Snubbing near-unanimous public opposition just as it had snubbed it when approving a mammoth 6,100-home development last month, the Bunnell City Commission on Monday approved on a historic 4-1 vote the first reading of an ordinance that will rezone 1,259 acres just east and south of the city’s core from agricultural to industrial, including heavy industrial, in what could potentially change the complexion of the city. Commissioner John Rogers was the lone dissenter.
Commissioner David Atkinson supported the rezoning because it would bring “new economic opportunities for the city of Bunnell by diversifying the commercial and industrial base of our city.”
Commissioner John Rogers spoke for the opposition. “I stand with the majority of the people, but I’m in the minority,” Rogers said. “I’m not against industry. We do need jobs. But the fact of the matter is, it looks like a garbage transfer station is coming because I couldn’t get the verbiage put in there, but I personally asked for it. And there’s really no end user identified either.”
In May Bunnell’s planning board had recommended approval of rezoning what at the time was nearly 1,900 acres. The public backlash led the property owners to lower the request and add restrictions, including on landfills, fuel farms or certain chemical plants. The owners also pledge not to provide affordable housing under the Live Local Act, which can otherwise override most local land use regulations.
The ordinance approved Monday would rezone 639 acres to heavy industrial and heavy industrial and 620 acres proposed to be light industrial. There is currently no heavy industrial zoning in Bunnell.
The seven parcels that make up the land belong in various shares to a group of local families who go by Brown & Johnston & Joly & Dursheimer in city documents and on the property appraiser’s site. The appellation refers to owners who have included Albert and Suzanne Johnston, the former tax collector, Joy Allen Lands, owned by Lynn Lafferty, a member of Bunnell’s planning board, Arthur Durshimer, Georgia Dursheimer Thibodeaux, Violet Dursheimer, Steven Durshimer, and Nell and James Brown Sr., according to property appraiser records. (Violet Durshimer has died; Arthur Durshimer sold his share earlier this year, according to a family member.)
The acreage stretches north to south in an Illinois-shaped land mass west of U.S. 1, north of County Road 304, east of Old Haw Creek Road and southeast of State Road 11, with near proximity to State Road 100 and I-95. There are no residential shared lots on the border of the industrial property, with one exception, where the buffer will be widened to 200 feet, from 100.
“So we’re not talking about a project site for industrial that’s located on some rural roads that nobody even goes on, that don’t have any importance from a regional perspective or local perspective or state perspective,” Tara Tedrow, the attorney representing the landowners, told the commission. “These are important transportation networks for the state of Florida. It is a high priority network of facilities important to the state’s overall economy and mobility.”
There are still no revelations about what the site will be used for, though Rogers has suspicions–and fears–that he made clear at the meeting when he said that a mortgage holder on the property is Lake Environmental Resources, a Lake County company that specializes in construction and demolition debris.
The owner of Lake Environmental Resources is Richard Bazinet of North Bay Ropad in Mount Dora, according to the Florida Division of Corporations.
On May 13, Lafferty, one of the landowners, incorporated a company called Chat-A-Who-Che LLC. On May 23, Chat-A-Who-Che signed a $2.85 million mortgage with Bazinet on the acreage in question.
The mortgage was unearthed by Allison Nobles, who spoke to the commission and won its approval to place the mortgage in the record. It’s a clear signal of a pending land deal, not long-term ownership,” she said.
Rogers wanted a restriction on transfer stations on the rezoned property–meaning that there would be a ban on transferring garbage or construction waste from trains to trucks there. Tedrow would not concede before talking to her client. Young quickly jumped in to oppose such a restriction. No other commissioner lent Rogers support.
While not disclosing what the uses will be, Tedrow said of the property that “we estimate that probably half of it becomes developable at the end of the day,” or 13 million square feet of use out of the 27 million available. But “permitting alone could take one to three years,” she said.
Some of her pitch to the commission had nothing to do with land use or the residents’ concerns and everything to do with economic development and tax policy tailored to the city’s long-term plan for itself: “Goal nine from your comp plan,” she said of the city’s comprehensive plan, the blueprint for long-term growth management, “is to promote economic development, to provide a variety of economic opportunities create a sustainable future and encourage a positive business climate.”
Numerous residents spoke in opposition to the rezoning as if in a reprise from the heavily attended meetings on the approval of the 6,100-home Haw Creek Rreserve development.
