Feb 3, 2026 · City Council Business Meeting · 33 comments
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Hey good evening guys Caroline Johnson Smart
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Liz Esposito Tonight we have come once again to advocate for the construction of a concrete skate park in our city As a lifelong skater of almost 3 decades I've been involved with and seeing the benefit of a new concrete skate park in several communities The opportunities they afford the youth and all the residents is priceless As mentioned at a previous meeting um the need for a proper concrete skate park in Palm Coast is becoming increasingly evident as our city continues to grow at a rapid pace There's not much for the kids to do here and a skate park would give them a productive healthy hobby It would also greatly help many teens stay out of trouble and give them a place where they belong There is also a growing trend of older skateboarders in their 30s 40s and even 50s like my husband and I And our whole friend group many of whom skate alongside their kids Palm Coast residents are forced to travel to Jacksonville Ormond um and Ormond just to skate a concrete park These cities gain revenue being that we buy gas lunch and or dinner and sometimes groceries where we skate My friends and I recently traveled all the way to St Pete and stayed at Airbnbs for 3 days just to visit concrete skate parks Our city could uh our city could be benefiting from skateboard tourism as well if we had our own park We'd also be able to host competitions and pro demos Skateboarding is more popular now than ever with events like Street League X Games and Olympic skateboarding and multiple events in men's and women's categories It is important to note that there are many new concrete skate parks popping up all over Florida such as the ones in Ponte Verde Beach Pensacola Ocala Boca Raton Castleberry Apopka and Barber Park in Orlando but all are out of reach for our residents' daily use We wish our city would prioritize a skate park build as well but thus far we've seen no action Um so we are back again to emphasize how great the need is for a concrete skate park in Palm Coast If you came out tonight in favor of a skate park could you please raise your hands
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Hi my name is Stey Makau and I'm also here to advocate for skate park concrete park Um Flagler County might be small but we produced athletes who've competed at the highest levels Frida Zamba is a four-time world surfing champion who grew up in Flagler Beach Saxon Wilson currently competes on the World Surf League Tour and also Ryan Huckabee who's currently competing as well I know Ryan and his family personally and skating was his first discipline before surfing And that matters because skateboarding isn't a fringe activity Skateboarding and surfing are Olympic sports Not every kid thrives on traditional team sports like football or baseball and some kids thrive in individual sports and those kids also deserve quality facilities Surrounding communities already have invested in modern concrete skate parks and Flagler County sits at the gateway of Northeast Florida surf and skate culture We shouldn't be playing catch up We should be leading And a well designed concrete skate park Creates positive youth activity attracts families and supports community pride And investing in a skate bowl or a park is investing in our kids and our identity
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Hello my name is Lisa Sweeters I'm also here to advocate for a skateboard park Flagler County is my hometown I grew up here surfing and outside of that there was little or nothing for us to do and it seems unfortunately like that trend has kind of continued So here I am with my husband and my daughter I'm almost 50 and we travel to other counties regularly to go skate their skateboard parks We've gone to Saint Pete and spent a couple days there Duval County But we don't have anything here that we wanna skate We don't have a concrete park so we consistently go other places to enjoy their facilities and a lot of towns have 345 upwards of 6 skateboard parks We don't have one concrete one so It would be really really nice for the kids mine included to have something to do here but also for the adults especially those of us that are athletically inclined we wanna get out and do some fun stuff and I think we have the room here and the need Thank you Thank you ma'am Yes sir
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Jim Durso uh yes little skate park not houses but that's what I'm really here Um I've been out to past complaining about trying to prevent flooding to my house and houses being built next to me I kept in regular contact with the builder in the building department making sure there's proper drainage from the new house A swale ditch or drain was supposed to be included to prevent any flooding to my property along with cleaning out my culvert from dirt running off from the property from the heavy rains last year And everyone assured me it would be taken care of So far nothing has been addressed I even sent emails and left messages to both parties and not heard back any replies in several weeks I called the builder yesterday left another message They've not gotten back to me Then I stopped in the building department to see Gabe He informed me that the house closed 2 months ago and now there's nothing can be done right after months of pursuing this reminding them being assured all is well nothing can be done to