The Palm Coast Planning Board Tuesday unhappily approved a master plan for a new, 418-home subdivision, what Palm Coast Senior Planner Bill Hoover described as “another very large subdivision on the west side of U.S. 1, south of Matanzas and north of Palm Coast Parkway.”
“Our hands are tied on this one because it does fall within the guidelines and we can’t vote with our heart,” Planning Board member James Albano said. “But at some point, we’ve got to start looking at some better products.” The problem in this case was the project’s narrower lots that intensify the cookie-cutter feel of these subdivisions, and are an increasingly visible trend in new developments.
The statement echoed recurring and increasingly angry protest before the Palm Coast City Council about what Hoover himself, summing up the substance of many of those comments at Tuesday’s council meeting–that growth is “maybe out of control with some of the impacts like traffic.” Hoover said in this particular case, the subdivision was rezoned two years ago in such a way that makes any grips about loot sizes irrelevant: it’s not the city’s place to dispute them.
“So when we you see future rezonings come in and you have concerns that’s really the opportunity” to push back against the sort of zoning that would allow such high-intensity development,” Hoover said. Once it’s zoned for higher intensities, there’s nothing boards can do subsequently.
The project is within the Palm Coast Park Development of Regional Impact, or DRI, the master-planned community the Palm Coast City Council approved in 2004, enabling the development of up to 5,000 homes on acreage the city had at the time recently west of U.S. 1–the city’s new frontier.
Like Saw Mill Creek, a subdivision already growing fast in the same area, with plans for 2,272 houses at build-out, Somerset at Palm Coast Park is to be only one more of many like it in the DRI, which spreads over 4,700 acres, or some 7.5 square miles. The DRI was initially cleared for 3,600 houses. Developers have won concessions from the council over the years, the last time in 2018, raising the cap to 4,960 homes. That’s the sort of rezoning Hoover was referring to, in essence indicting that council’s decision. Planners in Palm Coast don’t usually speak so freely. Hoover could afford it: He’s retiring.
The DRI includes 3.2 million square feet of commercial, public, and industrial uses, including a 30-acre site donated for a school. The DRI expires ion 2034, the year it is expected to be at build-out.
Somerset at Palm Coast Park will spread over 162 acres, and will be built in three phases. (It is parallel to Belle Terre Elementary and Indian Trails Middle School, to the west, as the crow flies over a vast swath of conservation land. The land west of the site is zoned industrial.)
Lot sizes will be a minimum of 4,000 square feet and 40 feet wide, with all homes having a mixture of 40 to 50 feet wide lots–interspersed together rathere than clustered. That size lots has been drawing criticism in recent years, as they have in the proposed next phases of the Eagle Lakes development at the south end of Old Kings Road. Lots there are planned at 40, 50 and 60 feet. The project has drawn sharp opposition from residents in neighboring subdivisions, including the first phase of Eagle Lakes, who contend that the new additions will be very different from theirs, affecting the character of the neighborhood and intensifying traffic on two-lane Old Kings Road. The county’s planning board last week rejected recommending the development, which nevertheless will go before the County Commission in April.
The difference with Somerset, which has drawn zero opposition from neighbors because there are none, is that there is no existing character to differ from, and U.S. 1 is a four-lane highway. There will be two full access points to the highway, one in the center of the development, the other at the north end–through city property, which entails securing an easement from the city. The project will also have a couple of pedestrian access points to the popular linear park on U.S. 1.
Rudd Jones of the Matthews Design Group was prepared to answer questions from Planning Board members, but the questions they asked–why would the 40 and 50-foot lots be intermingled rather than clustered, what would the houses look like, what would the square footage of the houses be–he couldn’t answer, and what answers he did provide were as if inspired by Samuel Beckett minimalism, with a drawl. (At Eagle Lakes, the square footage of homes on 40-foot wide lots are to be between 1,700 and 1,900 square feet.)
Jones’s presentation did not sit well with Suzanne Nicholson, one of the board members. “I’m disappointed in the presentation,” she said, even as she voted to approve the project. “I don’t really feel like we had enough information to try and make this decision. It has a feeling that it’s just not necessarily a good product for our community. But it falls within the guidelines of what we as Planning Commission folks have to approve.”
“I concur with the thought that there could have been a little better presentation,” Board Chairman Clint Smith said.
As a master planned development, the project was required to have “something unique about it,” as one of the planning board members put it. Hoover, the senior planner, said it does–that’s what the multi-use path, substantial improvements on Matanzas Woods Parkway, the future school site and recreation are all part of the advantages of the MPD.