“This is not just a land use change. It is a decision that will shape our community’s identity and environment for generations,” Robin Jones said.
“Our children and grandchildren will live with the consequences of tonight’s decision for decades,” Lila Pontius said. “The proposal before you to rezone for a massive industrial park places heavy industry up against our neighborhoods, our wells, our schools, our churches and our businesses. This is not just a rezoning request, it’s a decision that will change the very character and livability of our community forever.” She added, “What troubles me most is we don’t know what this project will mean for our water, air health or our property values.”
“This is insanity,” Shelley Bradley said. “Drop the amount down, ask them to come back with an actual plan. You know, they know who they’re getting in there, who they want to sell to. Don’t let them do this.”
Then as now, the commission listened, gave its rationales, and moved ahead with approving the requests, dismissing fears that the proposals would alter the face of Bunnell, or at least weighing the proposals’ presumed jobs and economic activity ahead of the city’s character.
There was respect for the land owners and for future growth, but skepticism about the particulars of the proposal and its “lack a whole lot of detail,” as one speaker put it.
“Trust us” was not enough reassurance for the speakers.
Commissioner Dean Sechrist countered “people saying that this development and several others will change the character and the appearance of the city of Bunnell,” in his words, citing the transformation of agricultural land to industrial land. He then said that the rezoning will reduce agricultural acreage from 93 percent of the city to 90 percent. “what a horror,” he said sarcastically. “90% is agriculture and or conservation. I think that’s a pretty rural community.”
Of course, Sechrist was being patently disingenuous. Bunnell is 93 percent agricultural (if his ratio is correct: it was not verified) only because two decades ago the city went on a rather absurd pre-emptive annexation spree westward–pre-emptive against Palm Coast, which had carried out an annexation spree that nearly doubled its size, to 95 square miles.
Bunnell went from a city of 4 square miles to a city of 136 square miles, and has since added a few more acres. All of the acreage was agricultural, much of it uninhabited, or very sparsely so. It sprawls far west and south of the city proper, and includes vast lands in agricultural production. But the northern segments of the acreage of the parcel being rezoned parallel the city’s old boundaries, west of U.S. 1, and its urban core. The industrialization of that area will unquestionably change the character of Bunnell.
Sechrist went further, minimizing concerns about the rezoned land being used for chemical plants. “The standard for chemicals that were presented tonight, you wouldn’t be able to build a hardware store because they have chemicals. You wouldn’t be able to build a grocery store because they have chemicals,” he said, in essence making what amounts to an inaccurate comparison between a bottle of bleach sold at the local grocery store and the plant that manufactures the bleach.
The rezoning is contingent on prohibiting storing or producing certain chemicals, but it’s a short list (vinyl chloride, benzene, 13-butadiene chromium, and mercury). A resident who addressed the commission made the point: “What has been presented by the applicant does not do enough to protect this community and their own binding conditions,” Savannah Brinkworth said. “It is a partial prohibition rent to sound protective while leaving large loopholes. And the list itself is incomplete. The most dangerous modern contaminants are not mentioned at all, PFAS, the Forever chemicals.” (PFAS is the acronym for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances.) She named many more.
Sechrist was on stronger grounds when he spoke of the value of the railroad, if with incorrect terminology. “The greatest asset that the city of Bunnell has, natural asset, is the railroad.” (It is not a natural asset. It is a private transportation corridor.) “The railroad goes through Bunnell and never stops. There’s nothing for it to stop for. We need to change that.”
Rogers would not be opposed to a train stop (he had been part of the celebration a decade and a half ago in Bunnell that sought to win an Amtrak stop in town, before Sechrist moved in). He had other concerns. “We’re changing the map of this city for an unknown future,” he said. “Progress, real progress, is measured as reasonable and compatible. This is not compatible. That’s why I’m not going to support it. It’s not compatible. There’s no other industrial park around like this.”
Young motioned for approval, seconded by Sechrist and joined by Atkinson and Mayor Catherine Robinson for the majority. A second and final reading of the ordinance, with a few amendments specifying some prohibited uses on the land, is expected on Oct. 6.
Jim says
Clearly those half wits need to go. You are representatives not royalty.
Really annoyed says
This shows that this council doesn’t listen or care what their residents feel about this disastrous outcome will be! They do care how much greedy money is made under the table to fill their fat pockets! Guaranteed these greedy members will not be living here after they start making Bunnell a sinkhole!
