For several months, Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri has objected to the pace of development in Palm Coast, and more especially to the council’s land use changes that in her view unnecessarily accelerate that pace, when it is in the council’s power not to grant development-fueling rezonings.
On Tuesday, Pontieri said the council in the past year alone approved 13,361 new homes (single-family houses, duplexes, apartment units).
It’s a startling figure, but it’s exact in only one sense: those thousands of units are approved and in the pipeline. But they were not all approved this year. Most of those approvals date back years, and have been dormant since.
This year’s approvals by direct council or administrative action, with development orders issued to subdivision developments, are closer to 4,156, and even those include plans long on the books and currently inactive. Of those 4,156 homes, only 38 got their certificate of occupancy–meaning that just those 38 homes were built, inspected and deemed habitable this year, all of them at Sawmill Branch off U.S. 1.
That’s not to say that there isn’t very brisk development in Palm Coast.
Overall, 2,021 certificates of occupancy have been issued in the last 12 months. The overwhelming share of those apply to homes built on scattered, quarter-acre lots in Palm Coast, which don’t need more than permitting to start construction. There are still roughly 11,000 such lots ready to build, according to Jason DeLorenzo, the city’s chief of staff, down from the original 42,000 lots ITT platted when Palm Coast was an ITT subdivision.
Between that and the 4,156 homes granted development orders this year, there is no question that Palm Coast is growing rapidly and that Council policy is doing all it can to accelerate that growth, with increasing rumbles from existing residents who think, like Pontieri, that the pace is too rapid.
Those residents filled the chamber last Tuesday, as they have, in fluctuating numbers, at many meetings this year, suggesting that growth will be a central issue in next year’s election–especially as the city prepares to rewrite its comprehensive plan, the city’s blueprint for long-term development. The city is inviting residents to share their vision for the future city. A lot of residents have been seeing red, not green.
Whether one applauds or decries development, the debate it is fueling is real, but the numbers behind it can be confusing and sometimes seem misleading, as Mayor David Alfin complained when Pontieri first made reference to 14,000 homes approved at a meeting in mid-September. That context is necessary to place subsequent debates–and facts–in context.
“My issue is the fact that we have 14,000 dwelling units in the pipeline right now just this year that we’ve approved, and this is adding to it,” Pontieri had said as the council was preparing to approve a rezoning for the 850-home Cascades development in Seminole Woods (on first reading).
“Throwing out 14,000 units without defining a timeline is irresponsible,” Alfin said. “Those 14,000 units are over what period of time, how many years? Are they coming online? That’s just not fair.”
Pontieri promised to get the exact number, which she had by Tuesday’s meeting: that’s the 13,361. “So while it wasn’t 14,000, it’s pretty darn close,” Pontieri said. “I point this out because out of those 13,361, nine thousand two hundred and twenty-three dwelling units were part of developments that underwent some type of rezoning.” That’s accurate.
But Alfin’s point was just as valid. The 13,361 figure lacks context and caveats.
For example, the council is in the midst of approving the sixth or seventh amendment to the Palm Coast Park development of regional impact, one of those massive developments, like Town Center or Grand Haven, that sprawls not only over thousands of acres (4,700) but over decades.
A decade and a half ago the council approved 5,700 units for Palm Coast Park. Land use changes early in September and December would add 750 homes to the total. But in calculating her 13,361 figure, Pontieri included the 5,704 previously approved units, as if they were again approved this year. But by no definition could those 5,704 homes be said to have been approved this year by the council.
Pontieri concedes the point. But, she says, “if we as a council said no, we’re going to keep you to 5,700 units, I think they would have held off on it. I don’t think they would have moved forward. They continue to come before us and ask us for more and more and more because this specific council is approving right now.”
In other words, the rezoning the council appears ready to grant is supercharging the overall development, at a time when the council could have denied the rezoning, and possibly slowed down the development. “And I think that they know quite candidly that people are fed up and that people are going to run who are not going to be approving in this theater,” Pontieri said.
She was referring to council candidates in the 2024 election who vow to oppose such developments. It’s that acceleration she opposes–an acceleration she says is enabled by the council’s actions on rezoning, where it has a choice to say yes or no, and that is replicated over eight large proposals the council approved this year. (See the list here.)
