Note: this is one of two articles on this subject today. See the other: “City Attorney Warns Palm Coast Away from Financially Aiding Flooded Property Owners.”
There are all sorts of reasons many of Palm Coast’s front and back yards are flooding the more new homes go up, up and up. But builders and new construction are not the reason. That’s the first conclusion from an analysis presented to the Palm Coast City Council this morning.
The second is that the city is on it: staffers are working with the more than 80 property owners who have lodged complaints to date–not as fast as the city wishes it could, with just a quarter of those complaints answered so far, but steadily, and intently. The third is that the city is rewriting its technical building manual directly to address new-home elevations and drainage issues in hopes of blunting further problems of the sort, or at least diminishing them.
Less clear is how the city intends to help residents already affected by yard flooding beyond providing them with survey analyses and engineering suggestions. In other words, while the city is prepared to rewrite its building rules and explain to residents why their front or back yards are flooding, and what they could do about it, the city is not ready to go beyond that–and it’s not clear whether it should, or legally can–though at least one council member wants to head that way.
The analysis presented to the City Council this morning was the most thorough on the flooding problem since it emerged, first in a trickle of complaints a few months ago, mainly to local media, then in a flood of them before the City Council, prompting an upending of city priorities (or a “pivot,” in City Manager Denise Bevan’s Ross Geller-inspired reference) to those particular residents’ concerns.
Carl Cote and Lynn Stevens, the director and deputy director of stormwater and engineering, gave a lucid explanation of what amounts of the bubbling up of unintended consequences that brought residents in drove before the council with complaints.
There were 47,500 quarter acre lots when ITT designed and platted Palm Coast in the late 1960s. Four-fifths of those lots are now built up. That still leaves
“a little under 10,000 vacant lots,” Carl Cote, the city’s stormwater and engineering director, said.
When new homes go up on those lots–what the city calls “infill” lots, because the developments are “filling in” mostly developed land, as opposed to sprawling beyond it–all sorts of discombobulating variations occur. It’s as if Palm Coast were made up of 47,500 little tectonic plates. Past and present building codes clash. Past and present topography clash. Past and present vegetation clash. And of course current residents and new builders clash.
ITT had decided to have very flat lots, with typically an inch and a quarter drop from one side of the lot to the other, on an 80-foot lot. It was intentional, to allow for a very slow percolation into the ground to recharge the aquifer. ITT also designed a lot of built-up lots to drain onto vacant lots. That, too, was either by design or by gravity. “A lot of natural ground compaction has occurred over time, you figure some of these houses are 20-30 years old,” Stevens said. By compaction, she means that houses have settled, or sunk in. And like Palm Coast’s own subduction zones, older houses have gone down, newer houses, and newer regulations, have gone up. “There’s been a lot of changes in the residence elevations as well from from what was originally built.”
“Some of the existing homes are now retaining their own stormwater that used to run off to the vacant lots,” Stevens said, repeating a contention city staffers have made a few times over the past few weeks: the water pooling in existing lots may not be coming from adjacent, newer, higher construction. The removal of trees and roots, it causes the ground to compact, and settle more. Conversely, as trees grow, their roots grow, their surroundings lift. Re-sodding can change the elevation. Road elevations can change from one block to another: one road could be a foot higher than another, parallel road, which changes the house elevation at one end as opposed to a house at the other end. In some places, the water table can be just a few inches below the surface, which dictates how water flows and how quickly it moves away from homes.
That’s the diagnosis of why lots are flooding. As to what the city is doing to help residents: The city designated a specific category for infill lot drainage problems through Palm Coast Connect, the city’s web-based problem-solving portal enabling residents to file complaints and follow the progress of their case. The city has registered 83 such cases so far. City engineers and staffers have been out to 21 properties. In one case, they found a difference of 16 inches from one home to the next. “That’s been the worst case we’ve reviewed up to that point,” Cote said.
Once a complaint is received, there’s an automatic response then a site visit scheduled. “We spend some time with the resident, we review what the issues are, what their complaints are, how long it’s been happening, how long does the water stay behind. We have a host of questions that we ask to gather information from the resident themselves to fully understand the issues,” Lynn Stevens, deputy director of stormwater and engineering, said. The staffers also analyze surrounding properties then study surveys, some of them more complicated than others if they go back to the 1990s or before. (The first homes in Palm Coast went up in 1969.) They measure elevations in some cases, but mostly rely on licensed surveyors’ documents.