Unquestionably, however, the new development will feature quite close-cropped houses on close-cropped lots with setbacks of just five feet on the side yards, 20 feet up front, and 10 in the rear. And that (as with Eagle Lakes), raised concerns on the board.
“My concern is that we’re approving a lot of these MPDs over the last year, and it seems like the lots are getting narrower and narrower,” James Albano said. “And I think what’s happening is that even though the lots are narrow, it is in an MPD and they’re going to have amenities, so of course these houses are going to cost more. So being here for a long period of time I’m starting to notice a lot more smaller houses being placed on our 80-foot lots inside Palm Coast because these MPDs are driving out the lower cost homes. So we’re starting to see a lot of small, nondescript houses in Palm Coast, because there is a lack of other opportunities to put smaller homes. Plus, architecturally, can’t do much with a 30-foot wide house.”
Still, the board voted to approve, 5-1, with only Sybil Dodson Lucas in dissent.
Click to access somerset-at-palm-coast.pdf
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Land of no turn signals says says
What a disgrace.
Carlos says
I disagree
This is wrong developing
It should not happen
it is making this beautiful city very inconvenient to live .
to much traffic and and poor manufacture hones only for some company profits.
Should be stop immediately.
some body is ripped in off could be developers, realtors or private interested.
Robert Calabrese says
sounds like payola to me…..people have invested their life into this city when you purchase a home. Thise of us that have lived through 2008 and bankrupt foreclosures want quality….not quantity. Slow down and some of this urhan sprawl….we want to be Palm Coast….not Deltona!
Alonzo says
And we continue to grow. Any high paying around? Probably not. What about more schools, stores, health clinics, garbage pick-up. You know all the usual for growing cities. More polices needed. Just saying.
Rudy Schmidt says
The article states that a 30 acre site was reserved for Flagler County Schools.
A “health clinic” is being constructed on Matanzas Woods Pkwy.
A hospital is being constructed on Palm Coast Pkwy.
A hospital is also being constructed on US-1.
In Palm Coast garbage is picked up twice a week, recycling and yard waste once a week.
Retail developers build stores where they’ll be successful. When a developer who is considering building stores in Palm Coast comes across this comments section, she sees a woefully under-informed opposition to development and a lack of civility. That’s not a recipe for a success in regards to permitting and operating her store.
joe stolfi says
SARDINES I SAY .
Developers pack them in like sardines, on 40 and 50 foot lots
Then Take their MONEY elsewhere ..
Can anything be done about the density ??
And How close is the Dollar Store & Storage facility ???
Asking for a friend ;-)
palmcoaster says
BS cheap talk as they still voted to approve. Who is this Share Holders Group that resides outside Palm Coast and controls the city council, boards and staff on their decisions and force hiring of convenient to growth city departmental heads?? What about city records showing their activity, if so?
wow says
I can’t imagine the drainage problems in an area with this density. What a shame. No foresight into the problems this will bring. Once the developers sell the land they shake the dust off their hands and head on to the next killer sale.
James says
I guess I wasn’t the only one to look at that graphic above and notice all those “ponds” straddling all those “backyards.” Wow, one, two… even three in there… and by no means small one at that! I guess they had to keep some of the property undeveloped… for environmental conservation reasons, of course. ;-)
James says
Something tells me those folks are going to end up all wet! Badda-boom!
And if you liked that one, here’s another for ya…
Why are they building it in three phases???… Because they want to be sure the first one doesn’t sink! Badda-boom-boom!
(applause) Thank you… thank you, you’re a great audience.
Bartholomew says
The drainage will be a mess I would suspect. I am in the F section just a small residential lot, we have never had a dry ditch (swale) since we have lived in this house for over five years. I m going to put up no fishing signs and maybe try to name it as a (body of water)
We be been in Palm Coast for thirty years, moving out…..maybe
Sam says
Been here 27 years. I’m done with Palm Coast. You can’t stop progress, if that’s what this is called. I have 2.5 dry acres in Daytona North and building a nice block house. Palm Coast government is doing a very poor job with the city. I understand prices are going up, but I don’t wanna pay 47% rise in garbage rates, the city councils insane pay increase or any of the other games going on here. No fore thought about what all these additional people will do to the congestion. A new hospital with 700 employees on Palm Coast Parkway NW. Great….but what about the already bad road congestion? Good luck Palm Coasters.
