Palm Coast’s Planning and Land Development Regulation Board voted Tuesday night unanimously to recommend denial of two major land use requests tied to the city’s long-planned westward expansion, after board members said they did not have enough detail to support the project as presented.
The board considered a future land use map amendment and a companion zoning map amendment covering 20,144 acres owned by Radiant Palm Coast LLC, the applicant behind the westward expansion. The land includes roughly 7,000 acres that would need to be annexed into the city, along with the existing Neoga Lakes and Old Brick Township developments. If approved, both amendments would have moved to the Palm Coast City Council for a first reading scheduled for August 4.
What Was Proposed
City planning staff told the board the amendments would redesignate the entire area as “master plan mixed use” and rezone it to a master plan development with a development agreement. According to staff, the plan would allow up to 21,920 residential units, along with about 6.6 million square feet of office, industrial, and retail space, organized around a “greenway overlay” covering about 8,501 acres, or 42% of the property, along with a roughly 950-acre regional activity center and a 564-acre employment center.
Representatives for Radiant Palm Coast, including planner Ray Spofford of England-Thims & Miller, said the project could generate more than 10,000 jobs at build-out and an estimated net fiscal benefit of $756 million to the city, $1.1 billion to the county, and $434 million to the school district over 30 years. Staff recommended the board find both amendments consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and forward them to City Council with a recommendation for approval.
Board Concerns
Several board members said they were concerned the plan devoted too little land to industrial and commercial use compared to residential development. Board members noted that of the 20,144 acres, only about 564 acres, or 2.8%, were designated as an employment center, while more than 9,200 acres, or nearly 46%, were designated for residential “villages.” Board members said the city already has a large supply of unsold homes and needs more industrial development to diversify its tax base, rather than more rooftops.
Board members also raised concerns that specific commercial and industrial uses were not clearly defined within the plan, and that a “conversion table” allowing flexibility between land use types left too much uncertainty about what would actually be built. Some members questioned why the city would approve zoning entitlements before a related “public facilities mitigation agreement” — addressing how roads, water, and sewer service would be funded and built — is finalized in a later phase.
Objections From the County and School District
Representatives for the Flagler County School District and Flagler County government both raised formal objections during public comment. An attorney representing the school board said the project would generate an estimated $188 million impact on the district, while projected impact fees would cover only about $111 million, leaving a roughly $77 million gap compared to mitigation currently required under existing development agreements for the land.
An assistant county attorney representing Flagler County said the county was concerned about being excluded from future decisions on infrastructure, including road connections and the historic Old Brick Road, which she said had been removed from language in the draft development agreement. Flagler County’s interim growth management director asked that the agreement include a requirement for a future mitigation agreement covering impacts to county roads.
Other speakers raised concerns about environmental protections for wetlands and wildlife, the condition and preservation of the historic Old Brick Road, buffers for adjacent property owners, and whether infrastructure would be built ahead of, rather than in response to, new development. City Historian Preston Zepp described damage to Old Brick Road from logging trucks and questioned whether the road could lose its National Register eligibility due to nearby road connections.
The Vote
After extended discussion about whether to table the item or take a vote, the city attorney’s office advised the board that state law required it to make a recommendation of either approval or denial, rather than tabling the request indefinitely. Board members ultimately voted unanimously, 5-0, to recommend denial of both the future land use map amendment and the zoning map amendment, citing a lack of detailed information to support approval.
Board members said their vote was not a rejection of the westward expansion concept itself, but a request for the applicant to provide more detail and to work directly with the county and school district before the matter returns to the board or proceeds to City Council. The applicant’s representative said the development agreement, which governs specifics like infrastructure funding, would return to the board next month, and asked that the future land use map amendment move forward to City Council regardless of the board’s position on the zoning request.
The board’s recommendation is advisory. The Palm Coast City Council will make the final decision on both items.
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