The stormwater department handles some 100 work orders at any one time, in addition to the infill drainage cases–permit-generated inspections of walls, driveways, swales, and so on. “So we have not gotten to as many of these cases as we would like to, to do the site visits but we are working diligently on that and setting time aside each week so that we can spend a day just doing these types of cases,” Stevens said.
“Time is of the essence so I would expect you to go to city manager with whatever requests you deem are essential to complete this data collection as quickly as possible,” Mayor David Alfin said, though Bevan has been getting regular updates as it is.
Beyond that, the re-write of regulations to address the long term. The city’s technical manual was already under review when the controversy exploded five weeks ago. The city has since made the re-write a more urgent priority.
There were no lot grading reviews by the city until 2004. There was no maximum fill elevation set–at least not explicitly so. But as Cote explained, to say that a house could rise as high as a builder wanted it to rise would be false, because another regulation had the same effect as setting a fill height limit: Grading is restricted to a four-to-one slope. A house built on 3 feet of fill would not have the space, in a quarter-acre lot, to slope down within that restriction. Therefore, it couldn’t be built that high.
But in the new regulations, the city will set height limitations anyway, just to make it explicit. The Florida building code also requires all grades around a house to be four inches below the finished floor for block houses, and 6 inches for wood structures. And as you grade away from the home, it must drop 6 inches in the first 10 feet, and from there, it must maintain a 2 percent slope. That’s not changing.
The proposed change in the city’s technical manual: maintain the floor elevation of new homes at a minimum required height of 12 inches–a foot–over the crown of the road in front of the house (all streets are curved downward from their center, the center being the crown), with a maximum allowed of 22 inches. But there may not be more than a 10-inch difference between the floor elevation of one house and that of any house adjacent. In other words, if existing homes that have been built at different standards and that have settled into the ground are even with the crown of the road, the new house adjacent will not be allowed to rise more than 12 inches from the crown. If a house is 5 inches above the crown, the new house would not be allowed to be more than 15 inches above the crown, unless there are extenuating circumstances approved by a licensed engineer.
Also, the front property line will be established at the edge of the road, not the crown of the road, which reduces the grading from the front of the property by up to 6 to 8 inches, thus reducing the future elevations of homes.
The city circulated its proposed changes with home builders and other “stakeholders,” and is awaiting feedback. Once formalized, all the re-written regulations will be re-circulated, as will be informational pamphlets for the public and for builders, explaining what could cause water to pool and what may be done to prevent it.
“It’s a good thing, and I’m glad to see that we’re moving as fast as we possibly can,” Council member Ed Danko said. “And I realize it’s a tedious process. So it’s going to take a little time and I asked for people to be patients.” But he wants the council to go further.
City Council member Theresa Pontieri said the technical manual’s approval should not be delayed by foot-dragging on stakeholders’ part: she wants a deadline set. “Let’s put the pedal to the metal on this and get it moving as quickly as possible so that we can stop the bleeding and then do the data gathering process that we need to do for the existing properties,” Pontieri said.
TR says
Not surprised by this outcome, especially by an inside council. Blame someone else. The city is to blame no matter what the inside council says for allowing the higher elevation on the new construction. I’m sure the city got complaints years ago when the higher elevations where approved and yet the city did nothing to stop the problem. So jump ahead years and they have a major problem. How about bringing back the elevation to where it was before the problem started. I have lived here since 1989 and have yet to see any major flooding at any time in Palm Coast. How about doing the right job with the swales when they grade them. Talk about job security. These engineers that work for the city in the swale dept. and the road dept. need to go back to school and this time pay more attention. In the R section there have been three road repairs where piping had to be replaced under the roadway. After the repairs were done and the new asphalt was put in place there is now a large bump with no signage warning drivers. it was done a year ago. The other two are a bit older and they are now sinking causing a dip in the roadway. Also with no signage.
The city engineers don’t know anything as to the way the drainage should work. Just take a ride down Rymfire after a really heavy rain and look at how much of the sidewalk is under water. then go back 5 days later and most of the same sidewalk will still me under water making it impossible for people to use the sidewalk.