In another case–Coquina Shores, a development now down to 750 homes the council approved this year–original development plans had been cleared for 2,400 homes along Old Kings Road South, north of State Road 100. But this year’s land use changes were to reduce that to 750 homes, eliminating 1,650.
Still, there’s a vast gulf between approvals and actual construction, as the chart below illustrates. The chart lists all the subdivision developments that are ready for construction. Their site plans and preliminary plats are approved. But only five are active with construction, and of those, only 38 homes have been completed.
“Some of these have been around forever, but they went through an application process since October of 2022,” DeLorenzo said, so those unit numbers got added into the development orders total for the past 12 months, even though in many cases the original unit totals were approved previously.
That inflates the impression of impending development, even though, in theory, these units are like the 11,000 infill lots in Palm Coast: they may or may not get built up tomorrow. “But these are closer to being able to be built because they have fewer steps after this,” DeLorenzo said. “They can basically go to construction plans from here and become an active construction site.”
Pontieri called the current pace of approvals “overdevelopment” last Tuesday, getting some support from Council member Cathy Heighter, but Alfin didn’t debate her points: Pontieri is in the minority on the council, though three seats are up in 2024, including the mayor’s, and at least two will have new occupants (both Nick Klufas and Ed Danko are running for County Commission seats).
“We have the ability to right the ship, we have the ability to better enforce our LDC,” Pontieri said of the Land Development Code. “We have the ability to work with our development community, work with our homebuilders association to make sure that we’re providing a diversity of housing like we’ve all been talking about, but still keeping it within our code. And I hope that this council will look for ways to do that in collaboration with our residents and our development community, rather than just saying, well, we need XYZ and it’s based on these statistics and the builders have rights and developers have rights, so we’re going to approve it.”
dave says
Well, well over development, NO problem. City and county govts don’t care about residents, or the traffic, water usage, sewer, rain water run off from all the concrete. As long as that big old dollar is waving from up north and from the west states, they bite.
Rick says
Investigate the politicians Bank Accounts, that may be the answer to the developement issue.
Roads cannot handle anymore traffic, as same for Staleys Sheriffs Dept. !
Sickening what is happening, we will be selling soon to beat the looming Disaster on the Horizon, including the growth of Crime that woll ensue !
jeffery c. seib says
The following is the three-minute comment I made to the city council in my request to slow things down.
Many people come here to speak at city council meetings asking for something, and others even demand some action from the council.
My speaking now has to do with the fact that the people of palm coast are just overwhelmed and maxed out with all housing projects coming before the council to be approved. The numbers are over the top. Thousands of new units this year alone, that’s thousands more cars, thousands more folks everywhere. When will it end? When every stretch of open land has an apartment, 50-foot lot homes or some other development? Out of control growth is not a characteristic of a healthy community, or a healthy environment. The concern I have is can this area, our city, readily absorb a massive increase in our population in a short period of time without experiencing a significant decline in our present quality of life.
In general terms, the city’s budget has an amount that will cover, to some degree, the current residents’ needs for city services. Then there is the amount of the budget that is meant to cover, to some degree, future residents’ needs for city services.
With ever increasing taxes and fees, this is what we get. But this year’s budget maybe less than what staff originally proposed, which requires budget cuts.
The explanation by staff of where the cuts will come from shows that city expenditure for current resident needs will be cut and some of the proposed future Palm Coast needs will also be cut. In this time of reduced government funding, it would be best for the city council and staff to prioritize the needs of current residents over future residents.
I have spoken to the council before recommending taking the next two years to shore up, repair and improve the current PC. Since that’s not happening, I would ask the city council to consider at this time implementing a six-month moratorium on any further approvals of large developments, MPD’s, and apartment complexes.
A moratorium is a useful tool that many cities here in Florida have utilized to slow things down for a period of time. With thousands of housing units already approved we certainly could use a breather that would give the city time to get everything here now up to par.
So, as many people do, I am asking the council to consider a moratorium.
