After 12 of the 27 people who addressed the Palm Coast City Council in the first hour of Tuesday evening’s half-marathon meeting complained of flooding issues–theirs or those of people they knew–City Council member Theresa Pontieri made an unexpected motion: to halt construction on so-called in-fill lots (the traditional quarter-acre lots that ITT platted in the original Palm Coast boundaries) for 60 to 90 days, or until until the city’s revised construction regulations are enacted.
The proposal drew immediate applause for the capacity crowd, guarded support, with cautions, from most of Pontieri’s colleagues on the council, and a procedural cold shower from the city attorney, who reminded everyone that there is such a thing as process, especially on a proposal as considerable as a building moratorium, whatever its form.
“Let staff do the legwork,” Anthony Garganese, the attorney sitting through his first council meeting, said. (The firm that bears his name has been providing legal services to the city for 19 years, but it’s ending that role soon.) “Because really what in essence the motion is, is a moratorium regarding the development of infill lots, and that in my opinion would require a more formal action of the council by ordinance, and having advanced proper notice and having public input before the council would take an action such as that.”
After Pontieri conceded the point and seven more people spoke in favor of the moratorium, the council approved delaying the discussion to the Jan. 16 meeting, when that proposed ordinance is expected to be discussed and possibly adopted in one form or another: Pontieri is advocating it, but Council member Ed Danko, who was the early champion of turning the flooding issue into a top priority, would now have a difficult time voting against it, and Council member Cathy Heighter has so sympathized with the flooded residents that on Tuesday she told them she thought of sitting with them rather than on the dais.
Mayor David Alfin and Council member Nick Klufas were more cautious. And if Pontieri was sounding an alarm for urgency on flooding, her proposal raised different alarms for builders.
“My job now is to educate the council and make sure everyone understands,” Annamaria Long, the executive officer at the Flagler Home Builders Association, said today. “There are residents who are having very real issues in their yards and they’re coming to the council, they’re having real experiences, and that’s got to pull on your heartstrings, they’re you’re constituents, and I empathize with that. However I would urge Council not to legislate for the few but to focus on those few and solve their problems, while legislating for the many.”
A moratorium, Long said, would not solve the problem so much as “put local businesses out, it will end jobs, not only for our public employees but for our city employees. It’ll result in layoffs and furloughs.” Instead, the city should focus on fixing problems at the affected properties and, moving forward, applying the longer-range fix through the revisions of the city’s regulatory, technical manual for builders.
That process is almost complete, and if the possibility or reality of a moratorium spurs the city to speed it up, then so much the better, Pontieri said today. “Either 90 days or when the technical manual is done, so really this was to motivate us to get across the finish line,” she said.
Dozens of longer-term residents have been complaining to the city for months that suddenly, as new homes have gone up next to theirs, their lots, their back yard, their front yards and sometimes the interior of their homes have flooded as never before, even through tropical storm emergencies. Those flooding issues have typically happened where new homes have been built on much higher fill bases than previously, with some of those bases rising three or four feet or higher than adjacent lots. The city does not dispute the fact. Nor does it dispute that the current technical manual allows homes to rise significantly, though not indefinitely. (Long calls the technical manual “problematic.”)
So the manual has been rewritten. It will have limits on fill heights, and presumably address other issues related to flooding. But it’s still circulating among city staffers and “stakeholders” such as the home builders, for their input, and is not due to go before the city council until mid-February. Meanwhile, city staffers have been continuing to address flooding problems on a per-case basis. But the drizzle of flooding complaints the council has been hearing at every meeting for the past several months has continued, with Tuesday night closer to a downpour than a drizzle.
“I had to spend over $8,000 just to put a French drain on the side of my home going to the front of my house,” Melissa Caballero told the council. “I never had any issues with flooding. Now all of a sudden you build all these homes around me and I have water that comes into my home. I’m an educator in Flagler County Schools. So obviously you know that I don’t bring home a huge paycheck. So to be able to keep pouring money like that because of an issue that the city has made is it’s just ridiculous.”
