- November 22, 2024
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The BJ’s Wholesale Club being built at the Seminole Woods Boulevard and State Road 100 intersection is likely to open in late August.
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 S.R. 100.
The parcels include a Millers Ale House and a Longhorn Steakhouse that are currently under construction. The Miller’s Ale House is slated to open in early August, according to Jay Livingston, the attorney representing the developers.
Now that the 32-acre is wrapping up much of the construction for the BJs, the Palm Coast City Council is moving to annex the property into the city from Flagler County.
The Flagler County Commission unanimously approved the 32 acres’ final plat at its July 15 meeting. The county first received the proposal for the Cornerstone shopping plaza in the spring of 2022.
Because the plan was always to use Palm Coast utilities and eventually annex into the city, the developer requested to use Palm Coast’s city requirements for some of the application requirements, like parking.
Palm Coast has a requirement of one parking space per 250 square feet of storefront, for a total of 420 parking spaces. The county's requirement is one spot per 200 square feet.
Recording the final plat with the county triggers the annexation, Livingston told the Flagler County Commissioners.
The Palm Coast City Council unanimously approved the first reading of the annexation ordinance at its July 16 meeting. Ordinances annexing land requires two votes and the second vote will be held at the Aug. 6 meeting, Senior planner Phong Nguyen said.
Since the development was granted the right to use city water and other utilities back in February, Nguyen said that the city does have some legal obligation to annex the property into the city.
Flagler County Growth Management Director Adam Mengel said Millers will be opening “around the first of August,” followed by the BJ's store and then the Longhorn Steakhouse. A Chase Bank has also been proposed, Mengel said, but the two remaining parcels have yet to be filled.
Because of concerns about traffic congestion at the site, an additional traffic signal was installed with a dedicated turn lane into the plaza on the west side of the property. The traffic light is flashing now but is supposed to be fully operational in the coming weeks, Livingston said.
A second entrance was also added to the property between two of the smaller parcels, allowing for a left-hand turn for cars going west on S.R. 100 and a right-hand turn in and out of the plaza for the eastbound lanes.
Commission Chair Andy Dance said that he was a little worried about how the new traffic signal will be synchronized with Palm Coast’s other signals. Right now, with the light flashing, the controlled by the contractor, using a less efficient system, he said.
“I'm worried about this interim process where we're still under construction and now we've opened up BJ's,” Dance said. “I'm just worried about the traffic when this opens.”
The contractor, Dance said, will be using “the best tools” he has available once the lights become fully operational, even while the lot is still under construction.
Livingston said once the light is fully operational in the coming weeks, the traffic signal will be synced up to Palm Coast’s signals before anything is opened.
“We don’t think anyone has an interest — including BJs — to have difficulty in reaching the site,” Livingston said to the county.