Diane Ramirez says
We fell in love with Palm Coast and moved there in 2017. By early last year, we knew we had to move out to somewhere less crowded. The traffic became insane (with terrible drivers on every road), my own mailbox was run over twice and I had to replace it. It took 45 minutes to get to work rather than the 25 minute it took when we first moved in. Restaurants, grocery stores and other places we needed to to go became more crowded and parking the car went from easy to very challenging. I am sad that Palm Coast has declined in quality of life so quickly. I thought it was a place where we could put down roots and enjoy for decades to come. The entities that approve all of this rezoning should be ashamed and probably investigated to make sure none of them are taking payoffs from developers.
Billy says
Wow!, this town will look like Jacksonville! What a scam!
Jack Sprat says
I hope that the developers of these projects/homes lose their investments with vacant homes that won’t sell, empty lots, and massive debt. Where will Aflin be when that happens?
TR says
I hope that happens as well. Alfin will run like a little boy from the city once he’s voted out next election. Maybe him and Biden can buy a condo together.
Joseph Barand says
And maybe Trump will build another aTrump Tower right here. If so this one should have bars on all windows, barbed wire electric fences. This could house 1’000’s of his fellow criminals without impacting traffic, schools or other services.
TR says
You really think he would come here or do you hate him that much you have to bring him into the conversation? He has nothing to do with what’s in the article, so why bring him into it? Take a vacation and focus on the problems within the city councils decision to approve all these developments without doing anything with the infrastructure.
Deborah Coffey says
Um, YOU brought Biden into the conversation and he has nothing to do with it! Not to worry, Donald Trump will be in prison far from Palm Coast.
TR says
Thanks for proving my point. You can keep dreaming.
The dude says
You really think Biden would come here and buy a condo with Alfin, or do you hate him that much you have to bring him into the conversation? He has nothing to do with what’s in the article, so why bring him into it? Take a vacation and focus on the problems within the city councils decision to approve all these developments without doing anything with the infrastructure.
TR says
Really you can’t come up with your own words? LOL
It wasn’t me who brought a politician into the conversation to begin with, it was D. Coffey, I just used other name to make my point. Thanks for helping.
Tina Olive says
He’s 72ish he won’t be here to see how all this mess plays out. All of us taxpayers will have to live with theses self serving screw ups….Hope they have a new sewage treatment plant planned because all this ^$%$## will have to go somewhere……
Laurel says
I’m going to admit, that I skimmed over the article, and the comments (bad Laurel) but I also want people to see what is going on here that is not the subject of this article.
For starters, I would love to be able to slap the next person who mentions ITT again. ITT is gone, a long time ago. Get over it.
Look at the picture here. Look at what these houses are made out of. Anyone in construction knows that 2x4s are not really 2″x4″, but these are match sticks. Look at the walls. It’s not even plywood, it’s a type of pressed board built directly on the ground. With the recent rains, mold has a chance of setting in. Eventually, it’s going to rot. These are being built on swamp land. This is what is being sold to people. This is what is being advertised to northerners who don’t know about Florida. You couldn’t sell me one of these homes, at a steep discount, to flip, I have a conscience.
Is Palm Coast going to be a big city? Yes. Is it going to be a happy city? No.
James says
“… Look at the picture here. …”
Not a concrete block in sight. :-o :-)
TR says
Laurel, I also can not understand why anyone would by a house made out of 2 x 4’s in Florida. Or anywhere where there is a high possibility for a hurricane or major fire like we had back in the mid 80’s and then again in 1998. I hope that it never happens but if a hurricane or major fire hits this area, I’ll be sitting better off in my home then someone who bought one of these stick homes. The problem with a major devastation demolishing a lot of home. EVERYONE insurance goes up to cover the cost. Not understanding why I should have to pay for someone else’s stupidity just because they wanted to save a few buck to buy a house. Can anyone tell me what the cost difference is between a 2000 square foot stick home and a 2000 square foot block home. (one story only)
Kat says
Let’s stop electing people that profit from all this development. Perhaps we should start considering candidates who have an interest in trying to preserve wild spaces, and be good stewards of the environment.
Lorraine says
I absolutely agree!!
💯 %! Out with dish water Aflin who is trying to shore up his income as a Realtor, after being Mayor, by approving all these developments. Vote the mayor and the other 2 council people that are up for election OUT!
NO MORE REAL ESTATE MOGULS ON THE CONCIL!!
Vance Hoffman says
Great idea.
