- November 23, 2024
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A second apartment complex is planned for land directly across from Imagine School at Town Center on Town Center Boulevard.
The Palm Coast City Council approved a technical site plan for the 264-unit apartment complex called Pointe Grand Town Center at its May 21 meeting. Senior planner Bill Hoover told the council that a traffic study showed no road improvements — like turn lanes — were necessary to accommodate the additional traffic, but Mayor David Alfin asked the applicant if there was a way both parties could work together to improve potential congestion on the two-lane boulevard.
Traffic in the area is already restricted, he said.
"I'm trying to look forward as to what the consequences of these projects might hold for us," Alfin said.
The development is owned by Hillpointe, LLC, which also built the Pointe Grand apartments on Pine Lakes Parkway. It extends from Central Avenue to about one-fifth mile north of Imagine School. The application plans for the 264 apartments units, divided among 10, three-story buildings, with each building having 24 or 36 units.
Ray Spofford, the vice president of planning with England-Thims & Miller, the firm representing the applicant, told the mayor and council that the development would be happy to add a right turn lane to the northbound lane into the complex at Lake Avenue. Lake Avenue will be the development's main entrance.
Spofford did request that the turn lane project be reviewed separately so as not to hold up construction.
Council member Theresa Carli Pontieri asked that the council and applicant, as a stipulation of approving the application, require that the turn lane be completed by the time 50% of the developments' certificates of occupancy were issued.
"I think that we can all agree that turn lanes are necessary here if we want to keep the traffic flow at a pace where we are showing that we're concerned about quality of life and safety in that area," she said.
Spofford agreed with Pontieri’s suggestion.
On the north said of Lake Avenue and the west side of Town Center Boulevard, a 300-unit apartment complex is underway. Called The Legacy at Palm Coast, it will be on the vacant 27-acre lot and will have a main entrance on Town Center Boulevard and a secondary entrance on Lake Avenue.
Senior planner Phong Nguyen said he has reached out to The Legacy developers about their plans to include a northbound left turn lane out of Lake Avenue onto Town Center Boulevard. To include that turn lane, Nguyen said, the road will need to be widened, leaving room for a southbound left turn lane on Town Center Boulevard into Pointe Grand Town Center.
Hillpointe will just need to re-stripe the section into a turn lane, Nguyen said.
Spofford said that would be fine as well, so long as the construction on Legacy’s side does not hold up their own construction.
Alfin thanked both the developer and staff for communicating and working to solve the issues at hand.
"I would hope [this] to be a model for many of the things that we may choose to do in the future, working together as the infill process continues," he said.
