- April 19, 2024
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After years of controversy and litigation, the proposed development formerly known as The Gardens — now called Veranda Bay — is cleared to move forward with work on the initial two phases.
Workers will start the first phase of the 824-acre, 335-lot development with 56 homes in the development's northeast corner, near the Intracoastal Waterway; a second phase will add 66 homes just to the south.
"This process is pushing a half a decade to get to the point where we're going to start vertical construction."
— MICHAEL CHIUMENTO
The Flagler County Commission voted 5-0 to approve the final plat for the two phases during a commission meeting on June 6. There will be six phases overall.
The Veranda Bay development will ultimately straddle John Anderson Highway, but the two phases approved on June 6 are both on the east side of the road.
"It is now June of '22. Mr. Belshe and his company purchased this with the intent to develop it in May of 2018," attorney Michael Chiumento said, representing developer Ken Belshe of Palm Coast Intracoastal LLC at the commission meeting. "So you can see this process is pushing a half a decade to get to the point where we're going to start vertical construction."
Although the number of units in the current 335-lot proposal put forth by Palm Coast Intracoastal LLC is dramatically reduced from an earlier proposal that would have included 3,966 homes, opponents have said they believe the scaled-back development would still contribute to area stormwater drainage problems, overwhelm John Anderson Highway with traffic and degrade Below Creek, a wooded stream just west of the development.
Some formed a nonprofit called Preserve Flagler Beach and Bulow Creek Inc. to fight the proposed development, speaking at commission meetings and bringing a case before the Circuit Court in the hope of voiding the County Commission's 2020 3-2 vote that cleared the way for the development to proceed.
The developer won that case.
The community group appealed the Circuit Court decision in favor of the developer, but the appeals court upheld the lower court's decision.
A few people appeared at the June 6 meeting to question the proposed development's handling of environmental issues like gopher tortoises or potential arsenic, but county Growth Management Director Mengel said that there are already processes in place to ensure that developers comply with environmental regulations.
"You've got the vacant land there now ... you've got to remediate in order to to have it for some other use," Mengel said. "We have state agencies that consider these things."
Commissioner Greg Hansen was wary of the development's potential impact on area stormwater drainage.
"Every time you see a development in Flagler County they say, 'Well, we're going to contain our water,' but the water always goes where water goes, and that's downhill — and it's downhill to Palm Avenue and Palm Drive, so that bothers me," Hansen said. "I think we're putting those homes in jeopardy."
"The city of Flagler Beach has done their study to look at what's causing the flooding on Palm Drive, and it's not us," Chiumento said. "It's a dysfunctional stormwater system that they have on Palm Drive that has not been maintained by that association."
Commissioner Andy Dance was unsatisfied with the lack of specificity in the developer's plans regarding the parcel's large oak trees, noting that the plans say the trees "may" be saved.
"I think some stronger language in the future may be helpful," Dance said.
The County Commission's approval of the first two phases of development is contingent on the developer providing a $11.7 million performance bond to cover the cost of building out the development if Palm Coast Intracoastal LLC doesn't do so.
