- November 18, 2024
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Palm Coast has agreed to provide water and wastewater services to planned developments on county land near the airport without first annexing the property, a reversal from its position four years ago when discussions about development in the area began.
In return, the city expects the county to grant it three and a half acres of property to build a city park, regardless of whether or not the Florida Army National Guard builds a facility at the airport, which had previously been a condition of the park land deeding.
The deal — approved by the Palm Coast City Council in a 4-1 vote Sept. 16, with Councilman Bill Lewis dissenting — has yet to be approved by the Flagler County Commission.
“In my part in voting in the affirmative, I’m making a leap of faith,” Mayor Jon Netts said after the vote. “I’m assuming where we talk about mutual studies and mutual agreements and the possibility of amending — remember, you cannot unilaterally amend this; the amendment has to be agreed to by both parties — I’m making a leap of faith and saying that the county will act in good faith in the future.”
Some of the ramifications of the deal are still hazy. One condition requires that the Palm Coast Fire Department and Flagler County Fire Department meet to determine how to best provide fire and emergency medical service to the area, which has not yet happened.
And the details of what the proposed park near the airport would look like are still vague.
Councilman Jason DeLorenzo asked Palm Coast Senior Planner Beau Falgout if the park would have parking. Falgout said he wasn’t sure, but said the park would be accessible through the city’s trail system.
DeLorenzo asked if a park would be the best use of that land near the airport
Falgout thought it would.
“This is a unique situation, where you have an airport in the midst of a community residential area somewhat, so you’re really balancing interests here,” he said. “You’re balancing development of the airport with infrastructure and neighborhood compatibility and things like that, and I would say the way things are laid out is probably the best balance of those interests.”
The agreement doesn’t require impact fees for development at the airport, an omission Netts questioned.
If Belle Terre Boulevard fails and requires renovation at some point in the future from increased use, he said, “That’s going to be because of developments at the airport property. That’s not of our doing, and therefore I don’t see that it should be our obligation to pay for it.”
Falgout noted that the county has planned some road improvements that are spelled out in the interlocal agreement, including turns lanes in and out of the Airport Commerce Center at Belle Terre Boulevard and State Road 100.
But, he said, “We’ve kind of kicked that can down the road. … the county is able to access funding sources due to the airport and economic development that because it’s on county prop we’re not able to access, so our biggest concern was making sure they were at the table and a partner in planning for and finding funding sources for those projects.”
“I’m all for interlocal cooperation, but this is very much one-sided,” Netts said. “There’s an old saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. … What in this agreement does the county need right now?”
“The county needs water and wastewater service,” Falgout replied, “What the city’s getting in turn is the turn lanes improvements on Belle Terre and the site, the right turn lane on State Road 100 should the right of way be available — and of course that’s a strong possibility — and of course a three-and-a-half-acre park site, along with the various interlocal language in there, that really benefits both parties.”