One resident on Seagul Place had gotten “a nice visit”: from Lynn Stevens, the deputy stormwater director–who has been getting steady raves for her work– but she had gotten water intrusion in her home and was looking for sand bags from the city, which the city is not currently making available. It does so during hurricane emergencies. Candace Stevens, a retired government official and founder of Flooded in Flagler, a Facebook group tracking flooding issues, and now counting 442 members, described being threatened and called names by people contacting her as a result of the page’s reach. “I’m used to law and order. And I don’t feel like we’re having it here,” she said, seemingly making a connection–without evidence–between builders and those pressuring her.
A few of those who spoke of flooding asked for a halt to construction, suggesting that word of such a moratorium had begun making the rounds of local talking points.
Gina Hall, 21 Packard Lane, a 30-year resident spent $20,000 in the past to dig trenches, grading, building swales. That was years ago. It took care of the problem. Now a new house is going up next to hers, and the builder told her she would flood, as would her neighbors. She has. “So I plead: Please stop. Please come. Please stop this building until you can figure it out. Thank you.”
City Manager Denise Bevan said staffers were visiting every one of the homes where property owners have registered flooding complaints. There are 125 individual such cases. Crews have visited 50 of them. Stormwater and Engineering Director Carl Cote said the administration intends to clear those cases by the end of January and submit a report to the council at a mid-February workshop, when the technical manual revisions will also be submitted.
The re-written manual drew “minimal feedback” from the Home Builders Association, Cote said, though the HBA is not done. Lynn Stevens “has been incredible in making these changes and I commend her for the actions she’s taken to do this,” Long said, referring to the revised manual, “and I will have our formal response to their suggested revisions by the end of the week to stormwater.”
It was after the initial round of public speakers had ended that Pontieri made her motion. “With regards to the wait on the technical manual update, I’m going to make a motion that we stop infill lot building until that’s done,” Pontieri said, drawing applause from a capacity crowd in the chamber. The crowd had spilled into an overflow room.
Pontieri said no construction should be stopped if foundations have been poured. “But if foundations have not been poured, there’s no harm, I don’t believe, or I believe that the harm to our current residents potentially is outweighed by any harm in waiting 60 to 90 days until we update this technical manual,” Pontieri said. “So I’m going to make a motion that we stop infill lot building where foundations have not been poured for 90 days. And then we can revisit where we are on the the update to our technical manual.” She described it as a “pause” that could then be extended or not, depending on the adoption of the technical manual. She stressed that she was not “proposing a building moratorium across the city of Palm Coast.”
Danko seconded the motion for discussion’s sake, cautioning that “it’s a little more complex than just stopping.” He was not opposed to 60 days, but if construction is proceeding “the normal way” on a lot that’s not expected to cause nearby flooding, “I’m good with making an exception.”
Heighter didn’t explicitly throw her support behind Pontieri’s motion, but did so in other words: “I almost wanted to come and sit out there tonight because I need to feel what you feel, and that is the truth,” she told the crowd. “I’m hearing the same story over and over and over. And I’m actually asking people, well please don’t attack me because it’s not my fault. I’m looking forward to something being done about this. So I feel like us as council members, we need to listen to our citizens.”
Council member Nick Klufas said he would prefer to hear from the city administration on how to address immediate flooding problems affecting a few dozen properties–he put the number at 26–before taking a broader brush to construction as a whole. “Just having a blanket, basically a moratorium on development in Palm Coast is a little bit of a heavy blanket solution,” he said. “Obviously there’s a problem here. But let’s hear from our staff to see whether or not that problem reconciles with what we’re talking about today.” (A resident later cast doubt on the number Klufas gave: “If they keep closing cases, then of course you don’t have the accurate number,” the resident said.)
Alfin was more blunt: “You’re starting to walk into the area of private property rights, you’re walking into the area of unemploying people,” he said, before turning to the city attorney for an opinion–and what turned out to be a moratorium on moratorium talk. If the administration was unusually silent on the potential consequences of such a moratorium–how many permits would be affected, how many are in the pipeline, how would builders’ tightly choreographed crews be affected from job to job–it’s because the proposal took likely was a surprise.
Pontieri asked for that proposed ordinance at the Jan. 16 meeting, and if not then, a special meeting could be arranged, she said.
