the Somerset subdivision. “This can be the end product of these types of decisions,” she said. “This is why we have to take these things so seriously and not be tagged as anti-development. Council members were not anti-development. We’re pro-resident, we’re pro-safety, we’re pro what makes sense in our growth scheme. So as we go west and we start to plan this entire 20,000 acres out west, these are the things that we need to be mindful of.”
The lots in the Somerset subdivision will be 40 and 50-foot wide lots. The roads and stormwater system will be managed by the Community Development District (essentially, a subsidy to the rest of Palm Coast, since residents there will still pay their city taxes). But some of the lots will butt up against the industrial tract proposed for the fuel depot. That gave Pontieri pause as she asked about the buffering between residential properties and the adjacent industrial tract.
Lens then explained: “As far as landscape buffer requirements go, residential zoning is not required to be buffered against industrial zoning, per our land development code or landscape code. The industrial development will be required to buffer against residential.” Still: there are just 20 to 30 feet between the end of the residential lots and the beginning of the industrial parcel.
“The premise is that the residential doesn’t know what’s coming in behind them,” Miller said.
“Correct,” Pontieri said. “They have no idea.”
If the fuel depot were to develop just west of the subdivision, the fuel-depot’s owners would be responsible for building buffers or construction screening, based on criteria or timelines the city would require through the site plan.
“With a circumstance like this, this is a little rare where you have residential backing up to industrial,” Ray Tyner, the city’s planning director, said. “We don’t have that in the city. So I think, from a health safety standpoint, I think they would be good neighbors to do that, because we would be concerned about the health safety aspects with backyards fronting them. And who knows. With the developer here at hand, they may have room for a fence, they can come in later and put a community fence in that backyard as well.”
Norris told a resident addressing the council about “cramming” new houses in the subdivision that he was “preaching to the choir.” Other residents raised questions about the Belvedere possibility., They asked whether the city had any obligation to inform homeowners about to buy property in the Somerset subdivision about a “hazardous, environmentally questionable neighbor” possibly coming next door. It does not.
A Sawmill Branch resident, just north of the proposed fuel depot, was more incensed. “When we were buying, nobody said anything about our children being in danger by this type of industrial development,” the resident told the council. “I hear you loud and clear. This was not meant to be residential. This was meant to be industrial. Got it. But we’re there, and nobody told us that I’m going to be waking up in the morning and thinking, Is my two year old going to be poisoned today or not? And I’m sure as mothers and fathers, you understand very well our concerns, and we poured our savings from whole entire life, our savings into these houses, people with asthma, people with disabilities, people who that was their last money. None of them going to be able to get out of there.”
She was not opposed to industrial development next door, she said. “We’re saying don’t put there anything toxic that will kill children tomorrow. That’s all we ask.”
The council approved the final plat on a 3-1 vote, with Norris dissenting. The votes were similar for the two subsequent, much less controversial final plats. The mayor could afford to vote No, knowing that his colleagues would approve the final plats. They had little choice. Voting against a final plat, absent legal justification, is an invitation to a lawsuit.
The Lakeview Estates final plat is for 200 houses on 95 acres on Lakeview Boulevard, about a mile north of Matanzas Woods Parkway, built by Forestar (USA) Real Estate Group. Grand Landings’ Phase 5A consists of 142 houses on 59 acres on the south side of Citation Boulevard in Seminole Woods, some 2,200 feet east of Belle Terre Boulevard.
HayRide says
This is clearly a bad decision for the town and unsuspecting buyers to that are, but suckered will buy there as we’ve seen in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Jersey, but NJ doesn’t seen to care about any safety as we’ve seen on the roads here
Pogo says
@Drill suckers drill
… but not next to me:
As stated
https://www.google.com/search?q=rex+tillerson+no+frack+next+to+me
So the same fossil fueled fossils, that eschewed charging stations and EVs, are now Musketeers, waving e lawn’s bloody shirt for their new-found daddy!
jean says
What a combination of ignorance and greed. The first thing the City and County should have done is look into this company’s environmental and safety violations. But no, instead a “pending deal” is announced and many articles using the phrase “will build” as tho it’s a done deal. Sure better not be!
Shameful says
Surely everyone has heard of “cancer clusters” that form in towns with this type of industry. Look at Ohio, West Virginia, etc. I don’t know about the lot of ya, but if they build this in Palm Coast, I’m gone. I refuse to live anywhere near an industrial plant like this, especially one that has a garbage safety record. One leak. That’s all it will take and beautiful Palm Coast is done. Industry like this doesn’t increase home/property values. It actually decreases the value and other businesses will balk at coming into a potential danger zone. I’d much rather see us put up wind turbines but then they’re woke so forget that.
T says
Palm coast used to be a nice town I’m leaving soon been here for 15 years this is insanity
Land of no turn signals says says
Ha,ha,ha you can’t make this crap up.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Insanity!!!!! In less than 20 years will see the effects of this assinine plan. Our water sucks now, I wont even feed it to my pets. When all you council members, make it to my age, you’ll see kids born with 1 arm, one eye, Cancer everywhere… And you wont be able to sleep at night… Because you all caused it….
Oil Magnate says
I spoke to the city council office, Monday, maybe the receptionist? She said this depot would not be near any houses. I continued to tell her, nicely, how she was wrong. Now I’m laughing my butt off.
Jane Gentile-Youd says
The total destruction of land given to us by GOD….