I predict that nothing will happen to this problem other than the city telling the homeowners they will have to pay for the repairs. When in reality the cost should go back on the builder and the city because the city inspector did not do his/her job to make sure the grade was correct from the new home.
Patrick Miller says
Thank you for your comments. My swale did not hold water until a neighbor complained about their swale in 2008. So in the City’s great wisdom they came and tore out and regraded both swales widening the bottom to allow for more percolation. I asked them not to do my swale. Since then the City has tore out and regraded my swale 3 times. My swale is very seldom dry. I could do better with a string level. Their problem is they only believe in the math and surveys presented and not common sense to see the numbers do not accomplish the task A string bubble level can do a better job. They waste time and money using computers surveys and topographical and do not use their own eyes to see issues. It especially an issue when correcting issues that cover many years of building and natural actions of silting plus other …
Longtime Palm Coaster says
What a joke, I have complained to their web portal numerous times over past few months and you guessed it- automated response, but no one responded or evaluated anything!
Erod says
In Flagler County, BUILDERS, DEVELOPERS & CONTRACTORS never can do any wrong !
Where is the counties engineer Faith Altikab, on all of this ? Rumor has it she up and quit in the middle of the night.
Flagler County, where the developers AWAYS come first !
Tim says
We are not that lucky , for her to quite.
PC Dave says
I can’t help but wonder how much of this could be resolved by the city actually taking care of the swale system through out these
neighborhoods. I realize these problems arose when the new construction went in, but, if the swales can’t flow freely because
of grass being over grown blocking the drain pipes that run under the front of every driveway, than they aren’t going to handle the extra load put on them by the new construction. Just take a drive around any neighborhood you want, and you will see the drainage pipes under numerous driveways all but closed up due to grass/sod blocking them. This isn’t a builder problem, this falls squarely on the shoulders of the city, and their failure to do their job of maintaining the storm water system.
M.N.Stevens says
The cities main problem with flooding in “my” neighborhood is the lack of code enforcement (code # 24-159). And the Department heads lack of leadership in their departments. Do your job, that you are getting paid for by the taxpayers of the City
of Palm Coast,FL. To all department heads. If an egg producer, has chickens that do not produce eggs, they replace them with chickens that do. Do your job and quit making excuses. Taxpayers deserve your utmost attention and leadership, from top to bottom.
Thank you.
Dennis C Rathsam says
This all could have been solved with catch basins, & sewers. The swale concept is shit for the birds. Every hard rain in the summer wet season these swales fill up, and stay filled for weeks. Beside the smell of stagnent water, you have frogs, tadpoles, and even snakes swimming in the swales. You cant cut the grass, because its alway wet, the mower just sinks. Sometimes the grass in my swales are 3 feet tall. Not only does it look like shit, it smells like shit too!
Lee Richards says
A few facts to add to the conversation:
First, my heart goes out to folks whose homes get flooded by stormwater. I work for Flagler Beach and try my hardest to find solutions to those problems.
Secondly, Flagler Beach has very similar problems and challenges. The restrictions are a bit different from Palm Coast with respect to the FFE and the road crown. The building height limitation of ≤35′ (from the average finished grade around the building to the mean roof height) is the limiting factor. Also, the grades may be 3:1 maximum slope due to the abundance of 50′-wide lots with 5′-wide side setbacks. Many, many of the infill lots being developed are in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) with water tables very close to the surface.
Thirdly, the city stormwater infrastructure is very limited and gravity conveyance through swales/culverts is extremely difficult due to the flat topography in the SFHAs. The lots in these areas are limited to 50% impervious surfaces and are too small to construct meaningful retention structures.
At times, it must be realized that there is very little that can physically be done to prevent lots and low-lying houses/structures from flooding. The best solution for newly constructed houses is to raise the FFE to ≥BFE+2′ or more, irrespective of the neighboring homes’ FFEs that may have built 20 or 30 years ago. This can only be accomplished by construction using stem walls or very high foundation walls and a monolithic concrete pour. The solution for the existing low-lying houses is to either elevate them above the BFE+2′ or to demolish and build new. Also, any renovations that are considered to be “substantially improved” per FEMA’s 50% rule (if the cost of the renovation exceeds the current appraised value of the house structure), must be brought up to current code requirements.