Pat says
Possibly call it Lake Bartholomew?😀
Underdog says
Respectfully, unlike the lots most live on, the Master Planned Palm Coast Park neighborhoods are engineered to modern environmental & stormwater standards. The one size fits all, mass-produced ITT lots have no lakes and your runoff goes to a front yard ditch that would fail to be approved today. This is why new homes have retention ponds and lake amenities. This filters runoff and recharges the aquifer. The new home owners will still be assessed a stormwater tax that will subsidize the ITT home owner lots which basically do not collect enough tax to pay for their ditch, sewer expense & municipal expenses. Long ago the master developer paid for the road network to include widening Belle Terre and much of the I-95 Interchange that you have enjoyed. In this regard there will be more cars as Palm Coast was master planned to incorporate the traffic. Will it be like 2007? No. Unfortunately those empty roads weren’t meant to stay that way.
As to parks, the master developer built miles of linear park and gave the land for The Sawmill Preserve. All donated to the public. Additionally, the new homes will have internal sidewalks that do not exist in ITT lots. Our citizens may not realize that when many in our City turn on their faucets the water comes from deep wells that the master developer gave.
Just guessing the builder is mixing up lot sizes to create curb appeal and choice vs adding to the same inventory as existing ITT lots. This is a good thing for continued increases in homeowner values. Also, the project will utilize reclaimed water for irrigation and still be charged which further subsidizes older home owners. The good news is this was all planned out in the 1970’s and you are living to see the final parcels brought on line. It is creating opportunities for younger generations and the people that service our needs in this wonderful city.
Denali says
Nice well thought out comment, but you are lacking one small factoid. According to a conversation I had with a now deceased one-time mayor, ITT did not design Palm Cast to be a mixed age residential community. They specifically designed the roads and lineal parks to be used by an older, non-working community and with the added thought that a large percentage of the residents would be snow birds. As such, the roads were not planned to carry “rush hour” or school traffic. For that matter, schools were not even a consideration in the initial planning of the area; no elementary/middle schools east of I-95 seems to support that thought. They wanted Palm Coast to be a “non-gated”, gated community, a casual glance at our developmental standards with the minimum lot and house sizes, the colors to be used, and the style of architecture to be incorporated verifies this concept. Add in the restrictions on business signage, building height, fences and the stringent landscaping requirements and you have a very restrictive community that some moved here to enjoy while others flaunt the rules.
Regardless of the original intent, Palm Coast certainly did not follow that path and has evolved into a typical bedroom city with all its shortcomings. So now we are stuck with roads that do not support the traffic, nothing but service jobs and an elected board that sees the city as its personal piggy bank. So much for planning . . .
James says
I’m not a geologist, nor am I that familiar with hydrostatics or complex hydrodynamic systems… but I did glean a bit of info from the FL channel regarding the states aquifer and the general underlying rock/soil composition of the state, so nevertheless… my impression is based on the basic idea that a liquid (water, sea or fresh) “seeks its own level.” Since most of FL is porous, and not bedrock, as (or perhaps as) sea levels rise and the battle between salt and fresh water within the aquifer “plays out” the overall water table will rise… inland areas that were just “wetlands” will indeed be heavily flooded in this process of leveling. The outcome for a community that thought they were safe since they weren’t near the shore could indeed be catastrophic… there is no way to counter act this physical process. My point in light of this is that building on wetlands in FL is criminal imho. The best parcels of land have been accounted for… long ago. Don’t bother.
James says
Whoa, that’s a LOT of houses!!! What a nightmare!
PC is starting to remind me of Staten Island (NYC)… God help us!
Bill Boots says
Can we say ‘Levittown’? Its what i believe was the 1st sardine can subdivision in the USA, 17,000+ homes,
https://www.thoughtco.com/levittown-long-island-1435787
Joe says
Why can’t the standards of the Subdivision ordinance be raised to include larger set backs, larger lot sizes, larger open space requirements and commercial phasing? Did they ever vote to raise the Impact Fees?
Little Orlando says
Maybe it’s time the city sits down and formally changes the rules about building and land requirements. It’s shameful with all the approved building and zoning changes. I used to love in the town of Pequea, Pa. If you had 100 acres and was not in an approved build area, restrictions were strong. Say I wanted to build homes, you would only be approved for one home per 25 acres. The towns co trolled what was built and where. They controlled uncontrollable growth, unlike we do here. Roads are already a mess. Time to start planning the move out of Little Orlando. Sad
Dennis C Rathsam says
Please I beg all of you with all my heart…VOTE THESE,S BOZO,S OUT OF OFFICE!!!! We are witnessing the killing of Palm Coast, right before our eyes. Its sad,council wants more money, yet they keep doing what the residence doesnt want! Grow some gehones and just say NO!
