- November 23, 2024
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The new Cornerstone at Seminole Woods shopping plaza has been annexed into Palm Coast city limits.
The Palm Coast City Council passed its first vote to annex the shopping plaza into Palm Coast on July 16. With a 4-0 approval of the council's second vote on Aug. 6, the shopping plaza's six businesses comes under the city's purview. Council member Cathy Heighter was absent from the meeting.
Owned by Seminole Woods Investments, LLC, the development is on 32 acres, over 10 of which belongs just to the BJ's, its parking lot, and its gas station. At the north end of the property — a shopping plaza called Cornerstone at Seminole Woods — five smaller parcels for more retail shops line State Road 100.
The Miller's Ale House celebrated its grand opening on Aug. 5 and, at the Palm Coast City Council's July 16 meeting, attorney Jay Livingston, representing Seminole Woods Investments, said the BJ's Wholesale will likely open before the end of August. A Longhorn Steakhouse is also under construction on the property.
Annexing the 32-acre property into city limits has been in the works since the BJ’s Wholesale first began the development process with the county in 2022. Because the plan was always to use Palm Coast utilities and eventually annex into the city — which would require the property become part of the city — the developer requested to use Palm Coast’s city requirements for some of the application requirements, like parking.
The Flagler County Commission unanimously approved the 32 acres’ final plat at its July 15 meeting.
The Cornerstone plaza is just west of the Seminole Woods Boulevard and S.R. 100 traffic signal, which is a notoriously busy intersection in Palm Coast. To help mitigate the traffic the large shopping plaza would add to the area, a new traffic signal was added at the west end of the Cornerstone property. That traffic signal is now fully operational.
Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin asked city staff to continue working with transportation organizations on possible solutions to furhter mitigate the congestion the shopping plaza will bring to the area.
"The city manager and the county administrator must continue their efforts to a traffic flow in that immediate area," Alfin said. "We are aware that this is a congested area and needs a solution."