But Long said there may be more damage than anticipated even with the mere talk of a moratorium. “The red flag went up to businesses, to developers who were thinking of coming to the area, the damage is done,” Long said. “Whether it’s a threat or actually happens, it’s not a word that a business investor wants to hear, and the fact that it was thrown out in a council meeting is enough to scare business investors off.” Long noted that in a meeting with the home builders, Pontieri had pledged not to sign off on a moratorium, “so for me to hear last night her call for a moratorium was shocking, and truly going back on her word.”
Pontieri did not dispute the pledge. “On building, period, in Flagler County, sure, but this is specific to infill lots,” Pontieri said. “I don’t consider it to be the same thing, and this is only 90 days, and it could be sooner if the city staff completes the edits.” It seemed clear by today that Pontieri’s strategy is to accelerate the technical manual’s adoption, in essence potentially making adoption of a moratorium moot.
Until then, the drizzle–or downpours–will continue at council meetings, as it did Tuesday evening.
“I’m exhausted from worry. I just don’t understand this elevation of these new builds next to pre-existing homes,” Carol Brasfield of the W Section said, describing the destruction of her property and her retirement by “lunacy.” “The new communities they are building off of US1 are all at the same level. This makes no sense to me. This cannot be continued here in existing neighborhoods,” she said.
Gary Kunnas says
When we moved in PC 9 years ago one had to get a permit to put sod down. This was so your ground was not higher then the neighbors. Here we are talking inches. How come new buildings were allowed to build higher. Where was building inspection and code enforcement ? One calls code inspection on a problem, then nothing happens. Building inspection, come out go to permit box sign papers and leave. Both never come out or look at the site. I have witness this in person . You bring this up to city council and they do nothing.
Marvin says
After an area developer in Palm Coast was allowed to build up immediately adjacent terrain by 4 FEET next to our tree farm, thus changing the natural drainage and ground water flow, we talked with both St. Johns Water Management and PC city officials about the lunacy of allowing such “designs.” And we liked the response that house lots were designed to bring rear lot water frontwards, away from us but TOWARDS any swimming pool area and the house, and past them both towards the front of the house where there would be a public swale. Didn’t sound too likely. This was years ago so this problem has been on radars while more harm has been done. Maybe if the city required each new home builder/owner to install a side swale between affected properties, with a 4-to-1 slope, all on the offender’s property, with the bottom of the swale being suitably lower than the pre-existing grade height, with swale size based upon the amount of new fill dirt, new construction would have an incentive to reduce lot elevation to the bare minimum. A lot of ‘old timers’ wondered how ITT could get away with developing such low areas of Flagler into vast housing complexes. If flood insurance or other concerns are dictating higher lots for new homes, maybe some drastic new approaches should be considered during any moratorium.
TR says
The only thing wrong I see with the description of a side swale having water drain to the front, would be it would work if the swale in the front is properly designed to handle all the water from the front and the back. I can tell you based on my property and just talking about the front swale. It’s a joke and the city came a re did it two years ago only for it to be worse than it was before. But hey, the people working in that department need job security so why fix it the correct way?
Marvin says
Not MY idea to feed all water from rear to front but if that is where the city says it needs to go, anything is better than shedding onto a pre-existing neighbor who followed city regulations and permitting and is now a victim.
polysci says
Pontieri is the only council member who attempts to look out for the citizenry. The others should take a lesson.
bob says
I agree with polysci ….. and I’ll add how glad I am that Council Member Pontieri is my Councilor, we need more with the same common thinking and actions which represent “the people for the people”
Chris says
All construction needs be stopped in this town till we have some rules! Building is out of control here!
tulip says
I’m glad we have Councilwoman Pontieri on board. She seems to be the only one that actually does her homework and honestly cares about things, and it’s not just for show or to get re elected. I hope she succeeds in getting the moratorium and I feel the city should pay the people who are now getting flooded to have proper drainage put in. I wonder how the city leaders would like to be in that situation of having their land and house flooded. The city can afford to pay millions of dollars for a defective splash pond, they can afford to pay to have drainage put into the affected home owners.
TR says
No leader would have this problem because they wouldn’t allow it to happen with their home if they were building a new one.
Atwp says
Repubs!