The above situation is one of the city’s greatest and most troubling problems. With minimal staff that deals directly with stormwater management issues, the city must rely on using outside engineering consultants to help solve these problems. The good news is: anything is possible if it is technically feasible and not limited by the cost.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
As usual Councilwoman Pontieri Thank You for all the rigth requests and questionings. Also Danko pressuring management to expedite “task force” investigations to find solutions for the current affected owners and stop any further new buiding with ridiculous high back fills..May as well start building houses on stilts that wont affect adjacent neighbors, whatever! As I understand. https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images? Why city management invited “stake holder insurance” to this debacle…now they will increase the insurance in those affected homes as city opens a can of worms inviting them. Insurance rates are based in the flood plains assigned by FEMA and not in what a builder is allowed to backfill affecting its existing neighbors homes.
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Hammock Huck says
Typically the city will blame everyone but themselves, but you can believe whatever you want. ITT bought a swamp and filled it in to sell to unassuming Yanks (yes, you were suckered yanks) whose dream was to retire and live in Florida. The blame is in poor city planning and engineering, along with the current overbuilding, period.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
As usual Councilwoman Pontieri Thank You for all the rigth requests and questionings. Also Danko pressuring management to expedite “task force” investigations to find solutions for the current affected owners and stop any further new buiding with ridiculous high back fills..May as well start building houses on stilts that wont affect adjacent neighbors, whatever! As I understand. https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images? Why city management invited “stake holder insurance” to this debacle…now they will increase the insurance in those affected homes as city opens a can of worms inviting them. Insurance rates are based in the flood plains assigned by FEMA and other factors and not in what a builder is allowed to backfill affecting its existing neighbors homes.
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jeffery seib says
What a whitewash. The problem is not any of the factors these city employees, with big buck salaries, brought up. If all the folks coming in had these problems prior to a new home or homes being built around them they would have sought out city council assistance before this. In my neighborhood I alerted vice-chair Danko of a foundation being poured that will cause the neighbor’s yard to flood, and it was done. They need to attack this in a stepwise manner beginning with immediately notifying all new home builders to post a bond that certifies the new homes concrete foundation or slab will not result in an excessive higher elevation resulting in flooding the existing homes property. City codes in place right now call for no damage to an existing home or property by new home construction. I say to these administrators put your boots on and get out in the field.
Ed says
Have you gone on line at looked at Palm Coast city official salaries?
Astonishing reasonably low, in fact I could earn more with a pair of of dark sunglasses and a tin cup of pencils!
If you had ever “constructed” anything in town, then you would know just how damned tough the codes really are, and how thorough and serious the inspectors really are.
I would suggest to all the complainers to get their wallets out and pay our city and county officials a fair and living wage so we can attract the best qualified personnel.
Because wanting more for less isn’t working….is it?
Oh, okay taxes are too damned high, then run for office or apply for the positions that are under performing. Chronic complaining is not a strategy.
jeffery c. seib says
Sorry to tell you Ed but ‘chronic complaining’ as you call it is what brought this and all the issues needing some of kind of attention to the city council and knowledge of by the people of Palm Coast. Looking at this particular issue, something must have been missed if there are lots of regulations on the books. You should know regulations on the books is different than what goes on ‘out in the field’. Lots of regulations on city codes, but if you think they are doing a good job there, they are not. The folks that spoke at the meeting are all six figure salaried employees. This ain’t Jersey, wages and salaries are lower than up there.
Joey G says
What a bunch of crap I didn’t even read the whole article cause it’s just another pass blame bunch of B.S. My yard never flooded in 22 years. The first year this home was built behind me I started to flood and it has not stopped. Been 3 years now. Funny thing that all these new homes they never flood cause they are draining on everyone else’s property. I have said this before you watch some of these guys grading property nowadays. Transit??? Seems they no longer know what it is. I guarantee if the city shoots some of these grades on these new homes that are a year of 2 old they are no longer draining to the swale. The guys are creating a swale by EYE (no measuring device) at the property line which will in a short period of time erode. These numbers are being fudged by the city so the builder can get his CO. You cannot