- October 10, 2024
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The Palm Coast City Council voted 4-1 on Aug. 15 to approve a 275-townhome development called Belle Terre Estates.
Council member Theresa Carli Pontieri voted against the application, citing concerns that the city was prioritizing residential development over commercial.
“This has been my express concern,” Pontieri said.
The application will return to the council for a final vote on Sept. 5.
The developer wants to rezone the 40-acre parcel at Citation and Belle Terre Boulevards from commercial land to a master planned development with residential and commercial space. The master planned development zoning would let the developer build townhome interiors to the proposed 19 feet wide by 90 feet deep, smaller than the city’s land development code would allow in standard residential development zoning.
The city’s Land Development Code requires interiors be 25 feet wide, Senior Planner Bill Hoover said, but master planned developments are allowed some exceptions if the developments provide a public benefit. The public benefit from the Belle Terre Estates would be a 1-acre public dog park that the development would deed to the city when construction ends.
Hoover said the townhomes’ smaller footprint is a design choice for lower maintenance homes, ideal for young families or older people.
Just under 2 acres will remain commercial, similar in size to the Town Center Publix plaza, Hoover said. The commercial space will likely be taken by neighborhood businesses. The commercial land in that area has been sitting for over 15 years, Planning Director Ray Tyner said.
