- January 12, 2025
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Flagler County Planning and Development Board approved two new development plans Tuesday Oct. 11 at their 6 p.m. meeting
The two developments are at either end of Flagler County, but both will bring in a significant number of new single-family residences. The board members saw two items on each development and unanimously approved them all, to the contention of some of the residents.
The first development on the agenda, Wexford Cove, will be located just south of Palm Coast, between Old Kings Road South and Interstate 95, near Eagle Lake Drive. The applicant requested a Site Development Plan review and then preliminary plat approval for their development plan. Both were approved by the board with no fanfare.
Wexford Cove is situated on 38.98 acres and will be developed into an 81-lot single-family residential subdivision. Volusia County Utilities will provide water and sewer service to the development.
The second development was met with concerns from residents. Situated between the Intracoastal Waterway and U.S. Highway A1A on 18.69 acres, the Scenic Cove development area has been rezoned from low density, mixed use to low density single-family residential, according to Planning and Development Board documents. The two narrow lots sit adjacent on the south side of Beach Side Drive.
The site plan for the development, according to documents submitted by staff and the applicant, includes 56, 50-foot lots with the new rezoning and land use. The lots are no different in size from Hidden Treasure Drive just south of the development, but local residents were concerned about overcrowding and removing too much fauna.
"I live in an oak Hammock," Barbara Patel from Beach Side Drive, "and I don't want the density of the homes to be such that those trees will have to be cut down."
Several other residents stood up to the podium to voice similar complaints and concerns. Ramona Epps of Deerwood Street and other residents were concerned about how the density would also impact stormwater flow and traffic in their area.
Clint Smith of Clint Smith Consulting, LLC., speaking on behalf of the applicant said that larger lot sizes cost a lot more money. On top of that, Smith said, the residences with the larger lots are older, and do not have the same regulations that newer developments must implement.
“Some of these subdivisions that have been around a long time don’t have 10 precent native vegetation set aside, and they don’t have 20 percent of their property in a stormwater treatment facility,” Smith said. “All these regulations push us into smaller lots, that’s just the way it is.”
Adam Mengel, growth management director for planning and zoning, said that the 50-foot lot size is consistent with demand.
"That is the market," Mengel said.
Board members Timothy Connor asked county staff if they could impose a lot size, but Assistant County Attorney Sean Moylan said they could not regulate what property owners do with their property if they are meeting the “black-and-white requirements” of the codes.
Once a development has shown that, Moylan said, the county does not have the ability to deny developers what they’re asking for, unless it goes against code.
“These people have land rights, rights that are allowed to them by law,” Board Member Mark Langello said. “Just like you have rights on your property.”
The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners will see both developments at their Monday, Oct. 17 meeting.
