Palm Coast Requests Trial Delay In Lawsuit By Town Center Developer

A hearing before Circuit Judge Sandra Upchurch is scheduled for Aug. 14 to address a motion by the city of Palm Coast to delay the trial of the Town Center developer’s case against the city. The trial is scheduled for mid-November. Palm Coast is seeking a delay until March. 

Palm Coast Holdings, a subsidiary of Allete, sued Palm Coast government last November, alleging that the city failed to ensure sufficient water and sewer services for the the 1,557-acre Town Center and caused Allete to lose two prospective sales of significant property in Town Center. The city is disputing the claim. (Upchurch in March denied the city’s motion to dismiss the case.) 

The City Council had not yet held a strategy meeting to discuss the lawsuit, though the city attorney this week informed the council that one such meeting would soon take place.  

Last week, City Attorney Jeremiah Blocker filed a motion seeking the delay. The motion summarizes the extent of discovery that has taken place so far (the formal process before a trial when both sides exchange documents and evidence and depose witnesses), including Allete’s production on June 29 and July 9 of 8,267 computer files and 48,922 pages.

Depositions are scheduled over a week in  late August with Michael Chiumento, the Palm Coast land use attorney who represents Allete,  Jeff and Walker Douglas of Douglas Properties, the Allete affiliate, and Jake Miller and Julie Padilla of the Town Center Community Development District. Others on the deposition list include Jason DeLorenzo, the city’s former community development director (now a deputy city manager in Palm Bay) and several others. 

“Obviously, reviewing such a large number of documents will take substantial time,” Blocker’s motion reads. “Assuming the documents produced are not wholly irrelevant, the City’s review of the documents will likely reveal additional witnesses that need to be deposed or issues that need to be further addressed through written discovery. Given the volume of documents produced by Plaintiffs, it is impossible for the City to complete its review of the documents prior to the dispositive motion deadline.”

The judge has not ruled.

The case is one of two lawsuits the city is defending. The second is from the Flagler Home Builders Association over the sharp increase in impact fees 13 months ago. Upchurch is the judge in that case, too. She was not happy about granting a delay the city requested last February. A pair of hearings are scheduled in that case on Aug. 7, in response to a motion for summary judgment, and on two more prosaic matters.