Janene Neal says
For those that approved this, you are obviously not from here. And Lafferty, who is…you should be ashamed of yourself! Just disgusting! This is not creating jobs or for the betterment of the community, Bunnell or Flagler. All this is…is Greed…just greed. Disgusting!
FedUp says
The Bunnell City Commission has stolen a page from the playbooks of the Palm Coast and Flagler County Commission by COMPLETELY IGNORING the people they represent. Wow. Heads should row come election time in Bunnell. If not, your commission will continue to destroy the city and western Flagler County.
The End Justifies The Means says
It sickens me and others that our elected representatives aren’t listening to us, their constituents. Why bother holding meetings or getting our input? YOU’RE NOT HEARING US! WE DON’T WANT THE EXPANSION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE LAND. Where’s the environmental impact studies? When is enough, enough? When the last tree has fallen???
Erod says
THERES TO MUCH MONEY INVOLVED !
DID THE PEOPLE ACTUALLY BELIEVED THIS WOULD GO AWAY ?
POLITICIANS ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO CIRCUMVENT THEIR CONSTITUENTS POSITIONS AND VOTES WHEN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE INVOLVED.
THEY WILL SAY IT’S GOING TO BENEFIT THE PEOPLE WITH ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, BUT SOMEHOW IN FLAGLER COUNTY THE PEOPLE ALWAYS BECOME A THE ONES WHO BENEFIT THE LEAST.
I WONDER IF REAL ESTATE SALESWOMAN AND COUNTY COMMISSIONER IS KIM CARNEY IS INVOLVED ?
Hahaha says
Audits are coming Flagler!
Mike says
Seems local officials sold out Bunnell against Citizens wishes. First 6,000 homes now this. Building the economy is good. Heavy Industry is NIMBY situation if it were my town. Anyone using well water should really be concerned.☮️
Jerome Hogsette III says
I guess none of those fools has read ‘The Lorax’ by Dr. Seuss…..
Ed P says
It’s interesting that Bunnell adopted their Comprehensive Vision plan back on April 22, 2022 and now it’s a surprise to residents. It’s a thorough 177 page report explaining the vision into 2035. The first workshop is Sept 30th 2025.
It would be wise to read the report and attend this workshop and future workshops to stay informed.
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
This is exactly how Delaware and parts of New Jersey became cancer zones, with profiteers pulling the cranks to convert agricultural land to filthy heavy industrial zones. The fact that our former county tax collector and a member of Bunnell’s planning board are amongst those being enriched by this atrocity stinks to high heaven. What was the point of having public comment on the matter if the voice of the people meant nothing? They heard us, loud and clear. We don’t want to breathe toxic air, drink toxic water or see our wildlife decimated. Nor do those of us who live in developments adjacent to “Heavy Industrial, Florida” like the idea that our homes are going to be greatly devalued. Did the commissioners hear one word of what we said? Do they even care? The public comment on this issue was all a dog-and-pony show, just a necessary inconvenience before voting for the biggest environmental disaster ever imposed on Flagler County. Did anyone at the EPA sign off on this? Of course not, because public officials in this county operate like an oligarchy, controlling and gaming the system, then retiring with a lavish pension. The whole thing is a scam. In particular, it’s a slap in the face that our tax dollars are funding Suzanne Johnson’s retirement following her quiet little exit prior to the filing of a rezoning application for the land in question. Enjoy your monthly thank-you check for raking us over the coals, Suzanne. With regard to the 6,100-home mega housing development the commissioners giddily approved to be built nearby in Bunnell, I wonder how the sales literature will tout its benefits? “Toxic Air! Toxic Water! Traffic Jams Galore! Groves of Trees Destroyed to Create a New Flood Zone! Woefully Inadequate Schools for Your Kids!” I have lived in many cities in every geographis region of the United States and have never seen such an egregious disregard for land, the environment, or the taxpayers. All of this is highly irregular and must be investigated at a granular level.
Bill says
The council will get their big payouts and move out of state and the locals will get stuck with the industrial waste over pollution overcrowding traffic. It’ll be downtown Orlando.!