prevent the flooding Now we haven't had a sufficient rain to see if there is going to be a big problem but Bob Dylan said you don't need a weatherman to tell us where the wind blows You don't need an engineer to tell that water's not gonna flow uphill around the big hump they have there It's gonna backflow to my possi property The idea is to prevent flooding not wait until there's a problem then correct it which hasn't been done A lot of people are still having a problem with that I already have water backing up because it cannot drain to the ditch at the end of our cul-de-sac The new house is 4 inches higher than mine but also wider which means there's a narrow space creating a steeper angle with water the runoff Once again the city has failed this resident failed its residents So there are other people I know still having flooding issues I know Jeremy's a big headache He's he's in that but This is a problem you know you try to get things done you keep on top of it and you still get ignored and nothing gets done So this is this is very disturbing sir see see the deputy city manager in the back please
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my name's Keyan O'Neill I'm here to advocate for the concrete skate park And I would just say um a new concrete skate park would be so much better cause Wadsworth with how far away it is from so many people I live in the C section and it's about 1520 minutes away and so many kids and adults um live just far away from where Wadsworth is It's hard to get there Um and with concrete skate parks they're much easier to manage and maintain and they last much longer than metal skate parks too Um And Wadsworth it's it's a thriving skate park you know but skaters do need like other obstacles Wadsworth is geared more toward transition and I know many skaters who skate completely different styles than that Um and like other people said it's a thriving sport It keeps growing with SLS and X Games and uh the Olympics so yeah Thank you sir Yes sir
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Chance Erickson sorry So I believe a concrete skate park would benefit Flagler very much We are in a very good spot for people who travel to skate We have Bethune Park we have Ormond Beach and then we have St Augustine as well as Jacksonville We're right in a hotspot where we could host competitions and build off of skate parks here in Flagler I also believe that Wadsworth is is very um advanced level It's a very advanced level park Everything they built there that's new is very big It's very hard for beginner skaters to get into it because it's not for them It's built for people who are experienced and it's meant for a transition like I mentioned earlier And for street skaters like myself it makes it very hard to go to the park and feel energy to go to the park because now it's completely new The flow is completely new and It's just not at intermediate levels even Everything is more advanced And I just think Flagler could very much benefit from a concrete park and it gives kids something else to do other than get in trouble who can't go to sports because their parents work they can't get there and it just It helps build a community I know because I go to Wadsworth uh probably 4 days out of the week and we have a community there friends who help people out and they see our struggles and they see when people need someone and it's just a place for people to help get over issues and have something else to do with their lives other than sit at home Thank you Thank you sir Yes ma'am
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Hi my name is Leah White I'm here in regards to the skate park as well Uh my son is one who spoke on behalf but um I'm here as a mom I have 4 boys um 3 are teenagers and uh we travel around skate parks and not only them but their friends and we go to Tampa and stay days at a time for tournaments down there and I take busloads of kids down there Um and also um we've got a skate ramp in my garage I know it's breaking the rules We'll roll it out onto the the uh driveway but the amount of kids that show and teenagers and then we reel it back in so we don't get in trouble But um it would be so helpful to do that I see the amount that come over and I can't host them but um it is definitely a need here You will Thank you ma'am Yes sir
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Hi James Daly I'm here for other reasons but since I'm here I'm from the East section and I think there's a lot of people here from the east section tonight but my um which is not on the agenda is about East Hampton I hope they never open that up to 100 I know the uh fire department I heard rumors they want to access that so they can get over to 100 easily That would be a nightmare for our neighborhood I could see uh Um um East Hampton with traffic lights uh Eric and trying to get out One of my favorite signs pulling into our neighborhood is no outlet That means that burglars don't like to come in People can't get out quickly but I think we just never want to open that up Maybe someday they'll make a nice cul-de-sac at the end of East Hampton with the nice houses that match our neighborhood so it's not on the agenda but I know it's coming soon Thank you All right thank you sir
