- March 14, 2025
Editor's note: This story was updated at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, to correct that the ordinance will come before the commissioners for adoption at its meeting on March 3. A previous version of this story reported the date would be May 3. Additionally, a previous version of this story reported that the Airport Protection Overlay Zone would have barred new residential homes from being constructed in some vacant residential lots in the U section off Seminole Woods Boulevard and the Z section off Belle Terre Boulevard. This is incorrect; because the FAA approved a noise study for the county, the New Residential Construction Zone now lies entirely within the airport property.
Amid concerns regarding safety and noise from citizens, the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners will review an airport overlay ordinance for adoption at its meeting on March 3.
Flagler County's proposed ordinance — which is a statutory requirement for airports to ensure safety through zoning regulations regarding potential hazards or obstructions — is modeled after an ordinance by the Florida Department of Transportation, said Adam Mengel, county growth management director. During a workshop on Monday, Feb. 10, commissioners were given an overview of what the Airport Protection Overlay Zone will look like on a map.
"Frequently, I think the assumption here with the airport zoning is that airport zoning in some way would do something grand beyond the extent of the airport," Mengel said. "This is a a requirement through DOT to preserve the air space, and so we really shouldn't be thinking in any other terms other than than that. This is something to protect your public investment in your airport itself and that's what this does."
Additionally, had the county not had a noise study approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Airport Protection Overlay zone would have put a prohibition on new residential construction within a set area, impacting some vacant residential lots in the U section off Seminole Woods Boulevard and the Z section off Belle Terre Boulevard.
"We have not talked to our counterparts at the city, how that would be handled," Mengel said. "Would it be a cutout? It would be a taking if this was adopted ... Those that exist now would be treated as non-conformities."
Because the noise study was approved, the new residential construction restriction zone is limited to airport property.
Former County Commission candidate Jane Gentile-Youd was the only citizen to speak at the workshop on Monday, though several residents spoke at a Feb. 5 joint meeting regarding noise complaints and safety concerns surrounding the Flagler Executive Airport. Gentile-Youd said she hopes that the proposed ordinance is sent to "every homeowner who has complained about noise."
"I looked at this ordinance and what I could glean from it was that it was written like Flagler County airport wasn't even built yet — like the homes weren't even here," she said.
The ordinance, she said, doesn't address safety concerns on touch-and-go operations completed by flights schools.
"If the airport goes back to what it should be, which is an FOB, fixed-based operators, you would never have this airport noise," Gentile-Youd said. "You wouldn't have to worry so much about the overlays."
How will the county implement the Airport Overlay zone, if the ordinance is approved? Mengel said one option is through an interlocal agreement with the cities of Palm Coast and Bunnell. If the Veranda Bay development is annexed into Flagler Beach, then it would also need to enter into the agreement, as their limits would be included in the zone.
The other alternative, Mengel said, was to create a joint planning board for the airport, but that was an unpopular opinion among staff from the impacted jurisdictions when speaking about the issue in years prior.