40 foot lots ? Nex to fuel tanks. OMG, Makes me sick.
We live well south but our entire Flagler County being destroyed and we sit and watch.
Shame on us
Common Sense Citizen says
Hello Palm Coast residents: A fuel depot outlet is a terrible idea in any town which prides itself as being a growth community for a clean and up and coming residential place for folks to live. Ormand Beach was ahead of the curve by saying no to the proposal and Palm Coast should be the next in line. Not pleased with the possibility of a chance of an explosion or a leak of hazardous liquids into our water systems. Please say NO!! I Love Palm Coast and will leave if this is passed.
Callmeishmael says
Here’s the real irony. These 147 homes to be built next door to this terminal will generate as much, perhaps more, in combined property tax revenue than the $800,000 all those in favor of building the terminal are drooling over.
The city is prepared to give up a rare piece of industrial property for 40 jobs and a tax increase they could have gotten if they rezoned the whole damn thing residential in the first place.
Instead, we get a New Jersey sunset.
Atwp says
I thought the fuel depot was on hold.
Mark Webb says
I was at that meeting and the most shocking thing was how our mayor defended the location of the depot next to homes due to past council zoning changes, then voted no on all three plots infrastructure of the council.
WHAT IS HE THINKING?
Tired of it says
Do you think the developers and real estate agents will tell the buyers about this? Can you imagine the noise from the tanker trucks coming and going?
Who Watches the Watchmen says
Theresa Pontieri is worried about “being tagged as anti-development”???? LOL, as they say.
She should worry more about being tagged as pro-development.
Moratorium now! We’d welcome even a *little* restraint.
TINA says
Why don’t you figure out the road situation first before building MORE houses first .YOU people need to STOP thinking this as a retirement place and let real businesses in this town instead of more banks, restaurants, gas station.
CC says
YES to Jean….Belvedere, a start up with no record of doing a project like this AND OWNED BY A MEXICAN CO. .. GRUPO MEXICO with an abysmal environmental record. And YET the Florida dept. of Commerce is willing to grant this company $ 10 million OF OUR TAX DOLLARS.
PALM Coast could use that grant money to upgrade our water utilities and give jobs to American citizens.
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
Sadly as the city loses it’s charm, and a time bomb is located next to houses and city wells, citizens of this community will continue to Vote in GOP for representation no matter that it directly affects them. They will continue to whine about their City Council and their Flagler County Board yet Vote against their very own interests.
CS says
This is disgraceful. But as we all know, the only thing the council is worried about is the money that grease is their palms. I give me Norris kudos for trying to do what’s right for the community, however, they’re voting over him. When is the council going to start worrying about what we want, since we voted them in. All they care about is getting rich
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
Flagler County residents are SICK of having to fight the idiots who’ll push through any development that will secure their own paychecks and retirement, at any cost to the water, soil, air, wildlife AND the taxpayers who have invested in homes here. We would like to be able to live peacefully without constantly having to monitor the same incompetents who don’t care what gets plopped on a piece of land. Is that too much to ask? It’s always the same little cabal of cronies, and the same law firm, who force inappropriate and irresponsible development on this county. How ironic that just a few days ago, Flagler County released an ad soliciting people to join the “Flagler Industrial Development Authority.” Not “Business Development” Authority, but “Industrial.” That’s what they want because it’s so easy to attract polluters. There is no safe place in Flagler County for a fuel depot. Volusia is more than twice the size of Flagler and has suitable rural land at its southern end. Let’s hope our county commissioners do the right thing and reject the Belvedere Terminals application outright. If they don’t, I will join the many others who’ve said they will leave. I’m not stupid enough to wait around for “East Palestine, Ohio – The Sequel.”
rapscallion says
4/5/25 the amount of traffic and sheer volume of police activity up and down belle terre specifically southern belle terre parkway by the “citation expressway” to seminole woods AND us1 palm coast south of bunnell is intense. more homes coming.
tree city usa
the city paving of side roads/neighborhoods off belle terre that took place in quail hollow ran out as they approached us1 traffic light
i assume southern us 1 in pc south of bunnell will be ignored although it’s a wreck approaching 304 heading south in the right lane
please don’t kick the fuel farm this way.
Concerned citizen says
I had such high hopes for our new mayor. I even said it was great to see a mayor who has a set and believes a building moratorium is needed in order to catch up to our infrastructure needs.
He has totally changed his tune since a couple of people complained about his treatment of coworkers.
You might as well put another realtor in as mayor again because our current mayor has to totally caved in. How can he support a tank farm within close proximity to homes??
Jean says
I don’t know why anybody is surprised by this. I voted for Peter Johnson for mayor because, unlike Mike Norris, he did not promise to attract industry and control growth which are mutually exclusive. I saw that right on his card, why didn’t others?? Well fuel farm is industry but sure a bad one to bring here. Follow the money, every proposed location is within 30 miles of a Buc-ee’s which helped Desantis get elected. It will surely go into one of them! Maybe even two or three, sigh
Disapointed Citizen says
To the council and planning Department ; Keep approving 40 & 50 foot lot widths and Palm Coast will become a single family tenement row town. Why do you buy into the developers BS that people want smaller lots. I’m 79 , retired, the last thing I would want is to own a new house 10 feet from my neighbor.
After being in Palm Coast just over 10 years I am now researching for a new location as Palm Coast is becoming a disappointment. Poor planing and poor management.