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Gary Kunis C-section Had a good responsive session with Vice Mayor Ponte yesterday We came up with some good points in front of you a couple of you you have report based report on what I put together today for her on the number of signs signage on the streets and so forth So if we could take a look at that as far as cost of changing the signs which I don't think is gonna slow anybody down at all right We also touched briefly on the water bill A lot of mistaken identity on the water bill The first item is the actual water used and that's not that expensive It's all the other stuff that's added to that water bill the rent for the meters The garbage the swales Holland put a tremendous uh increases on for the next from her time 4 years on that and that's costing the people a lot of money and I don't see that kind of money being put in it's that thing roughly brings up $64 million a year Where is all that money going Nobody seems to have an answer for that We touched briefly on the canals Yes all us people who live on the canals pay extra taxes on the sea walls the docks the docks the roofs the lifts and so forth 2 weeks ago I sent you a picture of a boat that came in and got grounded in the middle of the canal and couldn't get to his dock and had to sit there for 2 hours It suggested we use the same dredging machine used for the freshwater canals to clear out that one section that's been eroded so badly And if we could take care of that that would take care of a lot of the issues there because the other sections have sea walls and they're maintaining the 6 to 7 ft Our section is 3 to 4 in low tide It's not enough water for boats Thank you Thank you sir Yes sir
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my name is Jayden Walker I'm here for the skate park I think um There's a I've seen a lot of skaters in Palm Coast It's like It's almost ingrained in the culture here but we don't have a skate park The only skate park we have is all the way down in Flagler Um skating was like a part of my Character and I had to stop for like a few years because my brother couldn't take me to a skate park because he didn't have the time to go all the way to Flagler Beach I think Like One of the things I hear from all my friends is there's not much to do in Palm Coast and I think Like It would really upgrade the city if we At a concrete skate park because we don't have that in Palm Coast We just have Wadsworth Down at Flagler
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Hi my name is Joseph Esposito I'm uh Liz's husband Um I just wanted to uh just kind of say to everybody here that we you hear a lot of people advocating for the skate park Uh where I used to live I'm not originally from Flagler County Um we pushed hard for a skate park and we wound up getting 3 because it wound up being a similar population around 100 150,000 people We found that it was very hard for people young kids like you're seeing being able to get to different locations So having a county or a city Helping the the local residents and their children having facilities keeping them out of trouble keeping them safe also keeping them healthy um is very important And and it shouldn't be ignored uh because this this county and the city is growing vastly Um we're hearing issues with water issues with a lot of different issues Yes we're having a lot of issues and I just also want to clarify to see if money was ever spent on the skate park I don't want people to feel that the uh money that's allocated towards parks would go uh would be taken away from other areas Uh I'm under my understanding uh the money that goes towards its parks would be allocated specifically only for parks area I don't want people feeling like if money's not going to the skate park that money wouldn't be going to water issues or anything else Um I just want clarification with that uh but I also want everybody to raise their hand one more time because I saw a lot of people coming in late Uh if you could raise your hand that you're here for the skate park just please again uh I really appreciate everybody showing up and every I appreciate everybody up here listening to us Uh as you can see we're trying to get we have a petition going We have a lot of people who are very interested And it's just growing and we just would love to sit down and have some type of conversation with you guys I've been speaking to different skate park companies as well who are willing to help with the design if there's any questions about designs uh Pivot Customs which is uh uh a brand uh an off-brand of uh ARC which is a ramp company that did Wadsworth Pivot is the uh cement brand company that that does the cement portion and they're willing to sit down to show any type of renders that may how much it may cost or how much Uh space would be necessary Uh again thank you for listening Thank you sir Could you could you please see Ms Kershaw in the back where we have your contact information please She's right back there Yes ma'am
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Good evening My name is Katie Jagaki and I live in Palm Coast Um thank you for your time I'm here to advocate for a concrete skate park in Palm Coast I take my boys skate skateboarding 3 to 5 times a week Um Wadsworth is well used by our community but the metal ramps do become pretty dangerously slippery with morning dew or light moisture When conditions aren't safe many of us drive to Ormond Beach Saint Augustine or Jacksonville to skate Skate parks serve all ages kids teens and adults and a concrete skate park is safer longer lasting And usable in more conditions Safety This would meet a clear community demand and be a smart long-term investment in safety recreation and a quality of life in Palm Coast
The name 'Joseph' wasn't found in the audio.
