- December 16, 2025
The County Commission voted unanimously to accept a portion of Strickland Road/Durrance Lane as a public road, Aug. 15, with further work to be done concerning title insurance, the property deed, right-of-way analysis and financing.
Commissioner Barbara Revels was conflicted the issue.
“I feel like we need to do something,” she said. “I don’t want to lose the land.” But she was concerned about county liability.
Commissioner Nate McLaughlin worried that if the board passed on taking the road now, for free, it would be forced to buy it from a private party in the future, when the region surrounding it in southern Flagler is urbanized.
Chairman Alan Peterson brought up the possibility of establishing a new tax district near Strickland Road and Durrance Lane, so that nearby residents would be responsible for the approximated $12,000 needed for annual maintenance.
“This, to me, is what a special taxing district is all about,” he said. “This isn’t like normal roads throughout the county … There’s no reason for somebody that doesn’t live here (to use it).”
But several residents didn’t see it that way.
Multiple people who live in the area told the board that they were forced in the past to give up portions of their land to build the road, and they’re currently forced to maintain it. When there are emergencies nearby, however — like recent fires in Hunter’s Ridge — firefighters drive through and ravage the land, then do nothing to repair it.
“When someone wants to give you something for nothing, there’s something wrong,” another resident, who lives in Palm Coast, said. He objected to the extra expense the county would accrue from accepting the land.