Kate says
The insanity of packing in so many homes/people has to stop! Our roads are too crowded now, as are our health facilities, stores, schools, etc. I did not come here to live in an overcrowded city with increased crime, pollution & lack of beauty. The appeal & prettiness of the South is slowly getting built upon & paved away. The builders that are putting in these developments don’t care about anything but lining their pockets & then going home to their sprawling private abodes. They’d never dream of living in these sardine-type neighborhoods they create. How will this influx of people be accommodated? Will they be able to find work, find a doctor that accepts new patients or find a school where a classroom for their children that is not already overcrowded? What about our water supply system? Will we continue to have quality water? And we do not have adequate cellular service as it is. We need new towers. Everyone seems to be opposed to ugly cell towers but not overcrowded ugly neighborhoods…I don’t get it!
tulip says
Those houses will be really small and very very close together. When people live in tight spaces like that bad things happen, Houses being close enough that a person in one home can hear the music, tv, etc from the neighbor coming into his house. No sense of space to walk around your own yard without practically being in your neighbors yard. Privacy is zero. If two neighbors don’t like each other or are offensive to each other, you can’t get far away enough to stay calm.
Driveways and swales in “regular lot size neighborhoods” are filled with vehicles -think how bad that will be in very close knit quarters. Vehicles left outside in the driveway will be so close to the next house a person would feel hemmed in. All these things and more will do nothing positive for one’s personality and perhaps create too much tension.
The only hope for this development is that, because the homes will be real small, that the majority of residents will be senior citizens who won’t have kids, teens and others who also have cars and all that.
T. Antonia says
This is the end of Palm Coast as we know it.
Gia says
I cannot believe what’s happened to Palm Coast. I got out of DeLand bc of the Ridiculous building there and a out of control city with crime, to only move to another city with an out of control housing boom! When is this ever going to stop! Wait until the hospital is complete..what a nightmare this place has become! And the homes especially by D.R .Horton..what a joke. Used to a good builder. Time to move on again. Out of control city, I’m done!
Flagler Expatriate says
Wow, that’s a lot of shanties! Better go ahead and start building the Dollar Generals for the fine future residents of this development. A 1700 square foot lot is smaller than monkey cohones. There will be 2 neighborhood fights a day due to the close proximity of these so called houses. I’m sure these cribs will be built from the finest apple cores and Chinese news papers available.
Staly will be able to completely fill the Green Roof Inn with influx of mopes. There should be lots of racoon killers moving into these shacks for Staly to hem up, lol.
Steve says
It’s a trailer park without wheels. Forget about being proud of where you live. Who says they can’t change the zoning rules, and why approve anything if the developer’s presentation was full of holes and substandard?
Cares for Our Integrity says
Are those lots large enough to put in a pool? If not, what type of Florida community is that? Palm Coast founders, visionaries from back in day with ITT are being entirely ignored, disrespected, and their wisdom replaced with the almighty trashy dollar.
Mark says
What the…. are you kidding me? When the Council is at full strength they may want to re-do some things, like minimum 1/4 acre lots to start with. What a joke, VOTE very election.
Happening now says
Same for Flagler Beach!!!!!Flood, Flood. Very sad to watch this happen all Flagler County.
Joe says
When new subdivisions are approved the Council is committing to spend millions of tax dollars for infrastructure improvements on these projects for people that don’t live here yet, but there is no money to spend on infrastructure improvements for the people that do live here. Some of us have been paying taxes for over 20 years, but our tax money isn’t being used for us it’s being used to support residential development projects that we don’t want.
Vance says
I’m thinking of running for one their positions and my only promise will be to vote NO on all new housing developments in Palm Coast.
Who would vote for me? I am serious.
Joe says
That would be a good start for a platform, but you need more.
Start studying the agendas to get to know the issues. Educate yourself as much as possible.
jnlocal says
You’ve got my vote, Vance. I love your platform!
Gina Weiss says
Why would members on a zoning board approve a weak application is beyond our worst nightmare. Only 1 person on this board voted no IMO this is the only person had the knowledge foresight and courage to vote NO. The rest are a bunch of spineless careless self absorbed cronies they should all be fired they couldn’t care less about PC. Some of these people on the zoning boards here are a major problem and we need to scrap the bottom of the barrel to get rid of them and all their ridiculousness.