I'm on polyfluorethylene Um two items uh definitely against anything happening down the end of our street with making the lot smaller I understand that's on the agenda No items on the agenda to be discussed in this period OK um in in then in regard to the skate park all for it Next to the skate park is a nice wood a nice um grass area right next to it Consider turning that into a remote control park for remote control cars It would only take moving around a little bit of dirt to make it something that really wouldn't cost anything But it's at the perfect size the perfect location and the only thing around here is down in Ormond that we have something similar but you could put something here and just move around a little bit of dirt and have a great place to play with remote control toys Thank you sir Anyone else for public comment
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Hello my name is Greg Eckley I am currently co-chair on the board of supervisors for Town Center CDD and uh a few weeks ago they uh came to us with a proposal We looked at it We thought it was a nice idea for the Arts Foundation building We think that that improvement will be a grand Excellent idea And um so we wanted you to know that we wanted to make that donation So I'm here to present the check to you all For $55,000
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Owner of
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Sheila Hines sweet Sheila's funnel cakes Um I had some questions They're gonna be directed at Michael Is it OK if he answers those No ma'am OK It it was it's just this Mr Hanson I'm sorry It's a simple um designation It's on the um where everything is proposed where we can put our trucks and so there are just two things in the uh mobile food dispensing column There's an A and there's a PA and there's no key here that designates as to what those mean That's one of my questions for that That's accessory or primary right Mr Hanson Uh P is a uh permitted uh essentially principal use A is accessory So when you see a P and an A it might be either principal or accessory Thank you sir OK And so then I had another question Um something we really haven't talked about is um our parks and all the um activities that we have at the park and I have addressed you all before and told you that I go to the park because I live in the Irish section and I love Rim Fire and right now there are probably Uh 5 to 600 people there There's no concession stand There's no hot chocolate or funnel cakes up there so we've really not addressed that So I'm wondering how this is gonna work out now Now I already have plans and Um the league has said yes come on up I'm gonna be up there Wednesday night I'll be there tomorrow night OK But I was going up there several nights a week and people appreciate this It's been really cold out here and you're all were parents at one time I assume you grab your kid from Work and you go to the park and you're there till 8 or 9 So we haven't really addressed that as to what we're gonna do with the parks That's a really big thing I may be one of a few that go there Uh Kona Ice goes there uh Kim Ice Cream goes there um and they usually would stay over at Holland I would go to the park in my neighborhood So that is something that I'm I'm wondering what we're gonna do about that if that's gonna be um If I'm gonna have to call and get a permit for that am I gonna have permission Will it still remain with the league that they invite me or give me permission Do they um it's a public park What is their authority at a public park That's I guess is where I'm trying to go and trying to see what exactly we're gonna do with that OK so I made some notes I'm trying to Um OK the next thing was and you touched on it the permit we have not discussed a fee schedule whatsoever So I appreciate you A nominal fee would be wonderful $50 is what I consider a nominal fee OK So that's something that we need to uh discuss because that's really just hanging out there now And I guess that's my time Thank you ma'am Thank you
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Keith Durst uh owner of Cool Beans Barbecue I just wanna reiterate what my wife was up here talking about earlier First of all we do appreciate Mr Hans's efforts and everybody that's given us feedback through phone calls or visiting us personally As a food truck owner uh we've gone over a large hurdle with being able to uh operate a food truck within the confines of the city of Palm Coast Uh unfortunately along along the way some of those trucks didn't make it They couldn't wait that long They sold their trailer they sold their truck Uh but we do get quite a uh Response from our brethren our fellow food trucks Um my wife had touched on the notion with the concert series uh they had done uh over the last year or two and also Food Truck Tuesday and she had mentioned parameters around this building and in and of itself Um we aren't just pulling this out of our back pocket so to speak it's we've we've gotten feedback from Young and old people that come to you know check out the different trucks and it's I have to walk so far There's nowhere to sit Um most recently we had a holiday event and it got canceled as we all know because there were too many clouds in the sky but I watched that tent go up Like it was nothing and I watched you come down like it was nothing So there's a seating area They're bringing in music that's great So this is an opportunity to uh not from May through October Let's go back to March through October Let's run it from 5 to 8 We've been doing it for 8 years And uh it's it's it's a success I think by switching it to this Thursday thing combining it I don't know what the city's hoping to achieve Are they saving money Through not having employees out there I don't understand that I think that needs to be addressed as well And as far as the fees they charge it's always been $70 You pay your BTR then you pay your fee to be there for that night to set up to sell anything from coffee to funnel cakes to barbecue to cheesesteaks We've been down that road I'm afraid if we Make it so vague and and and not achievable I think a lot of the food trucks aren't going to want to do it anymore And I think that would not be a good situation So um like I said I appreciate everything that's been done up till now but I think we need to get it clarified I think we need to revisit Food Truck Tuesday and the concert series and keep them both On the plate Because it does serve the community I've watched thousands of people go through these events thousands that's over 8.5 years So let's keep it going Thank you for your time Thank you sir Any further public comment Seeing no one come forward we'll bring it back to the desk Mr Hanson