FL Local says
lol who gave these Yankees so much power
John Weber says
It’s all about creating Kickbacks and back door payoffs that’s all these nurses do nowadays that run these counties and the sheriff sits by and does nothing no County Commissioner in any County in this country the sheriff does nothing it’s all rigged it’s all narcissism in the old days the road department developed the Kickbacks but now it’s all administrative there is no road department in Flagler County and he dances just a rushing juice scumbag it’s all scumbag we live in a county that’s all about Kickbacks and bribes and how to make them work it’s nothing about the roads people are crashing all the time out there in the mondex no problem all ass wipes narcissism
Meg Durshimer says
Arthur Durshimer and Violet Durshimer are not owners of this land. Violet Durshimer passed away several years ago, and Arthur Durshimer sold his shares earlier this year.
Adams says
Our forefathers called for the unanimous decisions of local citizens be priortized over city, state, and federal policies. They were actually pretty clear that anything less demands revolution.
In a time where the feds are telling the states what to do, the states are telling the cities what to do, and the cities are acting against their own populace for personal financial gain, the politicians have abandoned the constitution the swore to uphold. And our forefathers instructions on how to proceed as citizens in such an anti-democracy landscape gets revolutionary.
I for one am ready for a full on revolt against the counties and cities ignoring us. If everyone waving signs in their face isn’t getting the point across maybe it’s time for everyone to start shoving the messages down their throats like they are trying to force their unamerican policies down ours.
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
Ed P: So this is all the citizens’ fault? You think everyone in Bunnell AND surrounding communities, who have nothing else to do, should have read a 177-page report from 2022 AND also should attend an ipso facto workshop to “stay informed?” It takes a lot of nerve to say that. That’s what we pay commissioners, mayors, and council members to do. If anything, the 177-page report — the size of a novel and undoubtedly far less riveting — could have been condensed to a 1-2 page bullet-pointed list and shared with commissions in Palm Coast and Flagler County to disseminate to their own constituents. But that’s beside the point. Taxpayers should not have to play a constant game of “Gotcha” with commissioners, either their own or those in towns adjacent to them. There should be absolute transparency and a proactive effort made to ensure ALL Flagler County citizens know what is being proposed for the future. And finally, commissioners must follow the will of the people when their collective opposition is so overwhelmingly obvious. We’re the dog, you’re the tail, and we are supposed to do the wagging. In this tawdry case, FOUR people have decided what the entire citizenry of Flagler County will face in the years to come. The far-reaching ramifications will be devastating, starting with collapsing home values. No one wants to live in a toxic zone rife with hazardous chemicals, pollutants from construction and demolition debris, noise and traffic jams from trucks, trucks, trucks. I have heard that due to a small point in the law this particular case probably does not require the approval of the Flagler County Commissioners, who almost certainly would not support it. I’m not convinced that the case escapes consideration by the Flagler County Commissioners and am investigating the point. Shame on the whole rotten bunch who voted for this travesty. What was your real motivation? Or can you tell us?
Paradise Lost says
“Show me a politician, I’ll show you a crook.
Joseph Velardi says
Always check your pockets if you ever bump into a politician. You might have gotten your pockets picked.
Rosco says
This is why people need to stop blaming “Northerners” for there internal good ole boy, Yellowstone show drama. You know, like don’t “New York my Florida” sayings and bumper stickers. These are the greedy little offspring of all those country folks out there making the moves. In an attempt to to stay stuck in some frozen closed minded era, there was a time on that side they’d look at you like dirt if you drove anything but a Chevy or Ford pickup. They despised Palm Coast. Now look at em, its like Encino Man meets Cooter from the Dukes of Hazzard where confusion and the realization of not mattering to these country cosplaying folks with the money and the resources was the end game all along.
Ed P says
Keep Flagler Beautiful,
Let’s start at the beginning. I live on the barrier island and my curiosity forces me to “watch” the county and all municipalities BECAUSE each entity affects me. I discovered the report a while ago. Every municipal organization has to have a “vision plan” or they would not be doing their elected duty.
Just because Bunnell annexed farm acreage and proposes an industrial park doesn’t mean it will ever come to fruition. Developers or corporations have to be enticed to invest. Ask yourself why would they? Daytona, Jacksonville and Orlando are tough competitors with so much more to offer. They also have the employment pool. We do not. Bunnell landowners still need to sell to developers. Permitting and planning is a protracted process even if the prior steps are ever achieved. Public meetings will ensue. Politicians will have a Herculean task of convincing people like you.
All commercial or industrial development is not “heavy “or a polluters. Would an Amazon Warehouse create the doomsday events you describe? Would a corporate headquarters be an issue? Should we refuse a Publix warehouse or a large data center? I guess a beverage warehouse is another problem?
