- March 18, 2025
Dear Editor:
I attended the Palm Coast Business meeting (Tuesday, March 18) and spoke about imposing a future residential moratorium that would last at least until the agreed order on the wastewater treatment expansions was lifted.
The mayor instead offered a motion on a total moratorium to a date uncertain, which would essentially stop all building now. It failed for lack of a second.
I wish he would have been more flexible. However, this could very well become a moot point as the current home building will continue to add additional flow to the two wastewater plants. I believe that it is conceivable that the plants will reach their design capacity before the plant expansions are completed. At which time FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) will essentially step in and stop all new connections until the expanded plants are fully operational.
It's unfortunate that there was no one brave enough to second his motion which would have led to open discussion regarding his matter. I believe the strong presence from the building industry at this meeting intimidated the other council members greatly.
There are currently some 19,000 lots or parcels that are available for building. So there is no shortage of work for area home builders and the related trades for many years.
The future residential moratorium, if adopted by the City Council, would have let the residents of Palm Coast know that they at least recognize the problem. But they kicked the can down the road again.
Andy Dodzick
Palm Coast