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Good evening uh Michael uh Chimento 145 City Place uh for the applicant Thank you for having us here Uh we've been in discussions with uh the city since uh March of uh 2025 so we're pushing a year to get to this point and uh we appreciate This yeah bring it to your bring it closer Appreciate your your staff um working with us and bringing to light various issues that I think we have been working with so Uh we have our team here tonight We have our engineers We have the owners uh here to answer any specific questions you have and uh maybe even have conversations to address the the question that you asked Ms Pontieri But um one of the things we wanted to just start off with and and I think Mr Miller made it very clear to the community that this is about the 13 units uh this is an existing project uh that has been sitting dormant for 1517 years And uh ICI which is uh a company located in our community uh its principals live here I've been doing business in Flagler County and great uh community supporters for 2030 40 years uh are here to uh work with you uh on getting this project uh approved and if there are other comments that you may need or questions that you may have we could certainly address them Um The planning board uh issue came up and remember planning board is uh a group of people that make a recommendation to you all Uh I think some of the things get lost as to what happened at the planning board I I've reviewed it too many times and there was not a basis of denial but that's neither here nor there because that's not a final uh conclusion to the issue Uh they have the right to uh send it to you with a recommendation Uh or a denial and subject to certain conditions Many times the planning board will put forth a recommended of approval or denial subject to conditions that they ask you to look at and some of those things are are are real Uh we talk about traffic all the time We talk about flooding all the time Those are real issues that every application has to go through Uh but some of them were misplaced For example there was a comment about uh lift stations Well in the development approval already uh the developer has already committed to putting in a lift station at the corner there Uh at the close Just lean forward Mike Thank you sir And so these These additional uh issues that are in front of you uh were kind of misplaced at the at the commission so we're asking you to kind of start fresh with us tonight uh so that you can get accurate information from our team and our engineers um Did you get that one There's just your honors I don't have a Sorry about that OK well one of the things I want to draw to your attention is that the the project has not expanded at all I think that was a point made to uh the community before I'm about as close as I can get so I apologize
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my name is Dick Smith I'm uh vice president of land development for ICI Homes Uh just quite honestly just to cut the cut to the chase uh when we look at uh the uh the current entitlements and we put pen to paper and We determine what the the cost to develop these lots with these uh um uh with these nuanced development requirements such as the the uh the perimeter buffer that is over and above your your typical code uh the lift station Um the uh the the fact that we're trying to drain all of our lots interior we we've designed a retaining wall along the perimeter the rear perimeter of all of those perimeter lots to ensure that drainage goes into the community and can be um uh treated in our stormwater system When you add all of that together and you calculate what our cost is per lot For the current entitlements it's $112,000 That's before our land purchase price in there and our overhead and um and profit to be perfectly honest with you Um so those lots are going to cost about $150,000 when all of that is added in And rule of thumb is 25% of your land value is the total cost of your home So a $150,000 lot equates to a $600,000 home That's that's bottom line that we can't make that work Um what we can make work is what we've got in front of you tonight the proposal for the 71 lots Um we believe that'll bring That will bring us into the $450,000 starting range well above what the average cost of the home in the area is But those are that's the reason that we're here tonight because we can make that work We can't make work what we've got what we've got shown now or entitled now OK Um And also I I might add also the uh uh uh one of the reasons for this high cost is the less than 2 units per acre That's another component that increases the cost of this overall development Uh thank you sir Any questions from the council Thank you sir Any further follow-ups from the council before we open it up for public comment
Confirmed.
Jim Durso again yeah I was at that original meeting in planning and zoning and uh yeah the point you just made the point they can't make money off of 58 homes That's why they wanna add the other 13 uh they have a right to make a living but at what cost A strain on the water utilities infrastructure lift station traffic and safety uh you know and it's there's only one way in one way out again like I said they're not gonna open up that other road So um Yeah they they don't ignore the the comments from the finding and zoning board They're legitimate All these reasons here to reject They they recommended the denial If you're smart you'll deny this project and they don't have it started They can do something else I guess But you know our roads as you know already overcrowded I keep hearing it's in the works Nothing's in the works Our roads are still a problem and it could be worse down there Still smaller lots for a lot more money Uh that's just crazy So please deny this uh Thank you sir Yes sir
Confirmed.