Noreen Mackey says
Absolutely unreal! Worried about lot sizes? These out of state developers see only$$$. ALL city officials are supposed to look out for the city not the$$. Has anyone even given a thought to drainage, sewage & water? what about land that is a natural barrier of protection? Just curious.. any Fed money involved?
Big Bird says
While I agree the compactness of the development looks hideous and I would never buy or rent a house there now in the current stage of my life (certainly would when in my 20’s), why would anyone not planning to live there care about this? What exactly would you think a 30 year plan of 400k+ population in a master planned community (Palm Coast) would look like? Would that 400k be all well-to-do? All white? All retired? Unless you’ve been living under a swamp, this is what everyone across the country moving to beautiful Florida looks like, INCLUDING YOURSELF!
How many of you even go over to that side of town? It’s all woods and cow pastures! What do you really care? Other than just having pure hate and disdain for others in your soul?
“A shame. A nightmare. Bozos. Staten Island.” Staten Island? Really?! The only real “disgrace” is the vitriol and entitlement from the unearned self-annointed privileged in this town.
James says
Hey, I really wasn’t joking about Staten Island… I agree with tulips’ statement above, that kind of housing density is unhealthy mentally and in some instances physically. I’ve seen this movie before… it doesn’t always end well.
And by the way, that IS A SWAMP! Wetlands… WET, as in water… swamp. Well, at least you can’t say the developers aren’t honest… it’s on the graphic, in plain sight, here there, and everywhere you look.
Denali says
Perhaps part of the issue some people are taking is that there is nothing in this area to support additional residential uses. As you say, it is all woods and cow pastures. No stores, no restaurants, no gas stations, no medical facilities. That translates into additional usage of the existing overcrowded stores and whatnot.
Before buying the Albertson’s store, Publix was going to build at US 1 and Matanzas Woods, I have heard Walmart is looking at this corner but they have been talking about a store at Old Kings and 100 for 15 years. With this development, the one north of Matanzas, the new apartments off Pine lakes and every vacant lot in the city being bought and developed, something is going to break and a building moratorium will need to be considered. And then there is the growth on US1 in St. Johns County which is closer to Palm Coast than St. Augustine for shopping.
Morgan Monaco says
A no brain would have down better; If you are unhappy with the idea why did you approve this project ?
Palm Coast is saturated with unnecessary new buildings.
Cooper says
They want to make Palm Coast another Villages. Disgusting.
Maisy L Hudson says
Proof that PC only give a damn about population count and Money revenue just bring in more people like everything isnt congested enough
GreedTriumphs says
Nothing but tenements in the making. What community ever attracted prosperity with high density housing but no good job growth to offer? And the civic leaders always stand by and say there is nothing they can do as they vote themselves salary increases. They real tragedy is Palm Coast was a great place to live.
Molly says
They should Contain it like the villages .With a grocery store and Walmart so the traffic stays off Palm Coast parkway .You can’t move there now.
Concerned Citizen says
It’s good to see all the outrage being vented on Flagler Live. But…
What are you doing to be heard?
It’s plain to see that our Illustrious Mayor and various Commisioners don’t pay attention to this column. So along with venting your outrage here there’s more to be done. Attend meetings and workshops when posted. And that seems to be less and less these days. You can also take up the same space here in a lengthy email to your commisioner and mayor. Likewise you can tie up those phones at the city and county level.
With most of the Developers having our various Commisioners and The Chiumentos in their pocket they won’t rest until every parcel of land has something on it. Many of these plots have historic sites on them. And many more are wetlands. Which is a whole issue in it’self. I mean Wetlands are supposed to be managed but that doesn’t seem to even be an issue here.
If we can’t get them to listen to us then we send a message at the polls. STOP electing faces that sit and do nothing because it’s what you know. Let’s get some folks in there who will represent us instead of their retirement plan.
I do my part but it takes a village. Will you do yours?
James says
I posted a comment elsewhere that the motto of the Washington Post is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” I then added my own observation that I’d come to from my time here in FL… democracy can die in the bright light of day, in plain sight, in front of everyone. No darkness required. Of course, now that I think about it, that presupposes that democracy had existed in the first place.
So, regarding FL there are only two conclusions left… either these folks had a democracy once, but have made their choice, or it never really existed here at all. Either way, I think the best thing to do is leave… they have chosen how they want to die.