The Palm Coast planning board last week approved a pair of commercial developments in high-profile areas–a 119,000-square-foot U-Haul self-storage facility at the far western end of Whiteview Parkway, and a nearly 50,000 square-foot extension of the Target shopping center on State Road 100.
The U-Haul facility would be located almost immediately south of another storage facility–the 175-unit, 84-RV and boat parking spots Town and Country Self Storage Boat and RV–and catercornered from the African American Cultural Society. It still requires City Council approval. The Target shopping center extension–officially at Palm Coast Landings at own Center–does not.
U-Haul of Florida bought the 30-acre property at the edge of Whiteview Parkway for $2 million in 2022. Much of the parcel is zoned for high-intensity commercial, with its southwest quadrant zoned for preservation. The company submitted a technical site plan for the first phase of a multi-phase project. The planning board recommended approval of only the first phase: one building would be 106,000 square feet, three stories high, and accommodate 950 storage units. The second building would be a one-story warehouse of 14,000-square-feet. The two buildings would share a similar facade.
The first phase of the project will accommodate U-Haul trucks and trailers. A future phase will expand storage for recreational vehicle and boat parking and provide garage units. “The applicant is also working with City staff for a land purchase agreement for the future extension of Whiteview Parkway westward of US Highway 1 (US-1) to support the City’s planned westward expansion,” a background memo to the board states.
Provisions for the western expansion are relevant because the parcel sits where Whiteview Parkway would theoretically be extended west.
Neighborhood meetings were not required for this sort of application, nor were newspaper notifications or orange signs announcing the plan on the property. The application was found to meet all land development requirements. Planning board members had no questions–not even about the project’s future incorporation of the western expansion in its plans– and recommended approval in a unanimous vote.
The 48,600-square-foot building at Palm Coast Landings would stretch just past Palm Coast Fine Wine and Spirits, the last store at the east end of the long stretch of stores in the retail center, before Landing Boulevard. The new building would occupy what has for years been a vacant 7-acre lot.
The building would accommodate three retail businesses, but in different-sized spaces: 15,018 square feet, 25,032 square feet and 8,539 square feet. There was no mention of what possible shops would fill the spaces, nor did planning board members ask. As with the U-Haul facility, they approved the plan unanimously and without questions last Wednesday.
Damien says
There’s already a Haul rental and storage unit facility 100 yards to the north At the Alamo business center How many Uhauls and storage units does the planning board think are necessary? Palm Coast is saturated with these places.
DW in PC says
The planners can’t determine which businesses will come and they can’t deny based on “too many,” really.
The storage boom isn’t just here, though. It’s a good business taking over the U.S. in some ways. We’re certainly not alone in being disappointed every time another one pops us. :)
JimboXYZ says
no wonder that Whiteview for a road is being widened. The new residential was to create traffic & now they’re going to add Target at US-1 to create more traffic. At the other end of Whiteview closer to I-95 will be those fleeing Alfinville, FL That’s all we needed was a big box retail store in our neighborhood. Comingling retail brick & mortar commercial with residential the crime rate will go up to attract the shoplifters. Anyone wanna live off SR-100 or US-1, even have a U-Haul at the other end of the Pine Grove residential ?
I get it that Whiteview is a Parkway, but creating new bottlenecks for traffic, nobody wants to own a home at any of the the larger Parkways either. And that’s where Alfinville’s Vision of 2050 sandbagged Palm Coast, for that lower quality of life.
Jay Tomm says
Of course everyone rents uhauls in vast numbers they need another facility. And yes, Target has so many customers & every 1 of the 20 registers is always full & lines are too long……
Laurel says
You know why the planning board didn’t ask? Common sense tells you they already knew, but you residents don’t need to know, until it’s too late.
Palm Coast: the land of strip malls and storage units, so gas up your cars.
Let me ask you this, Palm Coasters: do you really need so much junk that you need a dozen storage facilities to keep it all in? Maybe y’all might want to give some of that stuff to charities where it can actually be used. Think about it.
Paul Florio says
With all the houses being built it will be necessary to have these storage units. with the over 6000 new houses going in off of US 1 I don’t have a problem with good old businesses being here in PC .
Native Floridian says
Copyediting note: The new U-Haul facility is going in at the far western end of Whiteview, not the far eastern end.
As a native, I know progress is coming, but I will miss the long stretches of forest that make this area of Florida so very green. Our natural spaces are irreplaceable and once they’re destroyed, they’re gone forever. Palm Coast calls itself The City of Trees. I hope the people directing all this growth will take that into consideration and halt the overly destructive “progress” that is flattening hundreds and hundreds of acres of old growth forest and wetlands.
And I hope one of the new stores in the Target Shopping Center will be a Barnes & Noble. This county needs some more readers.
FlaglerLive says
Thank you for the correction.
James Botelho says
The last commenter complained that Palm Coast was flatening all the areas with trees and that the City of Palm Coast is a tree friendly city. So why is he asking that one of the new buildings being built be a Barns & Noble (a Book Store), doesn’t he know what “PAPER” is made out of? Yes, “TREES’. You can not have one without the other.
Dave says
Most of the paper for our books comes from pulp wood logs. Those are grown and managed in sustainable forests. Knowledge is power!
JimboXYZ says
I figured the far Eastern end would be because of the short distance between I-95 and Whiteview Parkway that really would need an underpass or overpass to create another exit & entrance ramp that would connect from US-1 to Old Kings Road. Not exactly sure where the truck weigh station is in relation to Whiteview. Not much there that would be anything more than an exit to Whiteview for southbound I-95. I’m sure they’ll surprise us with the next growth idea that is hatched up, that hasn’t stopped them since 2021 ?
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Whiteview+Pkwy,+Palm+Coast,+FL+32164/@29.5238075,-81.2053215,1002m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x88e694be768f574b:0x3cf5b463612cc72d!8m2!3d29.5176784!4d-81.2363707!16s%2Fg%2F1wg5yv06?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMyMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
Ricky says
Oh heck yeah. This must be one of the great new employment opportunities the city touts!
Build industry not storage says
More storage compounds BUT don’t try to build commercial/industrial in the industrial park on Hardgrove. Might be a problem of to much real business
Jay Tomm says
A Barnes & Noble is coming so I hear….why is another question…..The one in jax town center is always empty. We have 2 library’s within miles of each other….
FlaglerLive says
Books-A-Million closed in that same shopping center in 2014.
JC says
I dunno where you think the Jax Town Center Barnes & Noble is empty but after living in Jax for 15 years, the Jax Town Center Barnes & Noble is always packed. It’s in a prime real estate location and is always busy. It is a hugely profitable store.
Not everyone wants to borrow books, they want to own books. Also fun fact, Palm Coast doesn’t have a real big bookstore for this market and with the growing population it is about time we have one again. Barnes & Noble being more profitable every year.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Keep ellecting assholes…..it our own fault
Concerned Citizen says
I see other readers are starting to smell rotten fish also. What a shame that others won’t see what’s happening to our town.
Why was everything done with no notice? Why was voting unanimous? What a head scratcher that is eh?
T says
No stop building palm coast was so nice thanks a holes
Wendy K. Bentzley says
This stuff was planned a long time ago before you decided to live here. I moved her 28 years ago because I wanted somewhere I could live without traffic con getting. Thanks to all the Mayors who have messed up this city. You all suck!!