Good evening council members Iris Strauss 11 Ebb Tide Drive Uh we built our home in 2001 Our property backs against the west side of the IC ICI property off of Ebb Tide Drive Uh when the original agreement in 2012 was reached for the land swap for preservation of the wetlands and the entitlements granted for 58 units we understood that it was the best outcome at that time We attended a neighborhood meeting back in November and we're told by ICI representatives that it was not economical for them to develop their property without increasing the density as they stayed again tonight In their presentation at the Planning and Land Development Board they stated that the smaller lots and likely smaller homes would maintain or increase the value of the homes in the area such as my own This can't be true They're requesting reducing the lot size as I've said by as much as 25% with setbacks as close as 5 ft My home like others on our streets is a lot size of 80 by 125 The ICI is requesting a lot size with a width of just 60 We and our friends and neighbors are concerned about increased density and accessibility to be sure but I would also like to make the further case that our home values are going to be reduced to increase ICI's profit We accepted the inevitable development resulting from the 2012 agreement but we strongly object to this MPD amendment that will negatively impact our neighborhood's value Request you that you honor the original agreement and deny this application to amend the comprehensive plan Thank you
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Good evening My name is Greg Norton I live on Eric Drive And I have attended all three of the different meetings from the first one we had at um a church up in Route One many years ago And the Hilton meeting and the planning board meeting Couple of facts I'd like you to you've heard them before but I think they're important that you that I remind you of these facts Um They initially had their lot sizes at 8250 square feet They want to reduce those lots to 55,000 That's a reduction of 2750 square feet or I say a third of that They want to reduce the lots by that size Our lot sizes on Ebb Tide and Eric Drive vary from 10,018 The 13,939 that's nowhere near their lot proposals
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Hi Janet Gan 25 Egan Drive Um so as others have said although 13 additional home sites doesn't seem like it would make that much difference I believe that it just might About 15 years ago the town negotiated with ICI and swap and swapped the swamp land for buildable land So a negotiation already took place in the space available I believe that they can make a significantly nicer community with 58 home sites versus the proposed 71 For example perhaps they can move the sewage lift station to a more remote area within the development instead of in very close proximity To new and existing homes Just yesterday I drove by the lift station on Ellsworth and there was a large amount of water spraying out that caused the bushes all around it to be covered in icicles I assume a pipe burst from the cold weather I would not want something like that right by my house and at least that one had a lot of space around it Another thing they might be able to do is make larger retention ponds to help with drainage and lessen the potential impact on the surrounding neighborhood that already has significant flooding issues as you know Also every new home brings more traffic obviously um and the minimum you know size lots it'll go be 5500 um versus 10,000 that's like half the size and the lots we already have the 10,000 square feet is not a huge lot So I just want a nice neighborhood that enhances the existing area around it I think ICI is a very good builder I believe they've they only build concrete block homes which is great um And The planning board uh in at the planning board meeting they said that comparable houses in their other communities start like in the high 400s but this development isn't really comparable to some of those uh other developments because there's no amenities right in the development So um I think bigger fewer home sites arranged in a nice design will make the ICI development and our community more attractive
Looks confident.
Hi my name's Benny I'm from the east section Egan and uh you know they they they've got a good argument as far as they wanna make a profit I understand that part but what they you guys need to look at is the the further we go down the road here our demographics in our east section is changing We we it's a lot of older people now but they're leaving and a lot of families are moving in there I've noticed just in 3 years The buses coming down are stopping a lot more They you have to stop It's a two-way road You get a ton of traffic backed up God forbid something happens we only have the one egress in and out You're gonna add 58 more homes which I know you guys had nothing to do with but now you're gonna let them have more to it's like putting fire on top of a fire I know there's some people that are for it But I think you guys need to look down the road and see what it's actually gonna progress into because those new homes possibly have a lot of family and our like I said the east section's changing I've noticed in 3 years there's a lot more younger families moving more traffic more kids so you have one way in and out I mean it's easy to say uh it's just 13 more houses 11 whatever it is All you're doing is kicking the bucket down the road because at some point I don't care what they say Cement blocks or whatever At some point somebody's gonna sue the city because they can't get fire trucks in and out of there because of the traffic so they're gonna want to punch through the bunnel or Bunnel's going to annex that side and say we're building houses there and you can't do nothing about it So that's my argument Thank you sir
Looks confident.
