- April 25, 2024
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The proposed development of the Matanzas Woods golf property met with resistance from residents when it was unveiled in a community meeting in December.
"We are excited and believe the owner and various homeowners can create a win-win for the community and the city."
— MICHAEL CHIUMENTO III, attorney representing developer Alex Ustilovsky
Now it's also meeting some resistance from the city's planning staff, who've told developer Alex Ustilovsky that portions of the proposal are at odds with city regulations designed to protect the golf course views of existing residents and the character of existing neighborhoods.
City staff reviewed the Master Planned Development agreement application and sent comments back to the developer on Thursday, Feb. 20. (View them HERE.)
"We are reviewing the city's comments," Michael Chiumento III, the attorney representing Ustilovsky, wrote to the Palm Coast Observer. "Given the importance of this project to the community, we are meeting with various homeowners in the neighborhood to consider their issues. The owner, these homeowners and city staff are discussing ways to develop the property that minimizes the impact to the community. For example, we are looking at each home on the golf course and evaluating their existing view. Moreover, we are looking at ways that the owner can help the city address their pre-existing flooding issues in some areas of the community. We are excited and believe the owner and various homeowners can create a win-win for the community and the city."
Palm Coast Chief Development Officer Jason DeLorenzo said city code requires that development occurring on a golf course property not impede the rear views of properties — undeveloped land lots as well as existing homes — that have a golf course view. That makes parts of the proposed development impermissible, DeLorenzo said.
One of those areas is a chunk of land west of Lake Success Drive, which the developer wanted to use for single-family homes. But the proposed homes would affect the views of existing homes and properties on Lake Success Drive. "No development south of southern edge of existing pond in 'F' area," states a city staffer's handwritten note on a copy of the plans that was sent from the city back to the developer. "Area to remain natural buffer area, to protect golf course views."
"When they resubmit something, we’ll ... apply the Land Development Code and the Comprehensive Plan to it and see if we believe it complies."
— RAY TYNER, Palm Coast deputy chief development officer
City staff had a similar comment for a large piece of land west of Lakeview Boulevard north of Lewis Shire Place, and for a smaller chunk of land behind Laramie Drive.
In other areas, city staff told the developer that proposed homes would be permissible, but only if additional natural buffers are added between the proposed new homes and the existing properties.
For a parcel just east of U.S. 1, which the developer proposed to use for commercial development, staff noted that the area is currently designated as greenbelt land, which can not be directly changed to residential use through a Master Planned Development application. Instead, the process will require an amendment to the city's Future Land Use Map, which will require the approval of the City Council, Planning Board, and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. (The developer submitted a Future Land Use Map amendment request, but it was not complete, DeLorenzo said.)
City staff also told the developer that proposed town homes may not be smaller than 1,000 feet of living space (the city's code requires at least 650 feet), that townhouse roofs must be pitched to match the style of existing homes in the area, and that a proposed multifamily development on a parcel west of London Drive must have 150-foot setbacks from existing single-family residential lots.
The city will also require that the land be tested for contaminants such as arsenic and organochloride pesticides.
The next step for the proposal will involve a response by the developer to the city's comments, Deputy Chief Development Officer Ray Tyner said.
"When they resubmit something, we’ll ... apply the Land Development Code and the Comprehensive Plan to it and see if we believe it complies," Tyner said.
If so, the proposal could then go before the city's Planning Board, and then to the City Council for a vote.