Greg says
We must bite them all out. They are destroying the quality of life, but money rules here. Sad.
Flatsflyer says
The city has failed it’s fiduciary responsibility in growing infrastructure when approving new construction. If a single dollar was collected for each approved unit Old Kings between Rt 100 and the PCP, the road would have 4 lanes, turn lanes, sidewalks, street lights. Taxes have been collected since 2008 in a special fund for OKR improvements. Where has this money gone and who is responsible for oversight of those funds.
The dude says
For those of you keeping score…
That’s:
13,361- new structures that will all most likely house two or more souls, making 26,762 new citizens.
0- new industries or jobs capable of buying $500k houses and paying the exorbitant insurance, taxes and utilities here.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
I totally agree with brave councilwoman Pointieri she is not distorting anything. The rezonings projects come for approval one after the other to city council before and under Pointieri’s watch and she is just right even while most times she is the only vote against it!. This editorial forgets to note that many of these requested projects approved for rezoning now (in spite of being on the books for it since the county made land code changes after ITT left or under past city administrations). The current approved changes including spot zoning (illegal) Harborside and others after approved, seat waiting for land to sell at higher prices with the approved new rezone like we see often around the city. Some start building at once affecting the values and quality of life of adjacent houses and residents whether affluent (Polo West equine community acreages residences) or any of our modest homes on original ITT-ICDC 5.5 units per acre zoned. Councilwoman Pointieri is giving us the courage to place her in the council majority for 2024. We better do it as our current old infrastructure not able to cope either so again Pointieri is right! Somethinsg are being corrected lately, like the fees. no more free power charge for EV’s cars at city hall or any other city charging station. We had several years forced to subsidize it. Also finally we are getting the needed bathrooms in Long Creek Preserve Parks off Palm Harbor Parkway!. Now we need back our Florida Park Drive 2 traffic calming islands for which we paid over $163,000 in engineering design and Lssiter traffic study…voted no the bid at $392,000 (already approved funds for the construction) by Danko, Klufas and Mayor end of 2022. We need these two islands urgently, given that City Comunity Development had the bright idea to invite a Wawa be built now in Florida Park Drive adding 296 vehicles per hour to the already current 9,000 a day. Those funds were sent to the road repaving program of which City Engineering spent 1.7 millions to unnedy ( not cracks, no potholes as per residents) Seminole Woods Parkway. This wasteful project has to be investigated as well, residents want answers. Transparency has to be brought back to the city and cuts on waste. Residencial priorities “needs” are to be observed and resolved and administrators “wants” need to wait. The city needs to cut in too many high paid chiefs seating around and few “workers” to do the work we taxpayers pay for. Same goes for the county.
tulip says
I thought the building code required houses be built of cement cinder blocks or solid cement exterior walls? Building stick houses makes them very vulnerable to termite damage and other things, and certainly wouldn’t hold up in a hurricane as well as cement. Wait til the next wildfire, which I pray to God never happens here again. Those houses will go up like dry wood soaked in gasoline. A buyer better ask questions about what the house is built with before signing on the dotted line.
Denali says
Probably should do some research and provide facts in your comments and not your personal speculation when it comes to technical issues. “The 2020 Florida Building Code – Residential” most certainly does allow stick-built framing, it requires the structural members to be insect and termite resistant and most certainly does place the same design requirements on a wood or metal framed house that it places on those built of concrete masonry units. As for wildfire propagation, the real culprit is the roof and it may surprise you but the vast majority of houses built in Florida are wood framed with asphalt based fiberglass shingles.
