- April 19, 2024
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Dear Editor:
The proposed Flagler Beach Hotel will be a disaster to downtown Flagler Beach.
The city commissioners are being blindsided by a corporation who is promising them higher local revenues with a new hotel. But, all that glitters is not gold!
To place a 47-foot-tall monstrosity at the foot of the bridge will ruin the beautiful visual effect that you get when you come over the bridge. This has always been a positive draw to Flagler Beach. Apparently the town has forgotten the lesson of the Aloha Towers sticking up like a sore thumb.
More importantly, they are proposing a 100-room hotel with only 83 parking spaces. This is sheer madness because the staff-to-room ratio is not being considered by the city.
Any decent resort hotel with a restaurant and grounds will need a staff to room ratio of nearly 1-to-1. Even if it was only half of that, the staff alone will take up most of the parking. As it is, there is presently a parking shortage for all of the businesses that surround the site. On any holiday, or First Friday at Veterns Park, there is no parking available for blocks. Add a 100-room hotel, and it will be a total disaster. The surrounding businesses that do not have private parking will suffer greatly, and possibly fail.
While the senior population in Flagler County is only be about 30% of the general population, they are the ones who are most well-funded and who spend the most money in the restaurants. If they can’t park close, they will not eat there.
The local business men in Flagler Beach should be in total solidarity against this hotel.
Frank Consentino
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
Moving from New York to Palm Coast to retire in 2018 was the best decision my husband and I made. We were amazed with its beautiful greenery. We were most excited about a new Town Center district that was being planned/built at the time with a master plan showing a balanced mix of retail and business establishments as well as entertainment and residential units to be put in place.
However, we notice lately that a lot more residential, multi-floor dwellings are being built (some are in the same section as the Epic Theatres), possibly increasing population and car traffic along the narrow streets of the Town Center.
I would like to make three suggestions, as more upcoming development in Town Center occurs in the near future:
1. Allot a separate section/street for residential units vs retail/business;
2. For retail/business: Instead of a mix, let there be a grouping of stores;
3. For residential construction, I prefer to see duplexes and/or garden apartments with up to two levels only, in order to maintain curb appeal and control density.
Development could be grouped like this: Art and Entertainment Lane, or music, art and entertainment; Food Lane, for restaurants/coffee shops/snacks; Fashion Lane, for all about shopping for clothing, shoes, bags, etc.; Real Estate Lane, for those looking for homes/apartments; Home Lane, for those buying home-related goods.
This grouping of businesses/stores will make shopping a more cohesive and time efficient experience. (I saw this in Dubai - where there was a "Music City,” for example, where shoppers directly go and buy all music-related goods.)
Looking forward to the time when the Town Center district fully become a great attraction for viable businesses and finally reach its potential as a master-planned gathering and shopping community for Palm Coast residents and nonresidents alike.
Corinna Martinez
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
I would like to make a suggestion for future developments and projects. When a sign goes up for a development, why can’t the word “in” be used instead of “at”? It makes no sense to me when you see, for instance, “Indian Trails at Palm Coast” or “Town Center at Palm Coast,” etc. Why not use the word “in”?
For that matter, you can leave the word out altogether!
Pat Barile
Palm Coast