Celia Pugliese says
PC Councilwoman Pontieri is absolutely correct! She needs to be heard and respected by her colleagues in the council. Annemarie Long speaks for her own and the interest of her employer The Home Builders Association. Our councilwoman Pontieri speaks for us all and probably fed up with the irresponsible delay of the HBA to reply to the new building guidance to be adopted. Meanwhile peoples yards get flooded with every rain and the flood extends in cases inside their homes very stressful that can even become deadly for the elderly resident stressed out. Councilman Flukas as usual distorting the reality and lying as even Engineering Cote said they had 125 flooded homes reported and Flukas says 26. Lets remember in 2024 do we want him in the county commission? Hell NO. Danko refuses to go thru documents provided denying he didn’t see yet some signed and notarized documents. This two waste valuable time after Pontieri made a motion! Whatever to delay the vote that will be for the residents! After 5 hours of contentious meeting were residents have to endure deceit to be able to stop destructive greed and witness the distortions intended in favor of developers! We need change!. These developers buy tracks of land with a given zoning then don’t ask for rezoning , if you are basing your purchase on that, go elsewhere and buy land. We are very happy in our Palm Coast and will fight to preserve it as we bought it! If developers do not like our complains and determination to stop rezoning with increase density and ill planned growth that they propose, they need to sell and go, or read a good book about how to be happy without greed, like we residents do! ” It’s unlikely that a greedy person can lead a peaceful and happy life in the long term. Greed is the intense desire for material possessions or wealth, and when people focus solely on accumulating more and more of these things, they often become obsessed with money and possessions.!” These developers have the audacity to attack residents and councilwoman in the meetings, social, radio and publishing media but we will not give in to intimidation. Lets keep attending this meetings because elections are coming and these developers see the writing in the wall and will try to rush all the rezonings, spot zonings and special exceptions to zonings they can apply for…so 2024 is crucial for us all to attend these meetings if we want to preserve Palm Coast from further damage. And lets remember that we need Ray Steven in district 3 to vote with Pontieri for us.
MITCH says
Councilwoman Pontieri always is prepared and looks out for residents. Seems the Councilmen are more worried about upcoming elections and how what they say or how they vote could jeopardize their being elected or reelected. Councilwoman Pontieri does what is right and I’m sure her reelection will shine bright for her caring and looking out for residents. She has discovered how to live, if you do what is right, you’ll never have to worry about the outcome.
Pissed in PC (no longer cause I left) says
I complained since 2020 when a lot was allowed to build up and drain on the wooded lot behind my neighbor but it created its own path to my backyard. Then in 2022 Alfin came out so I could show him the flooding and the other lot behind my neighbor was just graded and elevated 18” higher than our properties creating even more flooding to the point of my porch was unusable, you could see water seeping spots on our garage floors and she said she felt damp spots in her living carpet. Next came the excuse that the property was designed to drain to the front and our problem would go away but it only got worse. Alfin promised he would set up a meeting with both builders to fix our properties but nothing ever happened. We looked for a lawyer to take on both builders and the city but nobody would touch it (yeah we know who owns them now). So I decided after 3 1/2 years I had enough. I put my place on the market in August when it dried out and I had a contract in 5 days. I was outta there on 10/2. No more dealing with the city’s BS excuses and lack of action (it only took me 3 years to get my swale and easement fixed and only because I sent WFTV after them and I took the spring Citizens Academy so I could rip into them. Oh and Stanko Danko ran from me at the last class cause that lazy one was on every email I sent to the city but he never responded, so he’s just as complicit.
Ms. Ponteri you’re a few years too late for many and I applaud your efforts. I hope you can finally get the city building rules changed.
As far as Alfin is concerned and I hope you either read this or it gets forwarded, the best thing you can do is NOT run for reelection. Do the residents a favor cause you only stand up for the developers and builders! I said goodbye forever and I don’t have to worry about flooding or hurricanes on the side of my mountain home! Oh and if you want that certificate back from the class just send me a $25 and I’ll gladly FedEx it back!
jeffery c. seib says
Sorry to have to tell you, but mayor Alfin has laid the groundwork for his re-election and will continue to do so. He has given plaques to retiring fire fighters, photo-op, and he attends various city functions and mingles with the crowd. For many Palm Coasters this is what they will vote on when they see a campaign ad sent to them next fall by Alfin. I hope I am wrong.