Even an assembly plant could coexist without destroying Bunnell. $30-$40 hourly wages are big economic stimulators.
The reality is unless the county or city spends the money to build the required infrastructure, ie roads, water, sewer, and electrical, the chances of success is further reduced. It’s probable that you or I need not to worry. It could be decades away.
The sky is not falling.
With all that said. The entire county needs to diversify the tax base. Residential tax payers or retail businesses will need relief when infrastructures like roads, water plants, or municipal structures age and need replacing. Ongoing maintenance costs can not be funded or expensed against impact fees. The burden of not diversifying the tax base will certainly hurt real estate values more than well planned industrial expansion. Aging infrastructure is costly, who’s going to pay if employers and businesses don’t move in?
Homeowners.
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
Ed P,
I genuinely wish I could share your optimism, but I don’t. The sky IS falling. The proposed industrial site in Bunnell will be Jacksonville on steroids. But don’t you worry about how the filthy polluters profiting from this venture will be able to find workers. They have the funds to import all the workers they need. Maybe those workers could buy the houses in the doomed 6,100-home development to be situated near the heavy-industrial disaster zone.
Taxpayers have been hoodwinked. This whole project was a fait accompli long before the September 22 vote, As the article states, a large mortgage was taken out last May by one of the current owners of the land (a corporation formed by Lynn Lafferty, A MEMBER OF BUNNELL’S PLANNING BOARD – how convenient!). Any fool would recognize that this transaction was very likely the precursor to a sale of the entire parcel by its multiple owners. And that raises the question, how was Lafferty, or any of the other landowners, so sure the Bunnell Commissioners would vote in favor of rezoning the land for heavy industrial use? Was the deal already in the bag? Hmmm.
Ever since the disastrous Joe Mullins era, the word has gotten out that Flagler County is a pushover for developers. Have you driven down the southern end of Old Kings Road lately? It’s ruined — roadsides dug up for water pipes to bring Palm Coast Water to the Kolter Homes mega-development miles down the road, groves of trees demolished, large plots of land graded and adorned with rows of graders, two gigantic holes dug into the ground and filled with water (for what purpose we don’t know), trucks everywhere and a constant disruption to traffic. On top of that, the air is filthy from dust raised from the project as well as the quarry on the opposite side of the road, which has an ugly view of a massive hole — who knows what that’s for? Does any of this sound like judicious planning or good stewardship of our land? Does it show any respect at all for the taxpaying homeowners who will have to put up with it for the next 25 years? Yes, 25 years. That’s how long Kolter says it will take to finish the development. But as a sidebar to your point, parties involved in the Kolter assault on Old Kings Road South have been able to find all the workers they needed to destroy what used to be a peaceful area along a historic highway, where there used to be deeply-rooted trees, which we need for flood mitigation, and all sorts of Florida fauna and wildlife. The folks who will be gifting our area with a garbage transfer station (trains bring it in for parts unknown, dump it in Bunnell and go on their merry way), a site for processing construction and demolition debris (here comes the asbestos), and anything else that falls under the category of “heavy industrial” have unlimited access to funds. Their only problem is identifying municipalities whose officials are stupid enough to allow them in. And they’ve found one.
One more thing: do you know where all of the heavy trucks headed for Florida’s new toxic center will be exiting I-95? There are two options: Rt. 100 (Moody) or Old Dixie Highway. Both are already handling far too much traffic, and in the case of Old Dixie Highway, the number of fatal accidents in the area near that exit is alarming. Can’t wait to see the impact on traffic from the proposed 650-home Del Webb community on 100. Undoubtedly, there will be a new traffic light installed on 100, creating a far worse tailback to the I-95 entrances and exits.
Fortunately, we now have an excellent Flagler County Commission, but their hands are tied because Bunnell has been identified as a little fiefdom whose commissioners (except Rogers) are chumps, and developers of anything can get approval for their environmentally-disastrous projects, no matter what residents may think. Exactly why this toxic project has been able to bypass Flagler County Commission, where they would find the waters far less inviting, I don’t know. The impact will be felt all over the county. I’m looking into it.
So, Ed, don’t worry about how this new toxic city will be financed. To companies dealing in filth, money is no object. They’ll be standing in line to pay whatever it costs to dump and run in Flagler County. It will be someone else’s problem — ours.