Palm Coast Political Dissident says
What the article fails to mention is that developers don’t necessarily want to build anything, they are just trying to get the entitlements. Once they get the entitlements to build on a plot of land they can build or not build at their leisure. For example, if Jeff Douglas or Walker Douglas gets the entitlement to build 1,000 homes. They don’t have to build anything, just sit on the entitlement until they sell the land or possibly come back to the city for a change in the Land Development Code (LDC) to increase the density to meet their current need…. I mean greed. And they often use the term economy of scale, watch the video where they approved the Marina DRI. They changed the zoning to let developers put 299 additional unit in that area, contrary to planning department and the planning board. Not to mention, the city received no guarantee that they would build a restaurant. No concession at all, for that matter. Danko was actually begging the developers to “give us something”. The total number of units that’ll be on that property when the development is complete is 371, the exact number of full time permanent jobs that the community would have gained if that property would have become a destination resort, as originally planned. These same issues are why Town Center has not been developed. Another example, Sawmill on the west side of US-1. Misused property that could have been used decades ago for industrial growth. Instead, it sat vacant. Now we have thousands and thousands of housing being built or not built at the leisure of the developers. Take a ride into that development and observe for yourself. They just rezoned to allow the development of residential housing from the weight station on US-1 east side of US-1 as well. So, just imagine once you pass the weight station heading north toward Saint Augustine, houses and condo/townhouses all the way up to Old Kings Road by the Agricultural Museum…..that’s the future of Palm Coast. After that or concurrently with that, they plan on pushing Community Development Districts (CDDs) once they annex the 20-40 thousand acres on the west side of the train tracks. That’s why your Mayor asked the legislature for 25.5 million dollars to extend Matanzas Woods Parkway. Then had the audacity to ask the residents of Palm Coast to accept a additional tax on your power bill to pay for your roads. You can’t make this stuff up. If someone knows John Walsh, the former owner of the Palm Coast Observer (a self described personal friend of David Alfin), please ask him what his new occupation is. It’s in the field of real estate. These people plan on to becoming multimillionaires at the expense of the residents. You might want to wake up and start paying attention.
marisa lauman says
You nailed it ! It’s time for people to wake up !
Laurel says
Palm Coast Political Dissident: You got it. This is exactly why the current mayor and commissions do not listen to their constituents. People are upset. People are angry. Anyone listening? No. Money talks, and when they get theirs, they’ll walk. They are pushing the building as fast as they can because they will be voted out. The locals will be left holding the over developed, flooded bag.
Concerned Citizen says
Wake Up Palm Coast! If their plan is to build on 20 to 40 thousand acres of land on the west side of the train tracks, this needs to be exposed. Many people have spoken up here. Share your grievances with the City of Palm Coast. Write them, call them and speak at meetings. Is there an attorney in the house? Bert Harris Law might be the cause of all the destruction. https://www.florida-eminent-domain.com/property-owners-rights/bert-j-harris-private-property-rights-protection-act/
Jay Tomm says
PC doesn’t need a BJ’s. Or an ale house, or 13K homes. It’s very simple, stop building & no one will want to live in Flagler, but will love to visit Flagler with all the pretty wetlands, parks, beach etc. THAT is what this area is & was. Make the $ with tourism. If you can’t find a house in PC to live, then look elsewhere. There are no real jobs in Flagler. Service industry, .gov, & ems/fire/PD are it.
Where these 50K+ people supposed to work?
dave says
Where these 50K+ people supposed to work?, well what if these 50k people are in fact retirees from up north, or just retirees period. People are assuming its NEW JOBS for these people, when it could only be more traffic.
Treeman says
The RINO Mayor and RINO Vice Mayor are DESTROYING Palm Coast and Flagler County!!! Danko is NOT the one to be Flagler Commissioner!! Ship him in POD back to CNN!!
Pragmatist says
Folks c’mon. I mean, goddam already with your over population nonsense. Flagler County’s population is a big fat nothingburger compared to surrounding areas up and down the eastern seaboard. It pales in comparison! Florida’s population has exploded, and Flagler, quite frankly, not so commensurate with the rest of the state. We’re on the ocean. Relatively high and dry. World’s largest highway running through it, flanked by US1 and A1A, along with Flagler’s railroad. Less than an hour to international airports and the world’s largest family entertainmemt venue and most famous beach.
Gimme a break. Thank your lucky stars that its not worse. Much, much worse. Flagler/Palm Coast is doing just fine. Remember, with an average age of 55+, almost as many are dying as moving in. YOU MOVED HERE TOO!
Laurel says
Prag: Some were born here, for starters. According to you, this area should be over built like the most of the coast, right? My husband and I were born and raised in South Florida, and moved here to get away from the congestion. The streets are now flooding in Miami Beach and now Ft. Lauderdale. It was never like that while we were growing up. Traffic is impossible. Wildlife and nature is a long drive away. Housing is very expensive. Taxes are high.