T says
Are members are stupid and stop letting them tear everything down enough people you all just want more money
Brad W says
I understand the concern and sympathize with these owners, but I disagree with a moratorium. In my opinion it’s a violation of the rights of those property owners. They have a right to build on their property within City guidelines that exist today. To deny an owner of their rights to wait until a rule change may come at some future time is wrong and will simply generate a flood of lawsuits by builders and owners who will most likely win and be able to build anyway all the while leaving the City wasting time of tax dollars in legal fees and damage awards.
Me says
Agreed this needs to be done and the taxpayers of Palm Coast go into effect.
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
“A moratorium, Long said, would not solve the problem so much as “put local businesses out, it will end jobs, not only for our public employees but for our city employees. It’ll result in layoffs and furloughs. I’ll call BS on this statement.
Theresa might want to think about running for Mayor, at this rate she’s the smartest one on that Council.
Ed says
If swales are not the answer, then rainwater harvesting could be an alternative. Many communities require collecting of the run off from a structure and storing it in an underground tank for lawn irrigation or slow release similar to a septic. The additional cost is always a concern but would not necessitate a moratorium. Gutters and a harvesting systems need to be engineered. I’m not suggesting using it for anything beyond lawn irrigation which would save the cost of drilling an irrigation well or using city water to keep yards green.
Jim says
I want to commend Theresa Pontieri for her suggestion. Will it work? Can it work? I’m not sure but I’m glad to see that there is at least one member of the council who is listening to residents and trying to work towards a solution.
As for our illustrious mayor, David Alfin, I’m glad he stayed true to his personal concerns and was more worried that such a pause might cause issues for builders and realtors. Obviously we can’t do anything for the good of the city if it impacts those fine folks!
Personally I don’t expect this city to do anything to help the people who find themselves with homes that are seeing the water issues AFTER a new home is placed beside them. But maybe there are a few more “Pontieri’s” within this city and an actual solution will be found. That’s not the usual outcome here but, hey, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then…..
Laurel says
I am glad to know that Ms. Pontieri is off the attempt to annex the Hammock, and is focusing on the real needs of her constituents. Kudos!
What y’all need to do now, is look at the vacant lots in your neighborhoods and demand the city purchase some of those lots and turn them into retention ponds. Houses should drain from front to back and on to swales. That which does not percolate into the ground, should then run to the retention ponds, small and large. All new plans should include retention ponds, if not already done so.
Citizens need to make sure they are not placing debris in the swales, and make sure no one parks vehicles on the swales compacting the ground and defeating its purpose. Citizens need to not blow off debris, or place debris, in the canals. Plant debris and grass clippings turn to muck, clogging not only the flow of water, but the gills of fish and other water creatures. They also need to not apply fertilizers and pesticides before a rain event. The citizens need to partner with the city to keep these areas clear, allowing water to flow.
Palm Coast government will need to get creative really fast, but Palm Coast residents need to join in. Consider rain barrels, rain gardens, and as Ed suggested, modern day cisterns. Palm Coast is always going to have a rough go of it simply because of the high ground water table, the removal of trees, and the addition of (endless) impervious areas. The higher house pad builds should have to dig and maintain small swales, on their side of the property lines, leading from back to the the front swales.
I seriously doubt you will ever be able to regulate the height of a house pad, that’s fighting big insurance as well as the rights of the builders. Stem walls and retention areas should be the way of new builds in not just the new neighborhoods, but the older ones too.
Moving away is one answer, but it only makes the real estate people happy and they have a turnover.
Continue the fight against zone changes that favor the developers to the detriment of the homeowners. The proper drainage of residences should be the priority passed on to developers. This is where the citizens of Palm Coast should unite and hold the city and developers’ feet to the fire, while at the same time, working with the city to make sure the flow of rain runoff is not obstructed.
Good luck, Palm Coast!
Laurel says
I keep typing “front to back” when I mean “back to front.” All should drain from BACK TO FRONT!
Thank you.