- September 6, 2024
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The Flagler Beach City Commission voted 5-0 on Jan. 12 to approve a proposal for a planned unit development of 112 homes.
The development, called "Beach Park Village" in city planning documents and owned by KB Homes Jacksonville, is located on the west side of the bridge on Roberts Road. The south end of the property abuts Wadsworth Park, and the development is situated across from an apartment complex that is also being built on Roberts Road.
The commission approved the planned unit development application pending a provision to replace removed trees in the development.
But residents were more concerned about water flow and the city services’ ability to support the additional people.
Flagler Beach resident Steve Dalley said he was concerned that the new subdivision would cause service cost increases that would affect current Flagler Beach residents.
“We’re investing as a city to let it grow population wise," Dalley said, "but we aren’t going to have more money.”
The development will have an HOA to oversee its upkeep, said Derek Satino, director of Forward Planning at KB Homes Jacksonville. The HOA will pay for road and stormwater retention pond maintenance inside the development, Satino said, addressing specific concerns from residents.
Several residents at the meeting were concerned about flooding and water runoff. To the east of the PUD’s boundaries are wetlands that border the west side of Lambert Road.
Lambert Road — which sits between the wetlands and the Intracoastal Waterway — already floods, and residents at Thursday’s meeting were concerned that the development would make it worse.
Commission Vice Chair Debbie Phillips asked the city planner, Larry Torino, what was being done to prevent flooding to other areas.
“The post-runoff cannot exceed the pre-condition runoff,” Torino. “That’s not a promise I can make you, but that is the law.”
Satino said the newer codes require developments to build to 100- and 500-year storm events, like Hurricane Ian.
Because the developer would be adding retention ponds to the development, the water that already flows through the area would be held longer and allowed to filter down.
“Adding 112 homes to the land isn’t causing more water to be going into the wetland,” Satino said. “We’re actually going to be holding more water longer.”