Good evening everyone My name is Michelle Daly and I live at 42 Edward Drive We moved from New Jersey We have lived here for 20 years and I have to say I love my life here I am not against property development but I don't feel there is a need to downsize lots and homes We bought property and built in the East section Because the E section and still is the favored area in Palm Coast I tell my children E stands for excellence My husband and I studied each section and agreed to buy land here and only here to build our dream house even and paying a higher price we didn't care Please don't degrade Cypress Knoll with smaller lots and homes This will definitely devalue our homes Thank you Thank you ma'am
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Alan Pulliam I've only been here for 1 year and I absolutely adore this place and we count on you the board to protect not only E section but all sections OK And I'm one of the ones that paid $600,000 for my house and I'm sure if they build the right type of houses in Those 58 blocks they can find 58 more people throughout this country that is willing to pay their $600,000 so I hope you do not decrease the value of what I just invested in to put smaller dwellings just down the street Thank you Thank you sir
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My name is Yvonne Leggiro and I currently live at 53 Eric Drive I also own property at 15 Eisenhower Place I love Palm Coast I've been here for 10 years I basically have always been a resident of Cypress Knoll Uh I I love the area I love the neighborhoods They are uh as previous speakers have said the nice a nice community Uh I did take a quick look There's over 30 houses that are currently on the market in Cypress Knows That's remarkable to me because I know when I was looking for a house there weren't a lot of houses on uh in the east section It was with so many people wanting to go in there they weren't selling and now we've got over 30 houses some of them right in that area that they want to build on So maybe the people that would have bought those additional 13 houses maybe they should buy the ones that are already built Um you know but plus I heard you say earlier today that there were over 200 permits or 200 requests um or 2000 I'm sorry if you've already got 2000 why do we need an additional 13 uh and you just one more point as far as your planning uh council I've not been involved in local politics I you know read what I read and I um hear but I've not been involved in it My understanding of the planning council was that it was supposed to create an orderly format for growth for the city and that included regulating how the land is used So if the planning council is saying no 13 houses and obviously the people that are here from Cypress Knows are telling you no to the additional 13 houses I think you have to respect us We're the ones that live there We're the ones that are you know going to be impact We're the ones that are gonna be stuck in traffic at the light on East Hampton And by the way East Hampton is a is a raceway and if you go down there late enough Night you'll find speeders every single day I'm sure the fire department or the police department rather would make us a lot of money if they just parked themselves uh in you know in in a in a hidden somewhere or set up some radars because they would definitely make a lot of fines So thank you for an opportunity to speak and I hope you will not allow ICI to build more than what's already been approved Thank you ma'am
Confirmed.
Hello my name is Deborah Hay I'm a relatively new resident here in Palm Coast and I have to say I absolutely love it here It's a beautiful city to live in I come from New Jersey also and I'm very happy here I'm also not involved in local politics or anything like that and this is my first town hall meeting Um and I really have something to say that's more of a curiosity uh an observation that I've made here this evening and I just want to question that because I don't know so please forgive my lack of knowledge on this but with regard to the $55,000 check that was presented Earlier my curiosity is um this gentleman here in the blue suit I don't know who he is he brought the check gave it to the other man to present but isn't that a bit of a conflict of interest if he's bringing you a $55,000 donation I'm just curious I don't know Yeah ma'am ma'am ma'am just to the council I sat right here and I saw him hold the check and I saw him give it to the man on the other side of the aisle who then presented it to you I just find that curious and I'm just looking to see what what is the connection there that he brings it and the other guy presents it and it's $55,000 coming from somebody who's who's looking to get his business all taken care of with the 71 houses It's just a curiosity Anybody have an answer for me ma'am after public comments it's you comment then we answer at the end OK well there you go Thank you ma'am
Looks confident.
Good evening Mayor and council My name is Jeremy Davis P section I'm speaking on application 6302 the East Hampton MPD amendment with ICI Holmes as the applicant I want to connect three things tonight infrastructure debt and public confidence This this council recently approved up to $330 million in a utility bond debt Residents were told that borrowing at that scale was necessary to address infrastructure strain system upgrades and long-term capacity challenges That tells the public something very clear our infrastructure is under stress So here's the question if we're taking 100s of millions in debt because systems need repair and expansion why are we amending master plan developments that may increase demand on those same systems Are we fixing capacity first Are we adding demand first and planning to finance the consequences later Because that cycle is how cities end up in structural strain Now add public confidence to that equation Public campaign finance records filed for Q4 show five separate $1000 contributions from development related entities operating out of 2379 Bevel Road in Daytona Beach That is the corporate address associated with ICI Homes Five entities same address maximum level contributions $5000 in a single reporting period I'm not alleging wrongdoing but perception matters when a developer seeking amendments contributes through multiple affiliated entities and the city simultaneously approves massive infrastructure borrowing Residents deserve reassurance that decisions are driven strictly by code compliance engineering analysts and capacity not relationships So I ask has updated storm water modeling been performed using current rainfall realities Has traffic been recalculated with present day counts Has utility capacity been verified against actual system performance And can the council clearly state on the record that this amendment stands solely on measurable planning standards Because from the outside resident sees infrastructure strain increased borrowing development amendments and concentrated development contributions all at the same time If everything is above board then transparency strengthens trust But if we do not address these concerns directly it begins to feel like we're repeating the same pattern that created the $330 million problem in the first place Growth must follow capacity not the other way around Thank you
Edited.