This area should learn from other’s mistakes, but it doesn’t. People here should know better, but they ignore it. When people find a nice area, they are hellbent on destroying it. The only damned deer in the City of Deerfield is a concrete statue. If you like a constant strip mall for miles, with only signs to differentiate municipalities, go south.
Sam says
It will all be gone soon enough. Next Hurricane season could be the one that wipes Palm coast off the face of the earth……….
Were all going to die …………………
Have a nice Day
Hmmm says
Well played.
People dont realize Flagler has the second lowest population on the entire florida east coast, only second to Nassau which borders Georgia.
The real problem here is the sewer plants already struggling to keep up and the lack of, well, anything. So much for town center actually being a town center. Where do you find a town center thats filled with nothing but residences?
dave says
Just look at how many people are moving to Fl each month on an avg, 37,040 according the the Fla Agents. .And the state with the biggest exodus to Fla, yep NY. IN 2022, the NY Post notes, A staggering 64,577 Empire Staters exchanged their driver’s licenses for the Sunshine State version last year, according to figures from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. They sell big, buy a lot for less. And people in my opinion are tired of the high rent, hurrainces, insurance issues in Fla.. So According to the US Census Bureau state to state migration flows, an estimated 275,266 people left Florida in 2022. That means that nearly 754 people are choosing to leave Florida every day and nearly 23,000 people are leaving each month (as of 2022).
James says
Hey, it’s been going on for years, if not decades.
Even before I moved here I was told that on average, it’s about four months… four months before one knows whether or not one wants to stay in Florida.
I’ve been here now almost twenty years… still can’t decide.
Just an introspective observation.
dave says
I’ve been here for 70 of my years, born here and grew up in north central Fl, schools college etc.. and even for some unknown reason ( big brain fart) stayed and retired here. And I’ve seen the destruction caused by overpopulation and the millions of changes to suit the incoming. I’m just to old to get the hell out and to old to reestablish my doctors not to mention all of my family is around central fla, you know the important ones, the grandkids.
oldtimer says
The only problem, Dave is that after they move here a lot of those new yorkers want to turn this into what they left up north
Dennis C Rathsam says
I want to pesonally thank all you dumb ignorant people of P/C for ellecting STUFF EM IN ALVIN! This man is a one man wrecking crew. His ears are closed, his brain is mush. Why doesnt he listen to the people who live here? He he the grand poo pa? Is he that brilliant, and so much of a scolar that he needs no imput or help? Everyone who writes here is unhappy with his plans. By the time we vote him out he will be rich, and have destroyed Plam Coast
Em says
I skipped through the article as well as the lengthy comments, but when we bought a lot from a mobile home on A1A in 1970, ITT said it would have a population the size of Detroit! That was 1.5 million at the time. Don’t know what population is in Palm Coast now, but pretty sure Detroit had and probably still has the traffic situation handled.
We have vacationed in Flagler Beach since then, sold our PC lot because the neighbor built part of their home into our lot, have always loved the area. But since our yearly rental in Beverly Beach ended recently (and only able to use 150+/- days), don’t think we will be going back any time soon. Too much hassle trying to trek to shops. Oh, let’s through that hotel smack dabbed in the middle of town…what a ruination of a once beautiful small Florida town!
Think we’ll go North and avoid traffic, hurricanes (2 last year), flooding…
Thanks for putting up with my ramblings.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
Here we can read the opinions of those that moved from overpopulated urban areas with petty services and landed in Palm Coast Paradise and want to make it look like were they came from! We, the old folks that moved to PC over 30 years ago are called complainers. Myself I didn’t move from an urban area but from 5 acres in the most beautiful countryside area and exchanged mountains for beach, while needing to downsize when found my Palm Coast Paradise and I sure battle like a soldier to preserve it! Whether some like it or not. I will continue doing it till the two needed traffic calming islands will be installed.!
endless dark money says
making palm coast the new daytona. this will help bring down your property value.
Hey wendys is hiring for any of the 13,000 + new tenants, i mean manybe if you your spouse and your kids all work there (think minimum wage times 3)you may be able to afford the monthly payment if you dont need eat or drive or buy anything other than shelter.
FedUp says
Why wait? Recall these politicians that don’t prioritize the interests of residents?