My name is Peter Johnson and I'm honored to serve as the new president of the Palm Coast Historical Society and Museum Before we start um I just want to point out that we have a large group of our our current board members here today in support as well as the applicant Um and everyone is very excited for this year and looking forward to everything we're working towards I'll do my best to keep this presentation brief so we can all get out of here at a reasonable time tonight Uh real quick for the residents who may not be familiar with who we are and what we do the Palm Coast Historical Society and Museum is dedicated to collecting preserving and sharing the history of the land city and people of Palm Coast Our mission is to educate the community and preserve that history for future generations We are currently located in Holland Park in the back corner near the softball fields We hope you'll take the opportunity to visit us learn more about our history check out the museum and gain a deeper appreciation for the city we all call home Um with that said it would be a disservice to our city council and to the mission of the Palm Coast Historical Society if we didn't provide a brief bit of historical context this evening and take care of a little bit of housekeeping as well as initiate a conversation seeking clarification of the appointments of city historian particularly as the board begins reviewing and updating the Historical Society's bylaws in the coming months and pertinent tonight as we discuss the recommendation of Preston Zepp who is seated right here Um so one fact that we want to clearly establish before we get into this and ensure that there is a shared understanding with the council is this any recommendation made by the Historical Society is simply that a recommendation Uh the board and I fully understand that under our current bylaws the city council holds ultimate approval and authority for appointment of the position of city historian While our uh internal bylaw review is still ongoing the board has already voiced its support of continuing that practice and leaving final authority for this position for city council approval Uh So at this time uh and after diligently reviewing boxes and boxes and boxes in our storage room and quite a few file cabinets uh I've been able to uncover a near complete story and timeline in the inception of the position of city historian Um unfortunately I could not find about about 50% of these documents you're going to see until a night or two ago after this presentation was already made So Kaylee got an email at 4:00 a.m. last night with the updated information and presentation for you Uh in a row of pieces together some of the puzzle for us So to begin uh these articles that you'll see right here are copies from Art Dyke that he would put out for print during his time as the city historian uh something we are hoping to continue in a similar fashion with Preston in order to promote the Historical Society Uh as you see here it says conceptualized in 1998 the Historical Society had become a written visual and oral data bank of knowledge uh volunteer city historians Art Dyke and Margaret Navy accepted the responsibility of maintaining the records that filled the storeroom measuring 10 by 10 ft In April 2000 Mayor Kanefield this is Art speaking uh Mayor Kanefield asked me to become the volunteer city historian which I accepted along with longtime Margaret Davy We were appointed co- historians by the city council and as you see there's a picture of Mr Art Dyke and Ms Margaret Davis
Looks confident.
Good evening My name is Ed Sharcovich I live in Palm Coast For the last 7 years I've been the president of the Flagger County Historical Society Uh last week we had our board meeting and all 13 Of our board members endorsed Preston stepping forward into this role Truthfully I can think of no better person uh to incorporate not only the knowledge of what's taken place in Palm Coast prior to ITT but also taking his boots putting them on the ground and going out and teaching and educating children and their families I can speak personally for knowing Preston over the years that he is fully dedicated to taking survival skills life lesson Lessons the lessons of history how people survived in Flager County and putting it into the minds and hearts of kids so that they have lenses on their eyes so that they can understand their present and their future because history repeats itself So wholeheartedly I endorse him and I look forward to working with him in this new role as well as with Peter Johnson Um I'm excited that he has taken leadership here as well Thank you Thank you sir Anyone else for public comment
Edited.
James Fisk uh Palm Coast First of all uh congratulations to you Uh perfect uh perfect opportunity for you Uh but for Preston I cannot think of a better person to be your historian uh for the city of of Palm Coast Um This guy uh he oozes his story historian uh he oozes history He He gets out into the swamps I call him swamp man because he gets out there and he does A tremendous amount of of research And with all the uh Everything that he has been able to dig up is just incredible He's going to do a fantastic job for the city of Palm Coast just as he has done with the uh Flaer County Historical Society So uh thank you all for voting for him He's going to do a great job Thank you all Thank you sir Anyone else We'll bring bring it back to the dais Any uh follow-ups Uh Ms Cook call the call the vote Vice Mayor Pontieri yes Council member Gambaro yes Council Member Miller yes Council Member Sullivan yes Mayor Norris yes motion passes unanimously Thank you and congratulations You got a picture Can we get a picture real quick Yeah let's get a picture Council Yeah